Space!

Newt Gingrich, from CBS News:

"By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American.

"We will have commercial near-Earth activities that include science, tourism and manufacturing, and are designed to create a robust industry precisely on the model of the development of the airlines of the 1930s, because it is in our interest to acquire so much experience in space that we clearly have a capacity that the Chinese and the Russians will never come anywhere close to matching."

"When we have 13,000 Americans living on the moon, they can petition to become a state. And here's the difference between romantics and so-called practical people. I wanted every young American to say to themselves, 'I could be one of those 13,000. I could be a pioneer. I need to study science and math and engineering. I need to learn how to be a technician. I can be a part of building a bigger, better future.'"

I'm all for space exploration- but not the way he wants to do it.

It should be done internationally. There's no reason for this to be exclusive.

What exactly does he want to manufacture on the moon that we can't make here? What "science" is he talking about? Do we really want tourists tramping around up there?

I don't think other countries will have any problem matching America in technological advances, but assuming we somehow do get a monopoly on space technology: why? For what purpose? My assumption is that, like Ronald Reagan, he wants to tie the space program to the military and come up with innovative new ways to kill people, but the era of American imperialism is closing, and a leader should be looking ahead to where we want to be, not looking wistfully backward at the way things used to be.

I can't see young people saying "Wow, I better study harder if I ever want to be a Moon Pioneer!" and I can't really see Moon People ever petitioning to become a state. It's not the same as colonizing North America. The moon will forever be completely dependent on earth for things like oxygen and water. Their wants and needs will be so different than ours that I don't want the Moon Senator to cast the deciding vote.

But other than that: What a great idea, Newt!