Prioritities

President Obama has ordered US space agency NASA to re-focus it's priorities in order to "reach out to Muslims". Many people were surprised by this move, and some members of Congress were surprised to hear the news from AlJazeera News first.

"Lawmakers across Capitol Hill, both Democrats and Republicans, were surprised to learn recently that the Obama administration has made reaching out to Muslim nations a top priority for the space agency NASA. They will probably be more surprised to learn that administration officials told the Middle East news organization Al Jazeera about it before they told Congress."

President Obama has tasked NASA, our space agency that achieved the historic mission of placing a man on the moon with reaching out the Muslims and help them feel good about themselves.

"How in the world would NASA help Muslim nations to "feel good" about themselves? Would NASA hold science fairs in Tripoli or Tehran? Produce and circulate propaganda films about Great Muslim Men (careful, never women) of Science? Stress our global debt to Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, the father of algebra? (That's risky, since al-Khwarizmi reportedly learned his math from the Indians.) How would Obama's NASA chief undertake to alter the civilizational self-esteem of a billion people?

...

It might just be that Muslim self-confidence is more dangerous to us than imagined Muslim feelings of inadequacy. But in any case, solicitude about the feelings of individuals cannot comprise a foreign policy. Muslim nations, like other nations, are motivated by advantage and influenced by perceptions of strength and weakness. The president has absolutely no control over the way Muslims feel about themselves -- but he has every power over the way they perceive us." - Mona Charen, Real Clear Politics

From THIS NEWS CLIP, I'd say that reaction to this announcement has been fairly consistent.

"...because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills..." - President John F. Kennedy, on going to the moon.

Now we are to accept that the "best of our energies and skills" of the greatest scientist our country has to offer, are to reach out to Muslims and help them feel good about their place in the world. And we all know, it's important to have Muslims feel good about themselves. Otherwise they might get bored and start throwing stones:

What does this say bout the priorities of this administration, and the direction of our country, when our once great space agency is tasked with such responsibilities. The citizens of this country can not walk away from the TV on this one. We must ensure that the priorities of our government are in our best interest long term. And that can only be done in the election booth.