Sputnik Moment - Whaaat!

Mr. Obama and his executive branch cronies coined this his Sputnik moment. Shame on him and his lackeys.

I was 13 at the time the Russians launched Sputnik - the first earth orbiting man-made object. I was too young to appreciate the fear that it imbued in our country. But I remember listening to the radio at the bleep bleep transmissions as it passed overhead.

I did, however, live vividly through our nation's response to the threat from the Russians. I remember listening on my car radio in Boston (I have no idea what I was doing in Boston at the time) when Alan Shepard was launched into earth orbit in the Freedom 7 Mercury capsule in 1961. I remember the inception of NASA and the great leaps in technology that resulted in that moment late in the night on July 20, 1969 watching a scratchy black and white TV when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Apollo 11 launched on my 25th birthday. I remember the brave men that went before and after Apollo 11 and the prayers for their safe travel and the prayers for those lost (Grissom, White & Chaffee). I remember our frozen poses as we watched on the TV the dedicated men (no women in those days) in mission control in their white shirts and narrow ties as they guided the missions to safe conclusions with cheers. These were defining moments for mankind and the people of the United States of America achieved this though the leadership of a president from a Democratic party that has since fallen in to disrepair.

I have lived through the amazing technological innovations that NASA and the space program have brought to us. Those that don't have these memories cannot comprehend how far we have come with the efforts of the brave and dedicated people of NASA and its subcontractors. I worked with some of those contractors, building equipment to assure the safety of the equipment that our brave astronauts relied upon. I am blessed now to be able to see talented and hard working women serving in mission control (yea Melissa!) alongside those men in their white shirts and narrow ties. This is the kind of progress that the only real Sputnik moment could have fostered.

This president has the gall to compare his desire to reverse his failed policies to bring us out of a depression, to Sputnik and the NASA space program. To one who has lived through the latter, it is embarrassing to say the least and an insult to the millions of people who worked through the 50s, 60s and 70s to bring us things like personal computers, lasers, cell phones and GPS to name just a few. While this president cuts funding for space exploration he co-ops that legacy for his pathetic political life. Research and read about those wonderful times in our nation. Then, make a pledge to repudiate this president. What we need now is another Jimmy Carter presidency - one and out!