For the better part of three years, the president expressed no interest in space exploration. In January, however, the White House insisted that Bush needed a “JFK moment,” in which the president could be viewed as reaching for the stars — literally. As a result, Bush unveiled a hastily thrown-together initiative that would strive for a manned mission to Mars.
And then, nothing. Bush didn’t mention this bold, new initiative in the State of the Union or in any other speech. There was no talk about how to fund such a project, or why such missions would be beneficial. Bush simply mentioned it once and then quickly let it vanish from, ahem, the face of the earth.
Now that Bush has no new policy initiatives to campaign on, the off-on-and-off-again policy is, apparently, about to make a comeback.
President George W. Bush plans to make a major speech early this summer defending his plan for a new U.S. space exploration initiative, administration sources told United Press International.
Sources said although drafting the speech — termed a vigorous call to support the president’s new space exploration policy he announced last January — has not yet begun, aides have been narrowing prospective dates and venues.
“The president wants to speak about space,” a senior administration source said.
Of course he does. The president certainly doesn’t want to speak about developments on this planet, so it’s only natural he’d be looking to change the subject to a more ethereal topic.