I could say a lot here, because moments like this cause reflection, an assessment of what has just passed, and what our future looks like.
Instead I’ll just say that I’ll never forget what Neil Armstrong did for all of us. It seems like there couldn’t have been a better man to do it.
I have a lot of respect for Armstrong, and the space program of the day that put him on the Moon, and brought him back.
I have some real problems with Kennedy, but this project is one thing I’ll always appreciate that he supported.
Ironically, the Chappaquiddick incident involving JFK's bloated, drunken slob of a brother was unfolding at the very same time the Apollo 11 mission was en route to the moon.
Talk about seeing the best and worst of America so starkly.
“I could say a lot here, because moments like this cause reflection, an assessment of what has just passed, and what our future looks like.”
I’ve considered that the first moonwalk marked the pinnacle of “The West” — not just of the United States in particular, but of western civilization in general.
From there, things have generally been.... downhill.
Oh, there have been a few peaks after 1969. Reagan’s era here in America, and the fall of the Berlin Wall (and communism), are moments that stand out.
But America (as a nation) and The West (as a culture) no longer appear to harbor “the fire within” that drives both nations and cultures to “grow their greatness”. And without that, the rate of decline can increase suddenly.
A major point of change on The West’s bell curve was on September 11, 2001.
A nation (and Western Culture) still in ascendance would have reacted far differently to an opposing culture’s strike at its heart...
Nevertheless, Godspeed, Mr. Armstrong!