Alan Boyle has a review of the Great Debate, and publishes some emails from his readers. I found this one amusingly (but also sadly) wacky:

The only viable reason for space exploration or study is to learn as much as possible about the stars and planets without man physically interfering. There is no rational justification for manned space exploration! None! Neither does man (American or otherwise) need to colonize the planets. The only reason this country is pursuing space exploration is to locate minerals and natural planetary wealth for private American conglomerates to exploit! Scientists are being used; they are positively stupid and unintelligent if they think for one minute President Bush is promoting space exploration for true scientific study.

Yes, those exclamation marks sure make the argument more persuasive...

Would that his paranoid ravings were true. I'd love for us to be "locating minerals and planetary wealth for private American conglomerates to exploit" (with or without exclamation marks), but I certainly heard nothing about that in the president's plans.

It's a little frustrating to be blamed for something that isn't happening, when we'd like to see it happen--we get all the bad press with none of the benefits.

And why do these loons think that just because they value only "pure science" that everyone does? I wonder where he thinks that the computer into which he typed this monumental ignorance came from, if not by "exploiting minerals and planetary wealth"?

I get tired of other people telling trying to decide what I should or should not do.

If this Bozo doesn't want to go to space, fine. But that doesn?t change the fact that other people want to, even if they never get to locate "minerals and planetary wealth for private American conglomerates to exploit."

Because of this person, the colloquialism "space cadet" must now be redefined. Perhaps a simple "blithering idiot", or "one of a thousand monkeys" would be more appropriate.

Rand, I really wish you would spend more time ignoring the crackpots. Or at least, the ones without a valid concept of reality. You've already identified he/she/it as a "loon". Don't woory, we ALL agree with you on this one.

What amuses me is how little concept such people have of the size of the universe. Let's go on a species-wide rape and rampage over the universe and see how much damage we manage to do!

The problem with these ultra looney granola headed luddite leftists is they don't want to let us leave, they want to disarm us and they want to force their whacky ideas down our throats so our progeny is forced to adopt their mutated world view.

Something has to give and those hippies need to understand that I have given them all I am going to give. Either let us leave in peace or don't whine when we decide to put our boots on your throats when we have finally had enough of your crap. Be careful what Utopia you wish for hippies...........

That rant is representative of those who are simply embarrassed by the presence of humanity on this planet, much less on any other planet. Wrapping thenselves in the garments of environmentalism, these people-haters believe Homo Sapiens is a grotesque mistake, rather than nature's crowning achievement (so far, that we know of).

The other issue these knotheads fail to see is this, no pivate American comglomerate EVER existed without paid employees. The railroads were not built by the owners, the steel mills were not built by the owners, for that matter, all Microsoft software is not written by Bill Gates. Steve Jobs made alot of people rich, by hiring them, paying them and then,GIVING them stock. HE DID NOT THEN, NOR DOES HE NOW, PERSONALLY HAND-BUILD ALL THE APPLE COMPUTERS.

I'm sick to death of hearing this bash American business crap. Hey, from now on will all you anti-business, anti-American dream types please include in your short dissertations, where you work and where you live.

I'll be very surprised if very many of you
half-goofy twits are self-employed and live outside the U.S.

I will not be at all surprised if many if not most of these dream type twits work for some government agency or a non-profit organization.

Work? Surely you jest.

I get tired of other people telling trying to decide what I should or should not do.

If this Bozo doesn't want to go to space, fine. but that doesn?t change the fact that other people want to, even if they never get to locate "minerals and planetary wealth for private American conglomerates to exploit."

-------------------------------------------------
The other issue these knotheads fail to see is this, no pivate American comglomerate EVER existed without paid employees. The railroads were not built by the owners, the steel mills were not built by the owners, for that matter, all Microsoft software is not written by Bill Gates. Steve Jobs made alot of people rich, by hiring them, paying them and then,GIVING them stock. HE DID NOT THEN, NOR DOES HE NOW, PERSONALLY HAND-BUILD ALL THE APPLE COMPUTERS.

I'm sick to death of hearing this bash American business crap. Hey, from now on will all you anti-business, anti-American dream types please include in your short dissertations, where you work and where you live.

I'll be very surprised if very many of you
half-goofy twits are self-employed and live outside the U.S.

-------------------------------------------------
While I find that space exploration is an amiable quest, I feel it’s novel at best; idealistic and yes, a bit "space cadetish". Man's dreams of space travel are at times, very lofty; however, we have yet to “conquer” our own selves, not mention our planet. We are treating our earthly abode like crap... nuclear waste and mercury the in oceans, air pollution, diminution of forrests, oil spills, genetically engineered foods to name a few "Unconquered" MAJOR problems we haven't dealt with.

We are not mature enough to venture anywhere else. Yet we try. For a job some of us would kill ourselves and everything around us to what end? Some people are motivated by fame, glory, noteriety perhaps a nobel peace prize at the expense of the health and welfare of many lives. We don't even know how to treat each other fairly; baptized in underlying Darwinian, me, me, me, I, mentality.

We run over the weak to get at nowhere; because at the end of the day, that's where we’ll all end up; nowhere. So go on into outer space... your just going leave it a huge trash heap; hell, we can't even clean up the mounting debri we have left orbiting our plantet!

Can you imagine what would happen if we'd so-called "conquored" space?
All for what?
For Whom?

Mr. AND Mrs. Big Conglomeration has proven that they don't give a rat's pattooty about your ideals or eventually your tiny-minded aspiration.

You know the rest of the story.