The passing of Neil Armstrong - the first human being to step foot on the moon - earlier today has stirred up emotions for me and a reflective mood. I was born just months before Armstrong and the rest of the crew made that amazing trip. I'm told I watched it - though my memory of the event is understandably...well...stuck somewhere in my cranium. But being born the same year as the moon landing has always been meaningful to me.
America is a land of freedom, big dreams, and innovation. And we can do many things at once - we've done it before. We can pursue our own dreams while caring for one another - and work together to achieve seemingly impossible challenges.
How does this relate to this incredibly important election year? Well, it does, and it doesn't. It doesn't in that it's a unifying event for all Americans - for all humanity, really - regardless of political persuasion. And it does because Obama has been shrinking NASA's budget, and our military budget as he funnels money into social/entitlement programs that are on a path to failure even then.
As I look back to the incredible American effort to land a man on the moon, it reminds me of a time when we gave greater space to church, family, and community to take care of each other. Government did much less back then in this regard than it does today - and yet it enabled resources for a program that has fed minds and imagination and hope - which I believe we need in many ways as much as food and shelter.
So give pause and enjoy thinking back to this incredible, amazing event that occurred just 43 years ago. Not so long really, and yet in some ways it seems distant. How about we bring that spirit back?
Commentary on the political campaigns across America this year, with focus on the 2012 Republican Primary, the 2012 US presidential campaign, as well as the battle for the US Senate and the US House of Representatives in 2012.
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