Space
shuttle Challenger unnecessarily blows up shortly after liftoff on January 26,
1986
American exceptionalism becomes unforgivable when human beings
become expendable in order to save costs, make deadlines or protect image and
nowhere is that more evident than in the disaster of Space shuttle Challenger
on January 26, 1987 along with its seven crew members ~ and all because of a
faulty booster O ring seal which NASA managers ignored in order to stick to
their timetable. Unfortunately, this was later the same story for the Space
shuttle Columbia disaster, with its seven crewmembers, on February 1, 2003 when
NASA managers refused to examine the left wing before reentry concluding that the crew could not have fixed the problem
if the damage was confirmed: Allen L Roland
Unfortunately,
this is the shocking sad truth of much of the Bush/Obama version of American
"Exceptionalism" ~ any means to the end regardless of the cost, both
humanly and morally. It
certainly applies to corporate greed and unjust wars, it applies to a deeply
unpopular and corporate controlled congress, it applies to misguided government
policy, both domestically and foreign ~ and it also applies to many agencies
within the government, including NSA and NASA. It's a top down mindset and it
infects all of us ~ think GM's recent deadly avoidance decision with faulty
starter ignition switches which cost at least 13 American lives.
The late Charley Reese summed it up correctly
~ "Congress - seems to never know what the CIA and other
intelligence agencies are doing. Like the Romans, they no longer talk of the
republic or liberty. And like the Romans, the American people, or most of them
anyway, don't seem to care. ... Like the Romans, we no longer have a citizen
army but professional legions, and whether they wear jackboots or not, some
federal officers seem to regard Americans with about the same compassion as the
Praetorian Guard had for the plebes.
As in Rome, the air is full of
suspicion, intrigues and conspiracies, real or imagined, and the air reeks of
greed and opportunism. As those on the Tiber, the rulers on the Potomac have
grown suspicious of the people, don't trust them and, in some cases fear them.
And, as in Rome, they grovel in luxury while taking 40 cents on the dollar out
of the sweat of working people to pay for corn and circuses to keep the mob
satisfied." - -- Charley Reese -
(1937-2013) American syndicated columnist
Now
take a few minutes and watch the cost of this arrogance and hubris as seen in
our Space program and please remember ~ we are paying for this ongoing major
moral malfunction of American exceptionalism.
20
minute video Documentary ~ Major Malfunction: Revisiting Challenger /
and Columbia
http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000002913002/major-malfunction-revisiting-challenger.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_fs_20140602&nl=video&nlid=65700837
"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own
insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar
disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue
beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is
simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand.
To never look away. And never, never, to forget. " - Arundhati
Roy
Allen
L Roland
Freelance
Alternative Press Online columnist and heart centered
spiritual counselor Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews,
speaking engagements and private Skype
consultations at allen@allenroland.com
Allen
L Roland is also a lecturer and shares a weekly
political and social commentary on his web log and
website allenroland.com He also
guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net
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