Shuttle Accident Appallingly Politicized Already
URL:http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_020403/content/t...
February 3, 2003
One of the most appalling things about the coverage of the space shuttle accident has been the Democrats' attempt to exploit the tragedy for petty political gain. It is uncanny the depths to which they have sunk in order to get their power back, in order to "get their message out," which they don't think they're doing. They're blaming George W. Bush for the Columbia's disintegration because of budget cuts and the privatization of the program.
From the beginning of exploration - from the dawn of time through Magellan and the Columbia - this has always been a risky business. Here we have seven people dead and a program in a state of disarray, and the Democrats are saying, "How can we score points off this?" Soon, you'll hear tax cuts blamed for this - just as they blamed them for 9/11 and everything else. If only that evil Bush would seize every dime the American people earn, and let the brilliant, liberal elite in Washington spend it, we would have utopia!
The space program is overwhelmingly successful, considering the number of missions versus the number of deaths. It is an amazing success story every time a shuttle completes a mission. The notion that we ought to cut back now is just silly, as I told a caller on Monday. We reap massive benefits from space exploration. That's one reason I've loved and been fascinated by it since the Mercury program, as I describe below.
A female shuttle astronaut once requested that I put together a video for the commander of that mission - Kevin Chilton. I'm honored that he's a fan - and still have the framed pictures he took of the EIB Building from space on my wall. To call for the brilliance and bravery that is the space program to be shut down or curtailed because of Challenger and Columbia is to dishonor all of those who have gone into the program. We'll figure out what happened (whether it was that hard-as-a brick "foam" or something else) fix it, and rise again into space. |
