If you want the most compact summary of everything wrong with America today, it is fueled up and awaiting launch in Florida right now. Maybe it will accomplish its mission, and maybe not, but it's not about results any more, it's about going with your gut. It's about feeling good about the thrills. It's about telling the experts to shut up and spending large for a big adventure. And most importantly, it's about keeping taxpayer money flowing to the corporations that run the country. Let's go down the list of American folly and see how it all comes together in the Space Turkey (Shuttle).
1. Faith based programs. If you believe in something strongly enough, you may behave as though the strength of your belief can affect the outcome. Thus, you may ask people to PRAY for the survival of the Shuttle astronauts. Science tells us that this does not work.
2. Statistical innumeracy. A 1 in 100 chance of catastrophic loss of a very expensive vehicle is not a "small chance." But since the TV mob cannot distinguish between 1 in 100 and Lotto odds, it doesn't matter. As long as NASA can attract Kamikaze Astronauts, it doesn't matter how bad the odds are.
3. Orwellian message switching. NASA spent years telling us that safety comes first, and the Shuttle program was halted TWICE for years to achieve a high degree of vehicle safety. So when the NASA chief decided to launch the shuttle this week OVER THE OBJECTIONS OF THE TOP SAFETY OFFICER, it was just business as usual. The TV mob didn't even drop one Dorito as NASA completely reversed what it had been saying ever since Challenger.
4. Contractor payola. The dollars must flow, and you can find a rent-a-ranter on TV to support any decision the pork machine makes. A bridge to nowhere? No problem. A mission to Mars? Coming right up! Missile defense? How big is your PR budget? An unwinnable war in Iraq? Tom Hanks will do the movie!
In short, the American public is majority-controlled by a stupid, credulous, thrill-chasing, TV-addled mob that will accept almost any degree of mendacity and corruption - as long as it is served up with good production values on the TeeVee set. The Space Turkey is the kind of monstrosity that such a society produces. We richly deserve it.