One hates to see NASA have the difficulties that they are currently experiencing. They have enough trouble with aging equipment and an embarrassing lack of budgetary support. Even the most fervent anti-NASA flat-earther would have to admit that we get a lot more out of the space program than we get out the wars that we are currently spending billions and billion of wasted dollars on. I mean, heck, the wars have no return at all, unless you are President or his corporate friends.

So we have people up there in a vacuum struggling with equipment that was made by the lowest bidder, after the specifications had already been diluted for budgetary restraints. It would be pretty easy for a person to get killed up there for want of funding. Of course, we are already unnecessarily killing young soldiers in a place where we don’t belong, as some Dark Ages fans like to say that we don’t belong in space. And look at the expense involved in that.

I think that we have all seen the comparisons on the internet, showing what could be done with the dollars that little George is squandering in Iraq and Afghanistan. I do not even pretend to know how that money should be spent. Teachers, I suppose, and schools, and real educational programs instead of Bush’s All Children Left Behind programs. The cost of his dirty little personal war would fund all of those, with enough left over to provide medical insurance for every person in America. I am not sure of all those figures, by the way, so don’t quote me.

Maybe we could also carve off a couple of billion for NASA. If we did that, we would be getting double duty out of our money. We could spend enough so that our astronauts have a better chance for survival, and maybe the shift in funds would take a few troops out of harm’s way in the Middle East. We would have fewer dead people all the way around, both in space and on the ground, and besides, the television action is better from space than from Iraq.

The next time you think about supporting the Bush – Cheney personal-war machine, think instead of giving our children a good enough education to compete in the modern world. Or think of helping them to beat disease and live long enough to use that education. After that, give some thought to getting NASA some better equipment. Their budget is making our whole country look tattered on worldwide television.