The Absurdities of Leftism

The title of this post is the best way to characterize this recent announcement by the head of NASA:

"When I became the NASA administrator, [Obama] charged me with three things," NASA head Charles Bolden said in a recent interview with the Middle Eastern news network al-Jazeera. "One, he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math; he wanted me to expand our international relationships; and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering."

For the moment, let's ignore the massive stupidity of this agenda, especially coming from the National Aeronautic and SPACE Administration, whose primary mission has always been the exploration of space. Let's also ignore the fact that Obama has reduced NASA into a self-help advisor for Islamic nations, "Because you're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it, people like you." Nevermind how pandering and elitist this entire mindset is, it's remarkable that the Obama administration feels it needs a special cheerleader for the Arab world. I guess this also helps explain why Obama cut the budget for NASA and cancelled all its future space exploration programs - and the thousands of jobs that went with it.

So, the question that must be answered is why NASA, and why now? I think Jonah Goldberg at National Review gives a great answer:

"In my book, Liberal Fascism, I called this phenomenon the “liberal Gleichschaltung.” Gleichschaltung is a German word (in case you couldn’t have guessed) borrowed from electrical engineering. It means “coordination.” The German National Socialists (Nazis) used the concept to get every institution to sing from the same hymnal. If a fraternity or business embraced Nazism, it could stay “independent.” If it rejected Nazism, it was crushed or bent to the state’s ideology. Meanwhile, every branch of government was charged with not merely doing its job but advancing the official state ideology.

Now, contemporary liberalism is not an evil ideology. Its intentions aren’t evil or even fruitfully comparable to Hitlerism. But there is a liberal Gleichschaltung all the same. Every institution must be on the same page. Every agency must advance the liberal agenda.

And this is where the Catch-22 catches. The dream of a nimble, focused, problem-solving government is undone by the reality of hyper–mission creep. When every institution is yoked to an overarching philosophy or mission, its actual purpose can become an afterthought. In 2005, volunteer firefighters from all over the country offered to help with Katrina’s aftermath. But FEMA sent many of them to Atlanta first to undergo diversity and sexual-harassment training (which most already had)."

The leftist believes that all arms of the state must be in harmony, driven by the same ideological and political agenda, while using all available means to achieve this agenda. This would explain the ludicrousness of having the National Aeronautic and SPACE Administration partake in a role that has nothing to do with its intended purpose and very reason for existence.

Charles Krauthammer sums up the ridiculousness:

Imperial condescension and adolescent diplomacy indeed.