re: The enemies of Space Exploration are sharpening their knives
The issue has been decided by Congress already. Human spaceflight will continue in a big way. Look at the unanimous nomination of Mike Griffin, a known proponent of manned spaceflight.
The end of the Shuttle program will cause a 5 year gap where the Ruskies and Chinese will be the only ones in the human spaceflight business. They might even try to pull off a lunar flyby. I don't think Americans will long stand for that state of affairs.