Diplomatic Language

The glories of the American astronaut programme began with a military officer performing a Cold War stunt in a craft named Friendship 7, and the revived programme's current triumph has continued that happy Orwellian tradition. Pioneers for the militarisation of the moon have been hailed as "ambassadors for humanity," while the Trumpster and his head-tribble have celebrated victory over China by announcing cuts of twenty-three per cent to NASA's overall budget, and double that for its science budget. The same administrator who spouted the guff about ambassadors said everything would be just fine, while the chief of space policy at the Planetary Society protested that the measures are "discordant." Since the measures are absolutely coherent in terms of benefiting private profiteers and removing such time-wasting, un-Christian obstacles as scientific inquiry and the prevention of martyrdom through rapid unscheduled disassembly events, anyone working for an organisation founded by Carl Sagan surely ought to know better.