Donald Trump today ordered the Pentagon to create a “Space Force” as a sixth branch of the military. When we signed the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, we agreed not to send weapons of mass destruction into space or use the Moon, Mars, and other celestial bodies (asteroids! comets!) for “military bases, installations, and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of military maneuvers.” But hey! If the federal government is serious about dedicating resources to vital functions like clearing space junk and coordinating space traffic (which was the focus of the Space Policy Directive Trump signed today) and sending rockets to other worlds to create more human habitat (which should be humanity’s #1 policy priority in this millennium), then I’m all for creating a corps of brave American rocket jockeys (which isn’t mentioned in the signed directive, but oh well, such is government by improv) who will zoom around space saving Earthling space travelers from collisions, rocket malfunctions, Moonquakes, Klingons, and whatever else could go wrong in the wild black yonder.
The improvisational nature of Trump’s Space Corps announcement (and, what, can we not call it Starfleet and base it in San Francisco?) is made clear by a review of the official White House transcript, a nine-page pastiche of ad-libbed comments, pronouns without antecedent, tired Trumpian hyperbole, and a sprinkling of crafted phrases that someone told him to include somewhere in his remarks to make the space policy directive sound Presidential.
I have marked up that transcript as I would a high school English essay. My green inkings support two primary criticisms:
- The speaker is unable to get to and stick to his main point, that a more vigorous national space policy is vital to America’s interests.
- Whether discussing his main thesis or unrelated topics, the speaker fails to use specific nouns or give specific details and examples to develop any of his ideas.
Speeches offer opportunities for improvisation and adaptation to audience feedback that would not appear in a formal essay. However, we may fairly expect the President of the United States, the most powerful elected official in the world, whose words by themselves can alter the course of the economy and international relations, to choose the words of his speeches as carefully as he chooses the words of his written statements. The President of the United States should not wing it. When speaking to an audience, the President of the United States should sound as focused, as in command of supporting facts and details, and as capable of structuring a solid argument as the most deliberate essayist.
And when we’re talking about something as important as space exploration, the President of the United States should be able to explain why making new homes in the cosmos is important “economically, militarily, scientifically,” not to mention to the very survival of humanity, with a clarity and detail exceeding what we would expect of a high school freshman. As my markings show, Donald Trump’s remarks in the East Room today don’t even reach that level of verbal proficiency.
Shouldn’t we do this because it will drive our economy, create a common bond in our country to achieve something, beat the “other country here”, #4Science development that will have spinoffs that will help mankind, but mostly because it will be really fun for the crew of that new ship?
Why do I have a vision of a guy sitting naked in a Barcalounger, at 3 am, watching a VHS copy of “Starship Troopers,” fondling himself and yelling Roughnecks?
Intrepid cadet Trump should be the one to lead the mission and be the first sitting president in space.
“Mission control we have a problem!”
“You’re cutting out, Space Force 1. Can … not … hear … you . “
I was going to read the piece and your annotations Cory, but 3 paragraphs in I realized it was, once again, the ramblings of an individual suffering from severe forms of mental illnesses. Sanity, rejoining the reality based world, won’t come to him by happenstance. He requires intensive inpatient treatment, probably medications, perhaps invasive procedures.
I just want him where he will no longer be able to hurt anyone.
What’s the biggest unprotected, undefended and unwalled USA border? Not Mexico. That’s fifth. Not Canada or the Atlantic or Pacific. It’s space, of course.
Only our demented AF , paranoid, isolationist, populist President would think of it, as his only original idea in two years.
“America needs a Space Wall.” Because when them l’il brown aliens try to come in to our atmosphere (and you know they will) and get food stamps for their kids and healthcare for their parents and safety for their family they’ll be stopped by our drone Space Force computer warriors and Trump’s Space Wall. Brilliant!! ~ Make Space Great Again
“For me, the space program has always captured an essential part of what it means to be American—reaching for new heights, stretching beyond what previously did not seem possible…. And so, as President, I believe that space exploration is not a luxury or an afterthought in America?s quest for a brighter future. It is an essential part of that quest.” —President Barack Obama, April 2010.
“The reporter who covered the moon landing for The New York Times, John Noble Wilford, later wrote that Mars tugs at our imagination ‘with a force mightier than gravity.’ Getting there will take a giant leap. But the first, small steps happen when our students — the Mars generation — walk into their classrooms each day. Scientific discovery doesn’t happen with the flip of a switch; it takes years of testing, patience and a national commitment to education. President Eisenhower knew this: In 1958, he devoted great resources to science and math education around the same time he created NASA. And it’s why I’m proud that we’ve passed important milestones in STEM education. For the first time, more than 100,000 engineers are graduating from American schools every year, and we’re on track to accomplish my goal of training 100,000 excellent new STEM teachers in a decade.” —President Barack Obama, October 2016.
Speaking of space. whose gonna pay for this program? Martians, Maybe?
There is photographic evidence of Russia rebuilding nukular weapons sites. Hmmm.
Can I sign up to be a storm trooper? My aim with a blaster isn’t very good anyway….
Pfff. An incoherent statement for an unnecessary program, the sole purpose of which is a circus for Dear Leader’s aggrandizement. Anyone else feel we elected Inspector Clouseau?
