At Steve Bannon’s suggestion, I recently rewatched the 1983 film “The Right Stuff,” which was based upon the 1979 book by the late Tom Wolfe, described here:
From “America’s nerviest journalist” (Newsweek)–a breath-taking epic, a magnificent adventure story, and an investigation into the true heroism and courage of the first Americans to conquer space.”
Millions of words have poured forth about man’s trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure; namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves–in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers, that made The Right Stuff a classic.
A month after I was born, President John F. Kennedy said this to a joint session of congress:
First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.
As a kid, I remember when that feat was accomplished before the deadline in 1969. Since then, my entire life has been packed with the amazing accomplishments and technological advances of mankind.
And then there is politics and government during my lifetime. What a contrast!
There have been, unfortunately, few accomplishments or advances. Exceptions have been President Ronald Reagan winning the Cold War and presiding over an economic boom, and President Donald Trump bringing peace (even in the Middle East) and prosperity during his first term.
Instead, bloat and corruption have dominated in government. The political right’s failure in politics is not electing enough people with the right stuff. This has led to where we are today both in Illinois and the nation.
Sadly, not even the few smart and courageous astronauts that have made it to the U.S. Congress seem to have figured out the arena. That failure does not diminish their accomplishments before entering politics. As noted previously, the same is true for successful business people and lawyers.
The pre-politics success is nice for those individuals, but it serves no larger good when it comes to the future of our country.
The current former astronaut in the U.S. Senate, Mark Kelly, has shown himself to be just another wrong-headed Democrat. His ineffectiveness, however, is good news since he holds the wrong positions on most important issues.
Rather than continue this series highlighting other pre-political careers, this article and the previous three make my point. It would be easy to highlight medical doctors next; instead I’ll refer you to the book “How Doctors Think” by Jerome Groopman.
The bottom line is this: it does not matter how smart or successful you are when you enter politics if you are not willing to address the mistakes that have dominated for decades on the political right. The biggest mistake is giving credence to those who have raised and spent tens and hundreds of millions of dollars and have nothing to show for it.
Thank God, President Trump is doing at the national level what needs to be done in Illinois. What needs to be done in Illinois first is for the donor class to stop listening to the idiots who continue to raise and spend hundreds of millions of dollars that then get wasted.
Up next: The lame excuses for failure from the Illinois Republican Conservative Complex.
