Sunday, January 6, 2019

American Mediocrity

By Jeff Simpson 

While we as a Nation have had some dark times, one of the shining times in our nation is when President Kennedy challenged our Country in 1961



We have had our failures, but so have others, even if they do not admit them. And they may be less public.
To be sure, we are behind, and will be behind for some time in manned flight. But we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move ahead.
The growth of our science and education will be enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school. Technical institutions, such as Rice, will reap the harvest of these gains.
And finally, the space effort itself, while still in its infancy, has already created a great number of new companies, and tens of thousands of new jobs. Space and related industries are generating new demands in investment and skilled personnel, and this city and this State, and this region, will share greatly in this growth. What was once the furthest outpost on the old frontier of the West will be the furthest outpost on the new frontier of science and space. Houston, your City of Houston, with its Manned Spacecraft Center, will become the heart of a large scientific and engineering community. During the next 5 years the National Aeronautics and Space Administration expects to double the number of scientists and engineers in this area, to increase its outlays for salaries and expenses to $60 million a year; to invest some $200 million in plant and laboratory facilities; and to direct or contract for new space efforts over $1 billion from this Center in this City.
To be sure, all this costs us all a good deal of money. This year¹s space budget is three times what it was in January 1961, and it is greater than the space budget of the previous eight years combined. That budget now stands at $5,400 million a year--a staggering sum, though somewhat less than we pay for cigarettes and cigars every year. Space expenditures will soon rise some more, from 40 cents per person per week to more than 50 cents a week for every man, woman and child in the United Stated, for we have given this program a high national priority--even though I realize that this is in some measure an act of faith and vision, for we do not now know what benefits await us.


President Kennedy, pulled the Nation together for a greater vision and a goal that everyone bought into.   This led to many technological advancements and much progress as a nation, and true national pride and acceptance. 

Fast Forward the clock 56 some years later and our President makes this speech:



The Donald does not necessarily want to go to the moon but instead wants to create a Space Force.  A Space Force, with no actual details, plans or even interest in doing anything but giving an unintelligible speech with no thought, interest or actual intent.   

What happens when we go from a President wanting to be an inclusive, advanced nation to one that  wants to punish anyone who criticizes him?




Now that our media has been labeled #fakenews , and the media that is left spends their time chasing The Donald around like a lost puppy, you may have missed this:


BEIJING — China’s burgeoning space program achieved a first on Thursday: a landing on the so-called dark side of the moon.
The United States, the then-Soviet Union and more recently China have all sent spacecraft to the near side of the moon, which faces Earth, but this is the first-ever landing on the other side.
The China National Space Administration said the 10:26 a.m. landing of the Chang'e-4 lunar explorer has “opened up a new chapter in human lunar exploration.
 

We are not getting beat in the race anymore, we have dropped out of it completely. 



 We used to aspire to greatness.... now we aspire to piss off liberals. 

The first step to solving any problem is to recognize there is one.....

There is most definitely a problem that needs solving! 
Let's hope we recognize and solve it before it is too late! 

19 comments:

  1. Well stated. Remember "pay any price, bear any burden"? We are so far away from that these days, at both the state and federal levels.

    And the thing is, we CAN do the right thing and advance. If we choose so, and choose leaders that will do it.

    As a white man, I'm especially puzzled as to how so many people of my race and gender got so weak and whiny.

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  2. Let me get something straight before I go any further in this comment: I don't like President Trump (the man) and I didn't vote for him or Hillary Clinton. President Trump was elected to the office of the President of the United States and he IS the President of the United States regardless of what people think of the man, he's your President and he's my President and as such he deserves the respect of the office he was elected to. Now that that is perfectly clear...

    Jeff,
    President Trump is NOT the big problem in the United States today, social justice warriors and the media are and when I say the media meaning ALL of it.

    Social justice warriors have gone over the edge of reality and are really screwing up the societal framework of the United States with their intimidation tactics. These wackos are causing people to look over their shoulders in "fear" that they will be come the next viral target of a hoard of ignorant and immoral social justice warriors. The nut jobs have intimidated the public by twisting everything to extreme absurdity and it needs to be stopped.

    The media, all of it, have flushed journalism down the toilet and have replaced it with blatant partisan propaganda. Yes, this makes the media the "enemy of the people" because their only purpose now is to support their chosen partisan political apparatus and not just presenting the news in an ethical journalistic manner. Lies, innuendo, and absurd extrapolations have become the tools of the fake news propaganda emanating from the media.

    If you do not see these things as the most serious problems in the United States right now then you are either blind, terribly partisan, or you're using rationalizations to justify the massive amounts of unethical and immoral things we are seeing across the United States.

    Now back to President Trump and your hateful attack dog feeding frenzy.

    Hate and smear the President all you want, attack him like the political attack dog you are, it won't change a damn thing, there are three branches of government for a reason, let THEM do their jobs and focus on the things that are right outside your door. Stop ignoring the fact that the media has gone completely off the rails, real journalism is damn near gone, the media in general is nothing but a political tool of a partisan apparatus, and social justice warriors are actively screwing up the societal framework of the United States of America.

