Sputnik?

“Half a century ago the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik. We had no idea how we’d beat them to the moon. The science wasn’t there yet. NASA didn’t exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn’t just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs. This is our generation’s Sputnik moment.”

Did you notice he didn’t call it a NASA moment?

He couldn’t.

Last year Barack Obama cut NASA funding.

What on earth made him think that Sputnik would galvanize his support among the people? And what does this have to do with the current economy? He could have recalled Kennedy's call to win the space race by putting a man on the moon, but, of course, that would have reminded us that he had just defunded manned space exploration.