This writer has worked within the realm where the ‘monster media’ roams for nearly three decades. It likes shiny objects that easily bait and distract. That 24-hour news cycle is a hungry animal, that demands feeding around the clock– and it’s diapers changed regularly. For the primary objective is to draw a crowd and sell things — not enlighten and inform. It is quite obvious what happened with Bolden. It could happen to anyone targeting a message to favor a specific audience. He knew who his audience was in this instance and earnestly emphasized NASA’s ‘out-reach’ to that audience, but mangled the message. The Rabid Right, particularly knee-jerk blogs and just jerk-talk radio, not the target audience for Bolden’s comments and ever hungry for tidbits to feed the ‘animal,’ pounced, chewed it up into yet another scrap and tossed into their daily anti-Obama spin cycle for down market and to the Right listeners and readers to consume. Today it will be something else.

It’s clear Bolden is not smooth or comfortable at public affairs. Few come naturally to it and most need schooled in the basics. At times, NASA has been blessed with some good ones. You know who they are. The administrator’s comments, for better or worse, essentially follow the trajectory of ‘inclusion’ as spelled out by the WH and articulated by the president at KSC on 4/15. It is what it is.

The issue isn’t Bolden, but whether American space efforts will continue to be bold.

This WH has played their space cards and moved on. It’s up to Congress now. Change is in the air. The question for our time is if it truly is change you can believe in.

But the private enterprise-laced ‘Obamaspace’ plan, as proposed by this administration, should be an ‘easy sell’ to the out of power, no regulation, pro-business minority party, with a laisse-faire minority subset that has historically not supported the government funded, civilian space agency. Instead, they snacked on the administrator because it takes another bite out of an administration they abhor. The future of our space program has little to do with it.

http://nasawatch.com/archives/2010/07/video-nasa-bold.html

Wow very constructive. I was wondering why Constellation was adrift…

See you, and raise you one dollar

Bennett, that was AWESOME. And on topic, since it featured a rocket launch.