    President Trump is the least of the problems we are facing in the United States right now, try to put the focus what's really needed.

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    1. So you are telling me that people who are fighting for equality and justice for all is the problem with America.

      Yes I do feel bad that people are not able to just be racist, sexist or bigots without being called out for it. That really sucks.

      I do agree that the media havent practiced much journalism, saw that for 8 years with the wismedia never asking walker a tough question yet printing his press releases basically word for word.

      I do not think that Trump is the disease, he is just a symptom of the disease.

      Yes there are many immoral and unethical things going on and they are personified in the President. EVery single thing he does fits into that category. Our very own Government is the same. Walker was constantly under investigation because he had no moral compass, and because we allow it, he was allowed to continue unimpeded.

      If there is a better example of what our society has become than this story today in the NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/07/us/florida-government-shutdown-marianna.html?fbclid=IwAR2hAR9cCs4dUvUDcFPU89t2caidgekKaWLmJgyMCFabEFCCMLqqD5imYtE

      And this quote

      The shutdown on top of the hurricane has caused Ms. Minton to rethink a lot of things.

      “I voted for him, and he’s the one who’s doing this,” she said of Mr. Trump. “I thought he was going to do good things. He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.”

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    2. Jeff Simpson wrote, "So you are telling me that people who are fighting for equality and justice for all is the problem with America."

      No Jeff that's not what I'm telling you. Why don't you put your comprehension hat on and try again. READ WHAT A WROTE AND STOP SPINNING IT!

      Bite me Jeff!

      Jeff Simpson wrote, "Yes I do feel bad that people are not able to just be racist, sexist or bigots without being called out for it. That really sucks."

      So if I choose to publicly smear you as a racist, sexist or bigot simply because I don't like your opinion you wouldn't have a problem with that?

      People are being labeled as racist, sexist or bigots when it doesn't exist. As a perfect example of this problem right in our own back yard, look at the idiotic arguments social justice warriors are presenting trying to arguing against having a police officer in chaotic public schools.

      Jeff Simpson wrote, "Yes there are many immoral and unethical things going on and they are personified in the President. Every single thing he does fits into that category."

      Everything the President does fits into the category of being immoral and unethical? That Jeff is absolutely nonsensical anti-Trump hyperbole and simply not reality.

      Jeff Simpson wrote, "Walker was constantly under investigation because he had no moral compass, and because we allow it, he was allowed to continue unimpeded."

      No Walker, or things around him, were constantly under investigation for the same reason that Trump and things around him are constantly under investigation, it's the political left's tactic of trying to overturn an election and/or make it damn near impossible for the elected official to govern effectively.

      What the political left has done is immoral and unethical.

      The golden rule applies.

      Jeff Simpson wrote, "The shutdown on top of the hurricane has caused Ms. Minton to rethink a lot of things."

      As for the shut down...

      In Jack Marshall’s 2013 EthicsAlarms.com blog Ten Ethics Observations On The Government Shut-Down Marshall correctly writes,

      “It takes two sides to make an impasse.”, “Blaming either side exclusively is illogical and unfair, as well as dishonest.”, “...in an impasse, the side that refuses to bargain in good faith holds the greater responsibility for the length it.”

      Both sides in DC pompously virtue signal from their soapbox that they are fighting the good fight but what’s really happening is that shutdowns are evidence of intentional failures in government compromise to score political points, it’s not ethical and it’s not acceptable. It’s time we the people kick the soapbox out from under their pompous feet and demand they do their job!

      Delete
    3. I did read what you wrote and thats what i saw.

      Many people are now being called racist, maybe because since 2016 it seems to be the in thing to be an open racist. Hmmm wonder where that stems from? https://www.npr.org/2019/01/09/683177489/virginia-study-finds-increased-school-bullying-in-areas-that-voted-for-trump

      Everything The Donald has ever done is immoral and unethical....from his start not renting to people of color, to his many times of sexual harrassment to his stiffing small businesses to his making a fortune off the presidency ....

      Yes it was the left that snuck into Walkers office and put in a secret router that went right to Tim RUssell .... You caught us,


      https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2018/dec/11/donald-trump-government-shut-down-chuck-schumer-white-house-video

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    4. Jeff Simpson wrote, "I did read what you wrote and that's what I saw."

      Now you're intentionally being obtuse.

      As for the childish race baiting name calling, for God's sake Jeff, grow up. You're in a respected position on a school board and your acting no better than the school kids on in the school yards slinging around a new word they don't understand.

      P.S. No one anywhere has provided a single shred of evidence to prove that Donald Trump is a racist, all the anti-Trumpers have is innuendo and accusations - no proof. It's all unethical political attack dog nonsense.

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    5. if you think no one has proven that Trump is racist then you have not been paying attention.

      Delete
    6. Jeff Simpson wrote, "if you think no one has proven that Trump is racist then you have not been paying attention."

