Friday, January 27, 2012

Republican Candidate Gingrich wants to take us to the Moon!

Keywords:  Space Odyssey; Moon Trip; Political Gimmickry; Florida Primary; Dreams and Promises; Vote Harvesting; and Republican Candidates

Five weeks ago, Republican candidate Gingrich was about left dead on the road to nomination for the Republican flag bearer for the November 2012 contest. Then came South Carolina and the venomous politician came alive whipping all other Republican candidates to a stupor. With a more than an ambitious momentum, candidate Gingrich proceeded to Florida attempting to take the establishment candidate, Mitt Romney, to task. Gingrich's ticket was going to be the one to beat according to his campaign staff; then, came yesterday in Jacksonville, Florida, when Candidate Gingrich made probably the most fatal comment or advancement. Gingrich proposed for America to go back to the moon! This proposal could have endeared Gingrich to the thousands of Southern Floridians who lost their jobs from the slow pace of activities at the Kennedy Space Center; however, the proposal is not going to make him a viable candidate for the Republican nomination. Mitt Romney probably made it clear to Gingrich, when he responded that he would have fired an executive from one of his lauded companies that made such a proposal. Do you share this view? Did Gingrich overestimate this proposal of his, considering the realities on the ground? The blog today explores these questions.

If you believe political pundits and gallop polls gurus, Mitt Romney would be able to tie up the Republican Party nomination with the oncoming Florida Primary vote. Many Conservative Republicans and probably the Godfathers in the Republican party are probably embracing Mitt Romney, after a long reminiscence. Candidate Gingrich however, still insists that he is in the race to win it all; and no matter what the establishment Republicans think, he is the ideal candidate that can beat President Obama come November. Its permissive and ambitious for Gingrich to think he stands a chance after last night performance in the Republican primary debate. However, candidate Mitt Romney had probably painted candidate Gingrich in a large brush: Not suitable for nomination; or, as flag bearer for Republican Party!

While Republican Candidate Gingrich has offered another grandiose idea, wanting to take America back to the moon in his second term, the reality of a humongous national debt; and, a trove of unemployed and under-employed Americans, make his radiant proposal, unfeasible at this time. The magnitude of our debt, the under-performing factory output, the less than crystal Gross Domestic Product, and the more than tepid effort from congress to change the course of the national ship, make Gingrich grandiose proposal, impractical if not suicidal. This is why some critics of Gingrich indicated that this candidate says so many things under so many circumstances or contexts that you start to wonder if he is not only full of air. To this critics, candidate Gingrich offers a grandiose idea one day, the next, he offers another that can easily be construed as malady. Supporters of the former speaker of the U.S House of Representatives insist however that the fact that critics can't dream big and grandiosely, does not mean Gingrich's proposal on the moon trip, is necessarily unfathomable or ridiculous.

When voiced, Gingrich's dream for a back-to-moon voyage probably seemed romartinique; and, probably thought provoking to the extent that you want to say quintessential Gingrich: "An idea as big as the ego of the former speaker!" Even as you think over the historical experience of his generation, the idea of not having a space program would have been considered, impossible or unjustifiable under whatever circumstance. However, things have changed in this country and our debt-to-capital ratio as a nation is not the same as what we had after the second world war or the 60's or 70's. The dialogue over what we should do with the space program or our achievements so far in the space program, will continue for a long while; however, for all practical purposes, this nation is not in a financial health to continue investing billions in the space program; especially  when there are millions of Americas loosing their homes and our children and their unemployed parents, are sleeping on the streets and using convenience stores bathrooms as clean-up area. Tasha: Times-a'-changing!

Millions of Americans are feeling economically vulnerable. Many Americans who have built their wealth on 401K's and retirement plans and some, on the equity in their homes, are finding that the American dream is now a nightmare, because of what Wall Street has done to them and their investments. To stand before this wounded group and propose that the nation directs its attention to going back to the moon, is probably worth being booed over. The nation wants and love grandiose ideas and proposals; however, those ideas are better at a time, when the basics of life have been taken care of. When hunger and shelter deficiency are the focus of a group, it is hard to accept or get tuned to an idea that could probably cost the nation billions of dollars that could help alleviate these stresses. When men and women with college degrees are practically begging for any job to keep afloat; and, work experienced heads of families, who are now unemployed for more than six months or more, are relying on their unemployment insurance payments to secure the roof over their head, it is hard to convince these people to support an idea that looks so far fetched in these austere times.

Even as the nation attempts to dig itself out of the current rot and the industrial complex attempt to find its way out of the darkness of under utilization of capacity, the space industrial complex cannot expect some patronage at this time. Gingrich's proposal may have revealed our glorious days of advancements in space technology; however, our current financial situation makes this proposal too much of a fiction. Floridians like many Americans understand that Newt's proposal seems to be out of torch with reality. How do you invest in space explorations when health care coverage and insurance are still being debated as to their necessity? How do you subscribe to pumping billions into going to the moon, when our industries are working under capacity and unemployment problem nearly killing the nation? How do you convince men and women in their golden years, who have lost all their investments due to the atrocities on Wall Street, to get on board with an idea better left to other eras?

During the Republican Primary debate in Jacksonville, Florida, yesterday, the debate got super heated with Romney and Gingrich going at each others throats. In a rather bizarre altercation, the issue of what politicians advertise as their position on issues, including what should be the official language of communication in America, Romney found himself denying an advertisement that characterized Gingrich as depicting Spanish as a Ghetto language. The uniqueness of this altercation brought fore-front, ridiculous claims and assertions from political opponents that attempt to paint the other candidate as inadequate, unwholesome, anti-immigrant or what have you. Political gurus say that is part of the game: You attempt to undo your opponents and if possible, throw everything at him or her including the kitchen sink!

As each Republican candidate for the nomination exercise attempts to bring voters around to their point of view or position, you expect claims and pronouncements that may be outlandish. Republican Candidate Gingrich's proposal for a trip to the moon fall into this outlandishness. Some Americans may find his proposal out of place in a dire straits economy, but for a few, the fact that Gingrich is espousing an idea of going back to the moon, is like romanticizing with a dream held dearly by them; even if it means doing so at the expense of other people's welfare. Politicians will do anything to woo voters; however, it goes beyond saying that some proposals are scandalous or polyandrous for the moment. Many residents of Southern Florida with affiliation with the Kennedy Space Center, will want to return to the old and golden days of the space odyssey. The Republican Political debate in Florida yesterday gave Gingrich the opportunity to sell these probably romanticizing gullible few, the snake oil!

Do you share Gingrich's proposal? Some will answer this question in affirmative. There are chances that restarting actively the space odyssey all over again, will create employment opportunities for many who are out of work in Southern Florida. There are tens of thousands Floridians who reportedly worked on the space program in the past who are now out of employment. When this group heard for the first time, Gingrich's proposal, they knew he was attempting to woo their vote; they probably did not envisage a truism in the notion of the nation going back to the moon at this time. As grandiose and probably appealing to this few, the idea would hardly fly at this time for the general populace. Americans always want to look forward to brighter days; they are eternal optimists and probably over simplistically optimistic to the extent of bravado; and this is why they saw Gingrich's proposal as a possibility. To this groups, I'll probably say: Dream On, its part of the whole package!

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