Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Tonight on West Wing there was a spotlight on - you guessed it! - what it would take to get public backing for a mission to Mars. We could really take a cue from them in terms of intelligent and elegant argument. Josh (the chief of staff) was reluctant to do anything for the NASA delegation, but one of them took him out and had him look through a telescope at Jupiter and the Orion Nebula. He started doing research on his own, especially on Voyager, which has left the solar system. As we know, it contains greetings in 55 languages as well as Gregorian chant and Chuck Berry riffs. In a really moving monologue, Josh talked about how one of the blues artists on Voyager - Blind Willie Johnson - died penniless wrapped in newspapers in the ruins of his ruined house..."but his music has just left the solar system."
:)
:)