      Please present something to back up your claim that there's "proof" that Trump is a racist. Bet you can't present even one "proof" of such a claim.

      Delete
    7. What's this new...

      "Your comment will be visible after approval."

      I hope you're not choosing to go down the same rhetorical coward path that the Caffeinated Politics blogger chose.

      Delete
  3. "(A)sk not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."

    Gosh Li'l Jeffy, how does that square with Lefty's slobbering expectation of open borders and more More MORE high quality/quantity free $#!T for prospective democrat voters?

    "As a white man, I'm especially puzzled as to how so many people of my race and gender got so weak and whiny."

    You're puzzled...SERIOUSLY?

    Take a look at the people you's hold in high regard; Cryin' Chuckie Schumer, Hopey Changey, SanFranNan, Elizabeth "Lieawatha-Fauxchahontas" Warren and nouveau Idiot Savant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to name just a few.

    You's are terminally confused; it's the Lefty Way!

    The Gotch

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  4. Gosh Li'l Jeffy, how does that square with Lefty's slobbering expectation of open borders and more More MORE high quality/quantity free $#!T for prospective democrat voters?

    What are you blabbing about??

    Take a look at the people you's hold in high regard; Cryin' Chuckie Schumer, Hopey Changey, SanFranNan, Elizabeth "Lieawatha-Fauxchahontas" Warren and nouveau Idiot Savant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to name just a few.


    Please leave your racism at Blaskas blog

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    Replies
    1. Racism? Oy gevalt! Are youse for real??

      What we have here, folks, is a classic example of Magical Lefty Thinking, an all too common, unenviable trait found in no short supply in the career infantilized Lefty.

      If I juuuuuust think it, it MUST be true.

      Thanks for the laugh Li'l Jeffy, but isn't it time to pretend that Diamond Jim Doyle didn't leave America's Dairyland in a HUGE fiscal abyss?

      Yer pal!

      The Gotch

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    2. Jeff Simpson wrote, "Please leave your racism at Blaskas blog"

      Ok Jeff you need to be an adult and back up your "racism" accusation; provide your arguments that explain how Cornelius Gotchberg's statement is racist. If you cannot do so in a reasonably acceptable intelligent manner then you are no better than the bone-headed race slinging idiotic social justice warriors accosting the City of Madison School Board meeting with false accusation after false accusation - they are liars Jeff - are you a liar?

      Delete
    3. anytime that you use the words Hiawatha or Pocahontas or any version of them to describe Elizabeth Warren, you are not being funny, creative or clever - just racist.

      Delete
    4. Jeff Simpson wrote, "anytime that you use the words Hiawatha or Pocahontas or any version of them to describe Elizabeth Warren, you are not being funny, creative or clever - just racist."

      I call bull shit!

      Jeff,
      Do you honestly think that people other than yourself are idiots? No Jeff you're not going to get away with this one.

      Using those two words does not show that a person shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.

      Elizabeth Warren has presented herself with false claims of having native american ancestry. Warren earned her public ridicule, and ridicule dear Jeff is what using the words Hiawatha or Pocahontas is doing it's NOT racism in any way shape of form!

      I've got roughly 32 times as much native american blood in me than that liar Warren does and I have never made claims like she's made. Ridiculing Warren for her ludicrous claims is well deserved.

      Try again if you dare.

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    5. Got news for youse Li'l Jeffy, just because you fling hysterically absurd claims of raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacism around doesn't mean yer down with the minorities you laughably think yer protecting.

      Quite the opposite, they won't say it, but they think yer a tool, something with which I'd unequivocally agree.

      Youse ought appreciate the candor of folks that have the stones to tell youse that.

      Bullying? Know what is, in the fact-based Universe, experiencing a HUGE spike?

      False hate crimes.

      And don't for a moment believe that the bullying reports aren't a part of it.

      It gets worse.

      Know what the catch all/end all arbiter of hate (the SPLC) recoginizes as the biggest spike in hate groups?

      Black Nationalists. But youse won't read that in yer news feeds because it's a FAR too Inconvenient of a Truth.

      The Gotch

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  5. Here's what I wrote back on January 20th...

    Jeff Simpson wrote, "if you think no one has proven that Trump is racist then you have not been paying attention."

    Please present something to back up your claim that there's "proof" that Trump is a racist. Bet you can't present even one "proof" of such a claim.

    Jeff hasn't bothered to provide anything to support his claims, as usual. Tell me Jeff, what exactly am I supposed to conclude from you being completely unresponsive to a direct challenge for proof to support your claim? Here's what I choose to conclude; you have absolutely no proof of your claim and you're doing what progressives do so often, slinging around false accusations because that's all you people have?

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    1. or it could be that I have been busy and not having the time to prove that water is wet.

      https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/15/opinion/leonhardt-trump-racist.html

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    2. Well at least for once you actually tried to support the mud you sling.

      Are you going to turn over a new leaf and do this as a standard ethical practice?

      Delete