Tuesday, July 06, 2010

The Moon, Mecca and Feelings

NASA Administrator Bolden stirred up a major controversy with his comments on Al Jazeera TV regarding NASA's role in helping Muslims "feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering." NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs has clarified the remarks to state that Bolden was speaking of his outreach priorities, not the total priorities of NASA. I can accept that explanation while I understand the backlash surrounding the original statement, given the Obama Administration's tendency to frame so much of its policies in a politically correct world view whether or not that really serves the national interest.

I wonder how many Muslims around the world interpret a statement that it is an objective of the US government to make them "feel good" about their accomplishments (perhaps a little condescending). If the Muslim world is concerned about its accomplishments and how it is perceived, that is a problem that Muslims are going to have to address among themselves.

All this talk about fe-e-e-e-lings just brings to mind an old seventies song.

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