Space: The JWST is a marvel, and it ought to be for how much it cost and how long it took. But NASA isn't shining with glory for the delays and cost of the Space Launch System or Artemis, neither of which has flown after MANY years of delays and many billions of dollars of overbudget dollars. For example, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched using an Ariane 5 rocket; NASA didn't do that.
If you want to talk about doing space RIGHT, then you need to look at SpaceX and Elon Musk. A launch a week so far this year, without a failure. And the most impressive thing I've seen in decades has been the simultaneous side-by-side landings of the Falcon Heavy's two side boosters. Or perhaps it has been over 100 successful landings of Falcon 9 first-stage boosters on their drone ships. Remind me; how much of the SLS will be recovered for re-use? I believe that the number is 0.0%. Assuming that it ever flies at all. Jerry Pournelle said many times that NASA was no longer a "space" program, but a retirement program for engineers. I'm not sure we need NASA any longer.
Congress? Congress hasn't passed a single appropriations bill or budget in a DECADE. It's all omnibus spending bills and continuing resolutions, and they've spent TRILLIONS of dollars of made-up inflationary money. A gerontocracy of thieves; Nancy Pelosi has made MILLIONS of dollars on insider trading and graft. Abortion or contraception or gay marriage? They had MANY years of absolute Dimocrat control and never passed a single bill on ANY of those topics. I know, they THOUGHT that no future Supreme Court might reconsider any of those topics, so never prepared for the eventuality. But even now, they're trying to re-build the court system so they don't have to actually pass laws.
All of which would be unconstitutional because, as you note, the Constitution gives them 18 enumerated powers, and 95% of Federal law isn't constitutional.
I take it from your reverence for National Review that you count yourself among the NeverTrumpers. You've lost me, because Trump was a marvelous President who was cheated out of his second term by MASSIVE fraud. And the J6 fiasco has been nothing less than a Stalinist Show Trial, a kangaroo court run by traitors, clowns and thieves. There's damned little "evidence", and a lot of that is fraud and hearsay - and no exculpatory evidence is allowed - or even acknowledged.
And the current "president" is a crooked senile grifter, who never accomplished ANYTHING in his 5 decades in Washington. He's a long-time liar and plagiarist, never takes responsibility for his failures, and can't even stick to the same litany of lies. His son, the smartest person Joe knows, is a traitorous crackhead pervert who is even a bigger grifter than the "Big Guy" himself.
Finally, Ukraine; I was initially supportive of Ukrainian efforts, but it seems that the level of graft and thievery there is truly Bidenesque in its brazenness. Ukraine is in Europe, and it needs a European solution - without an additional $200 BILLION in printing-press money. Especially since Biden abandoned an army's worth of money and weapons in his disastrous pullout of Afghanistan.
Hope for the future? There is NO hope for the future of America - not without putting Biden and son and Pelosi in prison and reforming the way American "justice" is administered. Perhaps we should even re-read the Constitution, and apply some of that "federalism" stuff we all learned in high school civics classes. Let the STATES do things, for a change. Certainly, what we've been doing for the last 25 years hasn't been working.
Ummmm..... No.
Space: The JWST is a marvel, and it ought to be for how much it cost and how long it took. But NASA isn't shining with glory for the delays and cost of the Space Launch System or Artemis, neither of which has flown after MANY years of delays and many billions of dollars of overbudget dollars. For example, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched using an Ariane 5 rocket; NASA didn't do that.
If you want to talk about doing space RIGHT, then you need to look at SpaceX and Elon Musk. A launch a week so far this year, without a failure. And the most impressive thing I've seen in decades has been the simultaneous side-by-side landings of the Falcon Heavy's two side boosters. Or perhaps it has been over 100 successful landings of Falcon 9 first-stage boosters on their drone ships. Remind me; how much of the SLS will be recovered for re-use? I believe that the number is 0.0%. Assuming that it ever flies at all. Jerry Pournelle said many times that NASA was no longer a "space" program, but a retirement program for engineers. I'm not sure we need NASA any longer.
Congress? Congress hasn't passed a single appropriations bill or budget in a DECADE. It's all omnibus spending bills and continuing resolutions, and they've spent TRILLIONS of dollars of made-up inflationary money. A gerontocracy of thieves; Nancy Pelosi has made MILLIONS of dollars on insider trading and graft. Abortion or contraception or gay marriage? They had MANY years of absolute Dimocrat control and never passed a single bill on ANY of those topics. I know, they THOUGHT that no future Supreme Court might reconsider any of those topics, so never prepared for the eventuality. But even now, they're trying to re-build the court system so they don't have to actually pass laws.
All of which would be unconstitutional because, as you note, the Constitution gives them 18 enumerated powers, and 95% of Federal law isn't constitutional.
I take it from your reverence for National Review that you count yourself among the NeverTrumpers. You've lost me, because Trump was a marvelous President who was cheated out of his second term by MASSIVE fraud. And the J6 fiasco has been nothing less than a Stalinist Show Trial, a kangaroo court run by traitors, clowns and thieves. There's damned little "evidence", and a lot of that is fraud and hearsay - and no exculpatory evidence is allowed - or even acknowledged.
And the current "president" is a crooked senile grifter, who never accomplished ANYTHING in his 5 decades in Washington. He's a long-time liar and plagiarist, never takes responsibility for his failures, and can't even stick to the same litany of lies. His son, the smartest person Joe knows, is a traitorous crackhead pervert who is even a bigger grifter than the "Big Guy" himself.
Finally, Ukraine; I was initially supportive of Ukrainian efforts, but it seems that the level of graft and thievery there is truly Bidenesque in its brazenness. Ukraine is in Europe, and it needs a European solution - without an additional $200 BILLION in printing-press money. Especially since Biden abandoned an army's worth of money and weapons in his disastrous pullout of Afghanistan.
Hope for the future? There is NO hope for the future of America - not without putting Biden and son and Pelosi in prison and reforming the way American "justice" is administered. Perhaps we should even re-read the Constitution, and apply some of that "federalism" stuff we all learned in high school civics classes. Let the STATES do things, for a change. Certainly, what we've been doing for the last 25 years hasn't been working.
Hope springs eternal. It’s not the what it is the how.