Ronald Reagan on the space program:

We've always prided ourselves on the pioneer spirit that built America. Well, that spirit is a key to our future as well as our past. Once again, we're on a frontier. Our willingness to accept this challenge will reflect whether America's men and women today have the same bold vision, the same courage and indomitable spirit that made us a great nation.

The peaceful use of space promises great benefits to all mankind. It opens vast new opportunities for our industry and ingenuity. The only limits we have are those of our own courage and imagination. When President John Kennedy challenged America to go to the Moon, he said it would not be one person going but an entire nation putting him there.

Our space program has done so much to bring us together because it gives us the opportunity to be the kind of nation we want to be, the kind of nation we must always be—dreaming, daring, and creating.

The defense rests.

Well, it's not too hard to find a list of economic and scientific spinoffs from NASA.

But the greatest payoffs from NASA never came to pass because NASA was cut off at the knees in the 70s. One of those payoffs would have been the full colonization of the Moon or Mars, which would have been an historical shift equivalent to coming to America in 1492. Lunar colonization would have set in motion a whole new politics, including the opportunity for libertarian politics, as imagined by Robert Heinlein in his novel, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress." And the second payoff would have been the ability to perfect missile defense for the US and allies--relatively easy if you have "look down" capacity. (Missile offense is easier, too, from above.)

And if we wanted to, we could have a space elevator, a permanent column into the sky, enabling the dirt-cheap lifting of people and cargo into a zero-g environment. That would have made the US the Hong Kong of the 21st century. But we chose not to do any of that.

A few reaxes to these comments:

First off, I agree with Brian that Obamacare should be repealed. But I am extremely interested in the question of what to replace it with.

Second, I agree with Star of the North -- sorry, mon frere, we speak English here -- that Obama is incapable of doing what Penn suggests.

Third, Trace, you wise guy, I 'fess up to being an aging Trekkie boomer, but will note that energetic Greatest Generationeers put America on the moon, one of the great feats of human history.

Fourth, George, you are right. You should run for president.

Fifth, Rob, Obama is absolutely a gloomy liberal. The word I use for those who inherited the political tradition of Jimmy Carter is "scarcitarian." As in scarcity is good, especially if it means that nobody can afford to build a house that blocks your view of the ocean.

Sixth, James, there could well be a Hillary for President effort going on--I said the same thing on "Fox News Watch" last Saturday. I am not for that, but I am for curing cancer and other similarly ambitious projects. More on how to do it in future posts.

I am a big fan of Steve Jobs, but that's a funny cartoon. I wonder which American media outlet will figure out how to import that technology.