Cri De Coeur / Rebuttal

Free Republic ^ | February 1, 2003 | Francis W. Porretto

[fporretto]

This is addressed to the lowlives who've seized upon the destruction of United States Space Shuttle Columbia to try to slander the Bush Administration, or to celebrate "God's punishment" of America, or to boost your insignificant media ratings by alluding to "American arrogance" as the cause of our tragedy. I won't be more specific. You know who you are.

You worms. You inexcusable maggots. You bits of filth! Have you no decency in you at all?

There is nothing, nothing in the world more reprehensible than kicking a man, or a nation, in mourning.

On February 1, 2003, we lost seven of the finest examples of humanity that have ever walked the Earth...or left it. These young men and women were so far above you in every imaginable way that you couldn't make a credible claim to being a member of their species.

We lost them to the laws of physics, to some unanticipated quirk of thermodynamics, to the Big Murphy that lurks behind every ambitious engineering project. We didn't lose them to anyone's venality, or to "God's just punishment," or to "arrogance" or "greed." And we certainly didn't lose them to you.

They shot into the sky filled with courage, enthusiasm, and the we-can't-miss esprit that characterizes a free and confident people. They slipped the surly bonds of Earth and reached at once for God, as does every man who departs this planet to help blaze Mankind's trail to the stars.

Their mechanical protections failed, through no fault of theirs, and they died. They fell to Earth unshielded against gravity and the abrasive forces of reentry. Perhaps they had time to for a last prayer, or a last dispatch of love and remembrance to their families on the ground. But they will never have anything else in this life. They, who risked their lives for the future of Man in space -- who willingly sought and embraced all the hazards of Mankind's most hazardous enterprise.

And you have to try to make that into political capital. I can imagine nothing else that's nearly as low as what you've done.

If you're an enemy of my nation, I pity you. We will come for you, sooner or later, and you will learn what it means to have awakened the wrath of the best and most potent people in the world. In all probability, once we've destroyed your armies and shattered your pitiful defenses, we'll be merciful, even generous toward you. That's how Americans make war. We don't do it for your sake, but for our own consciences.

If you're a citizen of some nominal "ally" or "nonaligned" power, I hope you can't sleep at night. I hope you know the chafing and humiliation of your irrelevance to all that truly matters in human affairs. It's America that carries the world forward. It's been America since the dawn of the Twentieth Century. Your part in Mankind's greatest adventure will be that of a spear carrier at best, until you learn what makes America what she is and adopt her principles for your own, sincerely.

If you're an American, God help you. You are not fit to live. You carp from the margins because not everything is perfect by your lights. You smear the names of persons infinitely better than you, simply because they hold views other than your own about details of public policy. Your hatred, your need to think yourself superior, goes so deep that you can't concede the sincerity or benevolence of those who disagree with you. I will never, ever forgive you for your puniness of soul, your corrosive envy, your rage over your irrelevance to persons of substance.

In the fullness of time, you will all know the touch of true fear, and the onset of true despair. You will go to your fate never having known a millisecond of the exaltation that is the proper estate of a free man. You will fall from your perches of arrogance and hatred into the pit of irrelevance and ignominy. No one will remember your names. The Columbia astronauts will be remembered forever. And we, the Free and the Brave, will go on, forward and upward, as if you never existed at all.

[Joe 6-pack]

Like cockroaches, these vermin will always be around. They are little worms whose cowardice prevents them from ever accomplishing anything of worth in their miserable lives. They are all too aware of this, and consequently, they have to belittle and impugn heroes, rather than try to emulate them.

It gives them a false sense of importance.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

I was at The University of Michigan, when The Challenger exploded. As I was watching the news on it, in my dorm's TV lounge, one of the other students in the dorm, came in laughing and joking about it, happy that it had happened. After all, this was proof that Reagan's "Star Wars" wouldn't work.

It turns out that one of the girls in the lounge, had a brother who was in astronaut training at the time. Actually, a lot of people were upset by this fellow, but I didn't find out until later how upset she had been by it.

Periodically, I have found myself regretting that I didn't stuff that laughing bastard through the window, even if it was only on the second floor. I have a slightly more peaceful regret right now. That you hadn't already written this essay -- and I hadn't read it -- so I could quote it back in his face.

Thank you.

[rogue yam]

When the shuttle Challenger blew up I was working as an aerospace engineer at Lockheed in Sunnyvale, CA. Not long after, some stinky lefty types came to our plant to have some sort of anti-Star Wars demonstration. They put up fliers for their rally, one of which was brought into our office by one of my colleagues who saw it posted while out at lunch. It contained several "humorous" remarks such as "Bring your own O-rings!" etc. One of my co-workers got really ticked off and groused about the lefty jerks occasionally over the next few days as the date of the rally approached. When the appointed hour came he announced to all that he was going to the rally! We kind of joked around with him a bit but it soon became apparent that he was pissed for real! At that point I and another guy stepped in and talked him out of going. Hey, we were all cleared up the wazoo and one could seriously risk one's clearances by breaking the law. Still, I always chuckle at the mental image of what might have happened if this western Pennsylvania farmboy turned engineer had gone out to meet and greet his "betters" that day. Today I kinda wish that I had let him go.