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The New York Times broke this great story two days ago. Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, asked Judge Roberts for his views on New York Times v. Sullivan, the 1964 Supreme Court decision that revolutionized American libel...

Michael Bloomberg: Hack. Campaigning for re-election in an unquestionably liberal city, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has broken with fellow Republicans and opposed President Bush's pick for chief justice of the Supreme Court. Bloomberg said he could not support nominee John Roberts...

Senator Thune made these remarks on the Senate floor regarding the confirmation of John Roberts: Mr. President, I rise today to voice my strong support for the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United...

From today's Hotline:President Bush has produced a nominee that probably qualifies, and I would support him. -- Tom Daschle on Roberts, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 9/22...

From today's The Hotline:NORTH DAKOTA: Karl's Roeven, Lookin' For A Candidate? ND GOP leaders say WH Dep. CoS Karl Rove's visit to ND provided a boost, no matter what happens after his scheduled meeting with Gov. John Hoeven (R). Rove...

NASA administrator says space shuttle was a mistake

Any good "hard" science fiction fan was capable of making this analysis. Among others, rocketeer Homer Hickham, author and main character of October Sky retired from NASA and wrote a novel titled Back to the Moon in which NASA is given a pretty good black eye for having become moribund with bureaucracy and political correctness.

Latest in this feeling that NASA had lost its direction comes from no less than the NASA chief administrator himself:

The space shuttle and International Space Station ? nearly the whole of the U.S. manned space program for the past three decades ? were mistakes, NASA chief Michael Griffin said Tuesday.

Griffin said NASA lost its way in the 1970s, when the agency ended the Apollo moon missions in favor of developing the shuttle and space station, which can only orbit Earth. ?It is now commonly accepted that was not the right path,? Griffin said. ?We are now trying to change the path while doing as little damage as we can.?

Reading between the lines, it appears to the Chief that NASA needed more von Braun and less Rube Goldberg in its design philosophy:

Asked Tuesday whether the shuttle had been a mistake, Griffin said, ?My opinion is that it was. ? It was a design which was extremely aggressive and just barely possible.? Asked whether the space station had been a mistake, he said, ?Had the decision been mine, we would not have built the space station we're building in the orbit we're building it in.?

Sounds like we finally have a NASA chief worthy of the name after too many bureaucrats, program managers and barely-disguised political hatchetmen, and not nearly enough engineers in the lead. Hopefully now the Congresscritters will give Griffen the support needed to get us back on the road towards the stars. It's absolutely essential if our civilization is to continue to exist and improve itself.

I can't say as though I've ever watched Bill Maher's show on HBO, but couldn't resist tuning in tonight to see George Galloway and Christopher Hitchens. It was about what you'd expect, and nothing worth noting. Galloway truly is treacherous...

I've been a Miami Dolphin fan for a long time, thanks largely to Dan Marino, but this current incarnation of the 'Fins is just pathetic. Ricky Williams? Please. I hope that new coach Nick Saban can right the ship, and...

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