Space Academy ou space Fiction?

Space Academy ou space Fiction?

15 octobre 2004 — Dad ayant été battu en 1992 parce qu’il n’avait pas dans son argumentaire et sa rhétorique, selon son propre mot, « the vision thing », le fiston ne s’y est pas laissé prendre : il propose un projet de conquête spatiale qui ressort évidemment d’un “grand dessein”, de cette “vision” qui manqua à son père pour être réélu en 1992. Pour comprendre la manoeuvre de GW, suivez la flèche et découpez selon le pointillé.

Pour prendre la chose d’une façon différente, on dira que la proposition de GW d’hier, — une base sur la Lune, une mission habitée vers Mars — est sans doute le premier discours d’un président descendu en flammes (samedi dernier) avant d’avoir été prononcé (hier mercredi). Ce discours pas encore prononcé fit en effet l’objet d’un éditorial du Washington Post d’une formidable puissance critique, quatre jours avant qu’il soit prononcé. Cet éditorial est titré « Moon Dreams » et il est pour le moins impertinent, ce qui étonne de la part du Post, libéral de gauche devenu libéral interventionniste comme on en voit beaucoup aujourd’hui, — et donc, depuis le 11 septembre et jusqu’alors soutien attentif de GW. Il est le signe que même les plus réfléchis parmi les soutiens de GW Bush finissent, à telle ou telle occasion, par perdre leur calme, par sortir de leurs gonds.

Bref, cet éditorial de samedi méritait d’être rappelé pour commenter la nouvelle d’hier, pardon le discours d’hier, qui ne vaut en effet guère plus, — comme toutes les manoeuvres électorales, réalisées avec tant de tranquille et cynique calcul, pour le seul but d’obtenir quelques “manchettes” de plus dans les journaux.

« BILL CLINTON used to be mocked as the first baby boomer president. He was so undisciplined, the critics used to sneer: He thought life's normal constraints and rules did not apply to him, and he lacked the seriousness to impose priorities on his laundry lists of initiatives. President Bush has escaped this critique, at least for the most part: His frame is trim; his hair is trimmed; he seems the very embodiment of discipline. But now this escape must surely end. A human settlement on the moon? A manned flight to Mars? If Mr. Bush really does embrace those objectives next Wednesday, as his staff suggests he will, it will be fair to ask: Does he not believe that life's normal constraints and rules apply to him? Does he lack the seriousness to decide priorities?

» Actually, Mr. Bush's contempt for the constraints of fiscal prudence has been evident for a long while. Some presidents before him — Mr. Clinton included — made hard choices among competing spending programs, and between spending and taxes. Mr. Bush spends money freely in all directions and cuts taxes as well. Now he wants to colonize the moon and eventually send Americans to Mars! The last time this idea was floated — by the president's father, in 1989 — NASA put the likely cost at $400 billion.

» We are not against presidents who pursue big ideas, even expensive ones. We can think of several worthy candidates, as we have said before: Make sure that every child who qualifies for Head Start is actually covered by the program; extend housing assistance to the 5 million American families who qualify for it but nonetheless are excluded; and provide preschooling and health insurance for all the nation's 4-year-olds. Mr. Bush himself boasts several bold and, in our view, crucial initiatives that require his continuing attention if they are to succeed: He has launched a multifaceted assault on terrorism, embarked on nation-building ventures in Afghanistan and Iraq, and promised to greatly expand America's efforts against the AIDS virus.

» Mr. Bush's AIDS initiative could stem the tide of a plague that is set to kill more people than World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined. It's not clear, by contrast, what practical results, if any, would be yielded by Mr. Bush's moon-Mars agenda. A more modest evolution in spaceflight technology -- officials Friday were talking about a 5 percent increase in NASA's budget -- would be worth debating in ordinary times. But Mr. Bush's past fiscal recklessness puts a heavy burden even on modest proposals -- and flying to the moon is not modest.

» The success of NASA's latest Mars venture has proved the worth of unmanned missions, while manned space flight is exorbitantly expensive. After President George H.W. Bush proposed a return to the moon as a way station for Mars, sticker shock soon ended the moon talk, and no doubt the same may happen again. In which case the current President Bush will have floated an unserious proposal, succeeding merely in sounding big and capturing newspaper headlines. »

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