My thoughts on the Utah delegation’s selective fiscal conservatism, when it comes to NASA, over at PJM.
[Update a few minutes later]
Bobby Block and Mark Matthews have a story on the latest twist in space policy, about Lockmart’s proposal to test fly Orion on a Delta IV. The Utah porkers are still at it:
“I hate to see different entities try to cannibalize the process,” said U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R- Utah, a staunch supporter of his state’s solid-rocket industry. “There is money to move forward on [a heavy-lift rocket using solid-rocket motors], as well as the capsule, as long as NASA budgets its money wisely and doesn’t waste it on wild goose chases.”
…In meetings last week, Bishop told NASA chief Charlie Bolden he was concerned that NASA was dragging its feet transitioning from Constellation to the new heavy-lift program that ensured a role for Utah’s solid-rocket motor industry. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch said he called the meeting “to explain in no uncertain terms the Utah congressional delegation’s interest in ensuring that Utah’s solid-rocket motor industry is protected.”
You know what’s a “wild goose chase”? Expecting to get an affordable or sustainable program with an expensive, monopolistic NASA-developed vehicle from legacy hardware. You have to give Orrin Hatch points for honesty, though.
So says Jack Shafer. The question is, if the leaks have really compromised her to the point that she can no longer be effective as SecState, is she still a viable presidential candidate?
It’s possible that not all of the magazine’s archives are online, or that the search engine didn’t pick up every example. But hey, I at least made the effort, which is more than we can say for vanden Heuvel. Even if I missed a few, I think my point is made: Libertarians have been out in front on this issue from the start. And contra vanden Heuvel and Ames/Levine, not only was libertarian criticism not muted when a Republican occupied the White House, during that time libertarian journalists, wonks, and pundits did a damned sight better job covering TSA abuses, inefficacy, and theatrics than the The Nation.
The mindless criticism of the Koch brothers by those funded by George Soros is also simultaneously amusing and infuriating.
Is there any prominent person or editorial board (outside of the administration) on the left who made a huge stink about Valerie Plame’s outing who is remotely as horrified by the ongoing Wikileaks travesty?
The outrage is indeed selective.
What I want to know is why Wikileaks can’t get its hands on Obama’s college transcripts. Apparently, there are some secrets that the administration can keep.
[Update a couple minutes later]
Michael Ledeen actually kind of likes the leaks. Well, some of them are damaging to the terrorists. And it’s nice to see that the administration and State Department aren’t as utterly clueless in private as they are in public.
Thoughts on freeing Lori Berenson. She can rot there, for all I care (maybe give her Joran Van Der Sloot for a roomie — sociopaths deserve each other). But someone needs to take care of her kid.
OK, that’s long enough. Between this sort of thing and Stuxnet, I’m glad to see that someone is doing something about this. I wish that I had confidence that it was us.
The attacks could be a concerted effort to retard Iran’s nuclear progress, or they could be meant to hype Iran’s own “terror threat” and provide an excuse to crack down on domestic opposition. The only certainty is that the life expectancy of Iranian nuclear physicists is falling rapidly, and is now almost as low as that of Iran’s civil-rights activists, journalists, and public intellectuals.
Given the stated goals of the Iranian nuclear program, I’m hoping that it will go lower.