I hope that the military situation in Iraq cools down soon, too. Can't promise the same for the political fallout, but that's a fight for another ring.

I think that any push to revitalize the space program has to be in tune with the times. Apollo resonated with the quasi-warrior culture of the Cold War, and then in the 70s and on things went flaccid as we turned too much inward, and became too focused on "me!" and not "us!".

There's been serious talk about a new focus on military applications of space the last couple of years, paralleling the rise of American militarism. That wouldn't be my first choice; a civilian/commercial space-faring civilization or a Star Trek utopia would be healthier, to my mind. But if the only thing with half a chance is to build a "Space Force", then I'd have to support it. I figure that a military space program would eventually want to build a lot of spacecraft, and would be forced to find ways to bring down the cost. That can't help but benefit us civilians down the road. Heck, imagine the market for military surplus spacecraft after a couple of decades. Or dual-use facilities, like a Moon base with a high-ground rock-thrower that could also launch non-weapons payloads.

Whatever works.