President Obama declared last night that we are now in the midst of a “Sputnik moment.” Trouble is Obama doesn’t have a world-view or a grasp of history to understand what that really means.
Sputnik grew out of the profound belief that the Soviet Union had shot ahead of us in the space race and that this was a direct challenge to American supremacy. As the Washington Times points out, this was not some abstract exercise in education investment. It grew out of a belief that (a) the Soviet Union presented a serious threat to the American way of life, (b) technological prowess, no, superiority, was an essential component of national greatness and (c) America was #1 and should remain #1. it is pretty easy to believe that if Obama had been in politics in 1957, he would not have embraced any of those beliefs. Indeed, today, he finds it hard to call our “enemies” enemies, does not believe that America is “exceptional” any more than Great Britain or Greece is “exceptional,” nor does he believe in the notion of national greatness.
Obama using the “Sputnik moment” line is more about advancing his domestic spending agenda than it is about meeting America’s global challenges. Like the Soviet satellite named Sputnik, Obama’s ideas need to be shot out into space.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
‘Sputnik Moment?’ Obama Doesn’t Get It
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
What I like is how the guy that cancelled NASA is using Sputnik as an analogy for what we need to do..
"... is more about advancing his domestic spending agenda than it is about meeting America’s global challenges."
Tut, tut, my good man. We educated types never use the word "spending" ... instead we use the word "investment."
Yes, and so far it looks like we've "invested" ourselves into a 14 trillion debt. Most investors that lose money are told they can't keep losing money until they pay what they already owe. It doesn't work that way with the government though, they just print more money.
The thing is though, the results are the same whether you print more money or pay what you already owe ... your personal economy goes to hell and your living standard decreases. Many people (mainly "Democratic" voters) are incapable of making this connection.
Post a Comment