Neil Armstrong dead at age 82

MoonHowler

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, is dead at age 82.  He is best remembered for his famous words:

“One small step for man…one giant leap for mankind.”

He had had heart surgery 3 weeks ago and was thought to be recovering without complications.

He had a long, distinguished career in the NASA Space Program.  He commanded the Apollo 11 mission and landed on the moon in July 1969.  He was truly a great American hero.  Many of us remember where we were when we sat breathlessly and heard those words….one small step for man.  No one today can imagine our excitement and yes, fear, for those astronauts.  We Americans were so proud that summer of 1969 when much of America had been divided by the Vietnam War. Neil Armstrong and those other astronauts, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, united the nation like no one else could.

Please leave your own tributes to Neil Armstrong. Neil slipped the surly bonds of earth today…

 

Romney takes a birther swipe…or did he?

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Noting that he and his wife, Ann, were born in Michigan hospitals, Romney said at a rally here: “No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place where both of us were born and raised.”

The crowd of roughly 1,000 responded knowingly with loud cheers, and several supporters said in interviews following the rally that they interpreted Romney’s comment as a dig at President Obama — although Romney said later it was “not a swipe.”

Although Obama has released his birth certificate showing he was born in Hawaii, some conservative activists still question his citizenship. Romney’s campaign aides quickly rejected that interpretation, insisting that Romney was not referring to “birther” theories and noting that he has been on the record saying he considers Obama’s citizenship a settled matter.

PUH-leez!  Of course it was a swipe but….it shows that Romney isn’t a wooden Indian also.  That is a pretty mild swipe and I hope the Democrats aren’t quite that thin-skinned.  Romney spoke out a long time ago that he believe the President was born in Hawaii.  Does it need to go further?  I don’t think so.  For that matter, it almost sounded like a wise-crack Obama would have made abot birthers.

I mind that there are fools out there still questioning the issue and feeding conspiracy theories. I don’t mind that Romney provides a moment of levity on a subject that has consumed the minds of the tin foil hat crowd  for nearly 4 years.  The hooting in the audience…well…there are lots of fools out there.