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Obama aims to ax moon mission

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From a Nexis search a few moments ago:

Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program in the New York Times: 0.

Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program in the Washington Post: 0.

Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program on NBC Nightly News: 0.

Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program on ABC World News: 0.

Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program on CBS Evening News: 0.



Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/o...on-feeding-frenzy-97928959.html#ixzz0t0Gpk08x
 
Alaskan said:
However, the Muslim world doesn’t even warrant a “participant trophy.”
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Completely and totally not true. Since we're having trouble with even low earth orbit these days, maybe we could take a pointer or two from these guys.

Seriously, perhaps there's so little in print about this program because it's simply not that important. After all, if I still had access I could probably do a similar LexisNexis search on say the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program and find just as many stories (i.e. none) from the sources you listed. So you'd then agree that there's right wing media bias afoot to avoid publicizing Obama's social programs? I thought not.

The whole "liberal media bias" thing is just lame. IMHO there's little difference between that and the lament of some Skins fans about media bias against our team. In the end, it turns out the media wasn't hating on us, they were just reporting truths some of us simply didn't want to hear.

So in short, I suspect this initiative is nothing more than a small soft power carrot that attempts to counter the opinion in the Muslim world that we are hopelessly biased toward Israel. Given our chances (slim to none) of ever achieving outright military victory against the Taliban and other extremist elements, adding some soft power to the mix probably isn't a bad thing.
 
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Yusuf06 said:
Completely and totally not true. Since we're having trouble with even low earth orbit these days, maybe we could take a pointer or two from these guys.

Seriously, perhaps there's so little in print about this program because it's simply not that important. After all, if I still had access I could probably do a similar LexisNexis search on say the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program and find just as many stories (i.e. none) from the sources you listed. So you'd then agree that there's right wing media bias afoot to avoid publicizing Obama's social programs? I thought not.

In short, I suspect it's a small soft power carrot that attempts to counter the opinion in the Muslim world that we are hopelessly biased toward Israel and against them. Given our chances (slim to none) of ever achieving outright military victory against the Taliban and other extremist elements, adding some soft power to the mix probably isn't a bad thing.
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the issue is relative benefits...not just the undocumented, hypothetical "soft power" benefits that...by all appearances.....don't seem to influnce Hamas, Hezbollah...IRAN....or suicide bombers....one iota.
 
Sarge said:
Because it's one of the few government programs that actually produces some benefits.

But like in so many other areas right now, we have no leadership. No vision.

Pick a target and go. Maybe we can't afford it right now, but we can at least set some goals and do some R&D and testing.
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btw...did you notice that..unlike Obama's stimulous moneys...Bush's bailout moneys were refunded to the government?
 
Yusuf06 said:
Completely and totally not true. Since we're having trouble with even low earth orbit these days, maybe we could take a pointer or two from these guys.
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I guess you didn’t bother to read the link I provided on patents issued that shows how far behind the Muslim world in science and engineering.
 
fansince62 said:
the issue is relative benefits...not just the undocumented, hypothetical "soft power" benefits that...by all appearances.....don't seem to influnce Hamas, Hezbollah...IRAN....or suicide bombers....one iota.
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I agree with you about the issue of relative benefit. However I have come to that conclusion from the opposite direction.

We could probably fight the Islamofascists for the next 500 years and not achieve an outright military victory. Why? Because all they need is a few fighters willing to set an IED or pull off an occasional suicide bombing to keep fighting. Additionally, the longer we stay in another country the more we change from being seen as liberators to occupiers, thus losing more local support over time and swelling the ranks of those we fight against.

In the meantime, our economy suffers because it costs us exponentially more to fight wars our way than it does the Islamofascists to fight their way. Simply put, they'll never run out of fighters but we will eventually run out of money and political capital. This plays into OBL's strategy of "bleeding us out" slowly.