We should put the word ‘Force’ after the words Navy, Army, and Marines too as it would make us stronger.
Setting up ‘Space Force’ as a prelude to investing?
Excerpt from a 14 July 2017 article:
LOW-EARTH ORBIT SATELLITES (LEO): THE FUTURE OF ELECTRONIC TRADING TECHNOLOGY?
Now focusing on making LEO the infrastructure choice for finance and trading, Sean kicked off the discussions, “Space commercialization is the new concept that the industry has been investing in, and we see the initial adopters being high frequency traders.” – BSO is the technology provider of choice for data-empowered, global businesses
Maybe he meant “X Force” from Deadpool 2….or “G-Force” from the cartoons.
Still unclear why the other armed forces aren’t suitable to have space missions of their own.
“Air Force” Force would definitely be stronger…more force!
You done it now, Doc. What would a Nimitz class Aircraft carrier-( displacing 100,000 to 104,600 long tons (101,600–106,300 t) weigh in zero gravity space?
Would port or starboard sides still matter?
Does Trump know it takes science to develop this space force, he’ll probably change his mind once he finds out.
trump violates another treaty, that even North Korea signed 50 years ago, what else is new. Darth trump strikes again.
A lot of it will depend upon what the goals are. It is likely to be defense and communications (and/or defense of communications).
Without satellites you probably lose precision agriculture unless they relied on high altitude balloons instead. You lose GPS and a lot of your phone’s utility as well.
Anything with weight (like your Nimitz class carrier) on the ground will be very expensive to put into space. Why don’t we send our nuclear waste into space? (a.) It is heavy and expensive to lift, and (b.) orbital mechanics dictate there is a better chance of orbiting the sun instead of going into it.
Too bad they couldn’t first clean up near-earth orbits of all the debris we have generated so far.
Thanks, Doc. Somehow I doubt the cost of anything crosses Drumpf’s childlike mind.
If we have to go further into debt, or get rid of existing bases, then there will be Republican resistance. If the intent is to cut social programs for space force, then unfortunately there may be less resistance unless it is Social Security. Hard to say what is really going on at the moment.
I couldn’t read beyond the third line of Trump’s statement without getting a headache.
Did he by any chance say that his space force would require congressional approval or did he just think he could do it?
Don’t you fellows realize Mr. Trump is copying Mr. Kennedy? Mr. Kennedy demanded we put a man on the moon, and a man went there. Gordon Howie and his small space academy group headed by Lara Hubbell might disagree, but most saner people thing it happened. A man went there.
Now, Mr. Trump is saying “create me a star track type ship and photon torpedos.”
How do you not think history won’t repeat itself, and have you seen how the photon torpedos work? This is best handled by scientists, not bloggers. I’m just sayin…
Mike, the Enterprise crew refers to port and starboard nacelles. Left and right do make sense with respect to orientation and direction of the ship. But you do well to remind us not to get trapped in the mostly two-dimensional tactics of Earthbound warfare. Khan forgot about the z-axis in the Mutara Nebula, and look what happened to him.
Roger, Trump completely ignored the need for Congressional approval or any other practical details of creating a branch of the military dedicated to space operations. He just told his general to make it happen. Giving orders is the full extent of Donald Trump’s executive ability. He does no real strategizing, no long-term planning, no analysis, just shouts whatever is in his gut and expects that he’s entitled to have his will be done by all the toadies around him. That’s no way to run a Starfleet.
But you are missing the most important point.
….Mexico will pay for the wall,
and China will pay for the Space Force.
Grudz thinks Trump is playing Kennedy. Kennedy was at least competent, and surrounded himself with very smart people. He also got Congressional buy-in that established an agency with a clear focus. That is not what we have with Trump’s non-plan. Like that speech, anything Trump touches turns into a cluster****. I wouldn’t fly on Starship Trump; only a fool would.
It looks like Trump is caving in the policy to separate children from parents, but who know? The guy is such a liar.
Was Khan Ricardo “I tanned the hides of 2 Corinthians for leather for my Chrysler Cordoba” Montalban or the Benedict Cumberbatch character?
Cory,
You forgot to put the Trump emblem on the side of the Starship Enterprise….
Space News….
Opportunity, the solar-powered rover on Mars had to shut down due to the giant dust storm. It should be fine once the storm ends.
Curiosity, the nuclear-powered rover on Mars, kept right on going and took a selfie.
http://www.businessinsider.com/mars-curiosity-rover-selfie-dust-storm-2018-6
Which is why NASA wants to include space nuclear power for human bases on Mars or the moon. Going without solar for a month or more is not going to cut it.
The Trump emblem goes on the side of the ISS Enterprise in the Mirror Universe, where Trump combs a goatee over his chin.
Mike, that would be Khan Prime, Montalban… though interestingly, the Kelvin/Narada incident should not have changed Khan’s 1990s-derived two-dimensional thinking. That weakness did not figure in the battle between Kirk and Khan-Alt, either because of the different nature of the Enterprise/Vengeance battle or because his revival by Admiral Marcus and his work for Section 31 allowed Khan to get up to speed on Starfleet tactics in a way that Khan Prime’s brief stay on the Enterprise and long exile on Ceti Alpha V did not allow.
May the Farce be with you, Emperor Drumpf.