Okay, they've done it again. The very fact that Democrats haven't learned from recent history but, instead, continue to play with fire tells me more than anything how broken this party really is.
Monday night, Democrats invited former VP Al Gore, AKA, "The Grim Reaper," to speak at the Democratic National Convention on behalf of their new candidate, John F Kerry. Which means, of course, that poor Kerry is doomed!
Almost as an arbinger of that coming doom, Kerry's campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill, yesterday went on the air with Fox News to accuse NASA of leaking photos from Kerry's visit to the Kennedy Center showing him in what some are calling a "bunny suit," but which is actually a "clean suit" used by workers to prevent contamination in sensitive areas. John Glenn is with Kerry and in several photos, Kerry, Glenn, and a third person (whoever that might be) are obviously posing for picture, yet Ms. Cahill insisted that "no photos were supposed to have been taken," and that the photos came as a complete surprise. A NASA official claims to have submitted the photos taken during the Kerry visit to his campaign for their review, but a few of the photos taken during the visit were also posted to the NASA website. Really, this is silly because, while Kerry does not really look all that great in the suit, he doesn't look bad either.
The fact is, space suits rarely make you look good. They are built to protect human life, not human dignity.
The mistake here is that Ms. Cahill has turned a bad photo op into Grade-A fodder for Kerry critics by overreacting to a few not-so-dignified photos. Ms. Cahill should have gone on Fox News and LAUGHED at the photos and told Brit Hume and the Fox News audience how much fun Kerry had putting on the suit, crawling into a real rocket, visiting with John Glenn and NASA officials, etc. The mainstream public would have smiled and moved on. Really, thats all there is to the story and most everyone knows it.
Unfortunately, Ms. Cahill has turned something innocent into a conspiracy. When Hume asked Ms. Cahill if she thought this might be a "dirty trick" on the part of some officials at NASA, Ms. Hume responded, "What do you think?" BIG MISTAKE! Laugh and move on and the American people suddenly can appreciate Kerry for his ability to laugh at himself and show enthusiasm for something cool like putting on a real spacesuit and crawling into a rocket.
Article comments
1 - Hal Pawluk
Very Shakespearean, David - much ado about nothing.
If there's nothing there, why all the blather?
2 - David Flanagan
If there's nothing there, why all the blather?
There's nothing with the whole photo op thing in my opinion, other than the fact that the whole thing was poorly handled by Mary Beth Cahill and the fact that Grim Reaper Gore sounded the death knell for Kerry on Monday.
Other than that, nothing much happening here.
Thanks
David
3 - Mark Edward Manning
They want to put Kerry in a space suit? Dukakis-in-the-tank redux! I suppose Kerry's been saying, "Well, I'm all for the President's space program, but I'm not all for the President's space program."
By the way, Gore didn't claim to invent NASA, did he?
4 - Mark Saleski
of course, gore didn't actually claim to have invented the internet.
however, gore DID invent icky public wife-kissing.
5 - Tom Johnson
It's not a space suit. It's a clean-room suit - it looks absolutely nothing like a spacesuit and is just a jumper with a hood. It's worn in areas where the spacecraft or components are being constructed in order to keep hair, skin flakes, and clothing fibers from getting into sensitive electronics.
Why this is such a funny picture, I really don't know. Everyone looks like an oompa-loompa in them.
6 - Eric Olsen
I like Gore, although it's probably for the best that he didn't win. I thought the icky wife-kissing humanized him. He clearly digs that woman.
7 - David Flanagan
Here is a quote from Kerry while at Cape Canaveral:
Now, granted, he was talking about things such as our oil dependence and health care issues, but he was saying these things at the Kennedy Space Center... You know, the place which serves as the center of most of our efforts around space travel and exploration.
And lets not forget that MANY technical innovations have come from our efforts and innovations around space travel. Innovations in both non-space travel as well as the medical industry, so continuing to aggressively pursue travel and exploration in space is something that every American president since John F Kennedy has supported.
As for reducing our dependency on foreign sources of oil, this was the cornerstone of Bush's energy policy. The short-term solution proposed by Bush was to utilize our own sources of oil, coal, and gas, and the long-term solution was to aggressively pursue new sources of energy.
I could go on forever, but, really, what is the point.
FYI - Thanks for the correction regarding the suits being worn by Kerry and Glenn. Here are a couple of pertinent quotes:
Thanks.
David
8 - JR
I like Gore, although it's probably for the best that he didn't win.
Only if this country learns a lesson and never ever allows a religious conservative near the presidency again.
9 - David Flanagan
Only if this country learns a lesson and never ever allows a religious conservative near the presidency again.
There were MANY presidents who were religious conservatives. Here are just a few.
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Abraham Lincoln
John F Kennedy
Having people of faith in office is a good thing. As Thomas Jefferson once said:
In matters of principle, stand like a rock. In matters of taste, swim with the current.
Thanks
David
10 - Eric Olsen
thanking yourself is a somewhat odd trait
11 - David Flanagan
I never saw it as thanking myself. Is that how it appears? I'm just trying to be courteous to the people I'm disagreeing with. :-)
It just seems kind of impersonal otherwise.
Thanks,
David
12 - Eric Olsen
David, it was just a joke - the comma makes all the difference
13 - David Flanagan
Lol! You see, when I'm tired I just don't get jokes!
Thank YOU Mr. Olsen. ;-)
David