The long-term strategy is to counter the Islamofascist narrative. (What was that Sarge said about vision?) If pursuing a long-term strategy that will eventually allow us to extricate ourselves from this, is a few extra million bucks really that much of an issue? How many smart bombs does that translate to? More importantly, are those few million bucks worth the lives of _____ (fill in the blank) Americans not killed or maimed in action?

Yes, killing insurgents and gaining and holding ground today is important. Just bear in mind that soft and hard power are not mutually exclusive. One of the lessons of Vietnam is that we can't get into a "forever war" with a guerilla movement and expect to win over the long term, hence an exit strategy has to be pursued. We forget that lesson at our own peril.
 
Alaskan said:
I guess you didn’t bother to read the link I provided on patents issued that shows how far behind the Muslim world in science and engineering.
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...and I guess you failed to note that I started the following paragraph by saying "seriously" which meant that the previous comment was intended to be tongue in cheek.
 
Yusuf06 said:
The whole "liberal media bias" thing is just lame. IMHO there's little difference between that and the lament of some Skins fans about media bias against our team. In the end, it turns out the media wasn't hating on us, they were just reporting truths some of us simply didn't want to hear.
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No It’s true all right. Because I live in Alaska, I know a little bit about Sarah Palin. Now get on the Washington Post’s and the NY Times site and do a search from the time she was selected to be McCains running mate (August 30, 2008 and the election) and the terms AGIA (Alaska Gas line inducement act, “Point Thompson”, “Alaska Clear and Equitable Share” and see what you find. Then search for Palin and troopergate, Palin and Bristol (her daughter), Levi or any other terms you heard during the election. See what you find. About the only thing you will find is an AP article that was so biased that even the liberal Anchorage Daily News had to call foul on it.

Regardless of what you think of Palin and her policies, the lack of serious discussion of her most significant acts as governor during the election by two of the countries so called leading newspapers is a sad commentary on our democracy and the newspaper business today.

By the way, are you aware that Palin selected a former Planned Parenthood board member for an Alaska State Supreme justice opening? It seems she felt he was the most qualified. Are you also aware that she vetoed a bill restricting access to abortion, not because she disagreed with the bill but because she was advised by her legal department that the bill was unconstitutional and she felt no need to spend taxpayers money on a futile and entirely symbolic legal battle? You probably aren’t because the media didn’t want to talk about her actual record.
 
Yusuf06 said:
(What was that Sarge said about vision?)
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I said "vision". As in space vision. The vision to set a goal and go. I was not applying it to "feel good" initiatives.

Right now we have a president that "can't' get us beyond low earth orbit without help, and "can't" enforce our border laws.

I've never like the word "cant". It's especially grating when it's applied by someone who's whole campaign theme was "yes we can".
 
Yusuf06 said:
...and I guess you failed to note that I started the following paragraph by saying "seriously" which meant that the previous comment was intended to be tongue in cheek.
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No, I saw it, I was refering to the “Completely and totally not true” statement. That appeared to be serious. Your suggestion to use Hamas with our low earth orbit problems I did take as tongue-in-cheek. (Although, it’s a good one provided we can strap the Hamas guys to the rockets.)

So I saw them as two separate statements with the seriously only related to Hamas reference.
 
Sarge said:
I said "vision". As in space vision. The vision to set a goal and go. I was not applying it to "feel good" initiatives.

Right now we have a president that "can't' get us beyond low earth orbit without help, and "can't" enforce our border laws.

I've never like the word "cant". It's especially grating when it's applied by someone who's whole campaign theme was "yes we can".
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So what would you suggest? More border patrol agents? Jailing employers of illegal aliens maybe? Bear in mind though that the same folks asking the Feds to roust out the illegals would use those same enforcement efforts they requested as evidence that the Feds are taking over and we're all being enslaved etc.

