What's New Robert L. Park 31 Jan 2012

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park  Tuesday, 31 Jan 2012   Washington, DC 

1. SUCCESSFUL:  AS DEFINED IN THE NEW REPUBLICAN DICTIONARY.
Thursday night's debate between Republican wannabes in Florida was as 
exciting as a shuffleboard match between rival retirement communities.  
Romney put his finger squarely on the big issue: "I think it's important 
for people to make sure that we don't castigate individuals because they’ve 
been successful," an apparent reference to the millions revealed in his 
federal financial disclosure statements.  But Romney’s millions are not a 
measure of his business success.  He’s rich because he was born rich in a 
country with shamefully regressive tax laws.  Indeed, much of Romney’s 
wealth is in blind trusts, as it should be for every independently-wealthy 
public servant. 

2. LUNACY: BACK TO THE APOLLO MOON RACE? 
Newt Gingrich, the other top contender, wants to construct a permanent 
human base on the Moon before China does.  In fact, Gingrich says he would 
like to see six or seven lunar launches every week. Doing what?  It's been 
40 years sincea human traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Since then, space 
has become an essential element of the fastest growing segment of our 
economy: Space communications, weather observations, remote viewing, global 
positioning, climate monitoring, exploration of the solar system, the 
discovery of exoplanets, and global climate change studies, are all 
robotic. Nothing of significance has been learned from human spaceflight. 
Apollo itself was a political mission. The space shuttle was terminated and 
the ISS, which produced nothing of value, now belongs to an international 
consortium.  For an American astronaut to visit the ISS, a ticket on a 
Russian rocket would have to be purchased. We already have a word for those 
who clamor to send Americans back to the moon: "lunatics." It's a popular 
idea in Florida, which lost a lot of space jobs. Mitt Romney warns that the