Isn't this the same President that said something to the effect, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" ? Freedom is good. But after making such enormous sacrifice, people might expect to start collecting on their investment at some point. Trouble is, they bought stock in futility. All the money spent on manned space program was wasted, except that fraction that inspired kids to embark on careers that were also ultimately fruitless.

That is why we're building the International Space Station today, not because we believe there to be any potential, but because we refuse to admit that the Apollo program has no meaning for young people TODAY. The legacy of Apollo is NOT cheap access to space; it is NOT orbiting hotels; it is NOT colonies on the moon and Mars. Except the inspirational speeches, a few rock samples, and some bleak photographs of the lunar surface, there was no dividend for future generations (meaning today's young people). If all that money had been spent on developing renewable energy resources, and comprehensive recycling of waste, we would still be reaping the rewards today, and no doubt forever, as long as democracy and freedom exist. But instead of pursuing long-range sustainable development, we spend countless billions on another FINITE space megaproject trying to inspire a generation that is far more interested in the latest internet-equipped PDA and vaporware to play with. This at least is technology we can hold in our hands, meanwhile the space program, even the aerospace industry generally speaking, has done nothing for me, it hasn't even provided me with a job. This is some pretty basic stuff we're talking about. Maybe the real problem is that most people in leadership positions are ill-informed, philosophically-poor, short-range thinkers, and most importantly TOO OLD to make appropriate decisions about the future of the nation's young people. Confronted by my statements they would probably turn from public personalities into the geriatric monsters that experience tells me they are.