Libertarian Low Point: Please don't help commercial space stay minimally regulated

Jeff Foust on SpacePolitics dares to suggest the presense of Richard Hoagland holding a Seminar associated with the Memorial Day Weekend Libertarian National Convention fails to weigh heavily enough with a better choice in attending a venue for his beloved Baseball at that hour, instead.

Elsewhere, I've suggested seriously that Hoagland being anywhere near the Libertarian confab is dangerously irresponsible, a nadir in Libertarianism altogether. They're even charging money, and inviting attendees with the breathless over-use of exclamation points. As a way of escaping the picture of their Convention appearing on C-SPAN as a poorly planned and poorly attended Babylon-5 convention on Tuvalu, this was not a wise decision.

More importantly, those of us who hope to have the Libertarians in our corner should the day come when the political winds blow in favor of the federal government clamping down on commercial space development, would just as soon they stay home and concentrate on a Flame War, somewhere, and not attend that congressional hearing. Please.

Some Libertarians must know this UFO thing is a bit silly. They may even understand that it's irresponsible and doesn't suit the purpose of building a rich literature worthy of The Law, by Bastait, for example. Or, at least that's what we've been led to believe.

Consider the column inches of laughter devoted to this ridiculous situation in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune written by Billy Cox. It's been backlinked all over the 'Sphere, creating a minor stir.

Transfer lunar ruins to private sector

Gotta love the Libertarians. Maybe a dozen contenders for the party’s presidential nomination, from Republican Bob Barr to Democrat Mike Gravel. A genuine floor fight at the upcoming convention, no rote ceremonial coronation. No sacred cows, no taboos. Hell, you can even propose legalizing marijuana without getting caned.

Well, almost no sacred cows. Ix-nay on the FOs-Uay. No foolish UFO talk. That’s the message the Libs recently sent Vero Beach rez Dom Armentano.

In January, Armentano, an adjunct scholar with the Libertarian Cato Institute, was terminated with extreme prejudice by Cato for reiterating — in op-ed pieces for a Vero Beach daily — what 72 percent of Americans told Roper Poll researchers in 2002, that the feds are withholding UFO data from the taxpayers.

Anyhow, when the Libertarians convene in Denver from May 22 through 26, they’ll be — wait, yo, hold up, hold up. Who’s that speaker on the May 23 agenda? Dude. It’s Richard C. Hoagland, co-author of “Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA.”

According to the program summary, “He will ... reveal — with official NASA imagery — startling scientific discoveries by NASA, by law, has deliberately withheld from the American people for more than 40 years!”

Sweet.

Read more HERE.