As Serv pointed out, there are a good number of folks that are captives to their own expectations that will see anything Obama (or any Dem) does as evidence of more fascist, federal government freedom stealing. I'm not saying this applies to you, but rather that there's a certain element that lauds anything done by "their" guy and decries anything done by "the other" guy...and yes, that applies to both conservatives and liberals. It just seems that liberal wingnuttery seems to be on the wane since Reagan left office. Of course that's just my personal opinion.

That's what I've been getting at by asking where all the Tea Party style anger was during the Bush years. Sure there was a bit of discontent expressed by a few folks here and there, but no marching in the streets and certainly no suggestions of fascism, communism, or overthrowing the government.
 
Yusuf06 said:
So what would you suggest? More border patrol agents? Jailing employers of illegal aliens maybe? Bear in mind though that the same folks asking the Feds to roust out the illegals would use those same enforcement efforts they requested as evidence that the Feds are taking over and we're all being enslaved etc.
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I fully support the position Obama has adopted in this and other matters of the day. So...if you're out there thinking the rule of law and law enforcement mean next to nothing...I say go for it! That's clearly what this President is all about.
 
Yusuf06 said:
Palin's full record got plenty of press:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-11-palin-cover_N.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/Story?id=5789483&page=2
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/politics/30palin.html?_r=1

But if you're intentionally avoiding the "liberal media" how would you know that?
I can only refer you to this.
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Wrong I read both the times and the Washington Post. Yet you immediately assumed that because I’m a conservative I am 'intentionally avoiding the "liberal media."’

That shows your bias and prejudgment. I intentionally read both conservative and liberal media. (I generally do not watch TV news though.)

What about you? Do you seek out conservative publications to obtain both sides? Do you read the Weekly Standard, the National Review, watch Fox news?

So what did you find when you did the NYT and WashPo searches I suggested? Do that and then come back to me and tell me with a straight face that the reporting wasn’t biased.
 
This has been fairly friendly. Off topic a bit, but fairly friendly.

And for the record, I haven't called anyone "commie" or "libtard" or said that Obama is an undocumented space alien sent here from the planet Kenya to destroy America;)

Destroying the space program is what we're talkin' bout
 
Let me say this. I may not agree with much of what Yusuf says, but his posts on politics are always worth reading.

And on a message board that is a high compliment.
 
hey Sarge...

Mr Obama last weeK:

"Lately we've been having to wrangle around what used to be pretty noncontroversial things -- providing loans for small businesses, extending unemployment insurance when 8 million people lost their jobs during the recession. But lately there's a minority of Senators from the other party who've had a different idea. As we speak, they are using their power to stop this relief from going to the American people. And they won't even let these measures come up for a vote. They block it through all kinds of procedural maneuvering in the Senate."

Mr Obama Feb this year:

" But what also made these large deficits possible was the end of a common sense rule called "pay-as-you-go." It's pretty simple. It says to Congress, you have to pay as you go. You can't spend a dollar unless you cut a dollar elsewhere. This is how a responsible family or business manages a budget. And it is how a responsible government manages a budget, as well…. Last night, I signed the "pay-as-you-go" rule into law. Now, Congress will have to pay for what it spends, just like everybody else."

yea...this guy is on top of things.
 
Alaskan said:
Who says we're not friends?
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Agreed. Sarge and others have been very kind in offering assistance to me on more than one occasion. When I mentioned some of our heated discussions to IIRC Sarge, he put it best by replying in effect..."That stuff, that's foolishness. This is important, this is real life."

I feel the same way. There are very, very few folks I've interacted with on this and other MB's that I'd refuse any assistance I could offer. Though I don't always make it obvious, I consider many of you to be acquaintances at the very least and in some cases true friends.

Now come here you...:grouphug: Cumbyah my Lord, cumbyah.... :grouphug:

Alaskan said:
Let me say this. I may not agree with much of what Yusuf says, but his posts on politics are always worth reading.

And on a message board that is a high compliment.
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Thanks Bro. Back at you. :cheers:
 
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