NASA: Your Tax Dollars at Work

I have always been a bit of a NASA nerd. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid, like many others. I wept when the Challenger exploded. I dreamed of going to "Space Camp". Sadly, when I grew up, I came to realize that it is a miracle that the bureaucratic government bozos at NASA can launch Microsoft Windows, much less a spacecraft.

This week gave us our greatest glimpse in years into their mind-numbing incompetence. First they grounded the entire Shuttle fleet after the liquid fuel tank shed foam once again, once again damaging the orbiter. The jury is out on how damaged, exactly.

Then, on the 40th anniversary of the much-celebrated moon landing, they admitted (to the nearly audible "AHA!" of conspiracy theorists worldwide) that they had "lost" or even perhaps "recorded over" what were the previously-unreleased and reportedly the best film evidence of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon.

I am undecided about this issue. I must admit, though, that it looks a bit suspicious after this week's revelations. Great job, NASA. If this is the best that our government's "best and brightest" can do, it heralds disaster for health care.

I'm running out of room in my "Government Incompetence" file, but maybe I can stuff this one in there.