Comments on: Who Knew a Planetarium Was a Political Weapon?

By: Repost: McCain’s planetariophobia | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:11:19 +0000

[...] issued a statement to that effect. You can also get opinions all over the place: Universe Today, SpaceWriter, Davin Flateau, Discovery Space, Wonkette, the Chicago Tribune, even [...]

By: Charlie Read

Charlie Read — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:12:02 +0000

A Chicago issue? Like any great museum or planetarium, I imagine (correct me if I’m wrong) that people come from far and wide to visit the Adler. London’s Natural History Museum may be in London but it attracts visitors from across the country and indeed the world. Providing for and enhancing such institutions is a valuable and meaningful use of federal funds. McCain;s comical mistake (one which he and his advisers repeated again last night) is merely an indication of a kind of willful ignorance of the scientific method. Shooting fast ‘n loose with such simple facts doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in how he might run the country…

By: ccp

ccp — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:50:47 +0000

Did you actually READ the discussions about this here and elsewhere? I provided plenty of links in my blog entries about this.

The issue, as I and others have clearly stated, is that McCain and his handlers got their facts WRONG on what Mr. Obama asked for and what was funded. They didn’t care that they got their facts wrong. They just blathered out talking points based on mistaken information. And still do so, refusing to take responsibility for what they say.

You know, they could have looked it up (as all the rest of us did) to find out the facts of the matter, but they didn’t. And, that led their candidate to mouth off about an “overhead projector” and implying that federal funds went to pay for it. Ultimately the money wasn’t provided, and no earmark was made. So, that’s the point. I think YOU missed the forest by focusing on the wrong trees.

And, I stand by this question: if they got this wrong — and by this I mean something as simple as a) the difference between a visualization system and an overhead projector and b) the funds requested weren’t provided and thus NO federal funds were spent on the so-called “overhead projector” — then what ELSE are they getting wrong? It goes to doing one’s homework and getting the facts correct — and being accountable for the facts one marshalls in one’s campaign. McCain and his handlers got it wrong. If I were their teacher, I’d ding them for reading comprehension as well as science illiteracy. And they want to lead the nation?

No thanks.

The issue of whether this is a Chicago issue is not relevant here and I suspect you already know that.

By: David

David — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:39:55 +0000

This is a Chicago issue. The nearly 3 million people in Chicago can’t raise 3 million for a new system? They have had 40 years to save up for it? Pay for it themselves.

So let me see if I understand you. It isn’t the fact that McCain was calling out Obama for trying to get the rest of the nation to pay for something that ostensibly is going to be used primarily by Chicago and Illinois residents that bothered you. It had more to do with him calling the system an overhead projector?

Talk about not seeing the forest because of the trees.