Gore Wants To See An Earth First Policy

Al Gore attacked George Bush's new mission for NASA. Gore called Bush a moral coward for ignoring global environmental threats. If I were going to be a coward, I'd hope to be a moral one, at least... am I missing the deeper meaning of the term (in regards to the context), or is it really just the soundbite posturing of an increasingly unimportant politician?

Al Gore always seemed to be the poster boy for all things politically correct. He never seemed taken with any cause other than the environment that made you sit up and say there's a guy with conviction. Oh, he had all the anti-conservative rhetoric, but it never seemed to come from within; he always came across as a poll driven politician. During the presidential elections, he desperately needed to run on the successes of the Clinton years; but he was deathly afraid that Clinton's ethically challenged personality might be a drag on the numbers. As a result we got the mediocre mumbling and bumbling of a rudderless campaign (it shows just how pathetic Bush is that he still had to steal the election). His endorsement of Dean seems to be more of the same. Dean was ahead in the polls, so Al decided to endorse him at Lieberman's expense... talk about moral cowardness. This showed the lack of conviction Al had for Lieberman as VP and exposed his poll pandering convictions.

Enough about Shallow Al's character; let's talk about NASA. I love the space program and want to see all of Bush's promises for NASA come to pass. I am also aware that the proposal is election year politics. Although, I can't see conservatives lining up to donate tax dollars to such a project; I can't even see liberals doing it.... I guess that's why the vision had such a small investment to drive it. I believe in the need for space exploration; not just for the science, but the soul of mankind. I also believe in taking care of Earth and its people too. I don't think that these beliefs are at odds with one another. NASA needs to reorganize and prioritize its budget (as does the federal government). NASA also needs to go beyond the government for assistance in the effort to reach for the stars; there are a lot of big companies that have a lot to gain from assisting in the effort and could share in the resulting benefits.

My blither light is blinking, so I'll wrap this up for now...

Still, you'd think that concern for the global environment would include embracing the possibility of the eventual colonization of Mars and beyond for our expanding global population.