SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announces the Trump Administration's plan to create the U.S. Space Force by 2020 during a speech at the Pentagon August 9, 2018 in Arlington, Virginia. Describing space as "crowded and adversarial," Pence said the new Space Force would be a separate, sixth branch of the military. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
'Idiotic' 'Wasteful' 'Ridiculous': Mike Pence Pilloried as He Puts on His Serious Face to Make Case for Trump's Space Force
"But how are we going to pay for investments in public infrastructure, public education, socialized medicine and renewable energy?" "Aw, f**k it. Who knows. Let's just spend that money on a Space Force instead!"
Aug 09, 2018
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence strapped on his most earnest "serious face" on Thursday as he made the argument about why the U.S. military must come to dominate outer space with its military - an idea that has been panned with a stream of derisive adjectives that could quite possibly stretch to Mars and back.
"What was once peaceful and uncontested is now crowded and adversarial," said Pence of space during his speech at the Pentagon.
"And as President Trump has said, in his words," he continued, "it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space. And so we will."
Watch:
But was Pence's a convincing case? Not really.
As Common Dreams has previously reported--in a piece overtly titled Poverty Rampant, Puerto Rico Destroyed, Single Payer "Too Expensive," and Flint Still Doesn't Have Clean Water. But You Can Have Space Force!--the idea that more Pentagon spending should be devoted to further militarizing and dominating outer space--when so many pressing problems remain under-funded and unsolved--is laughable on its face.
And as columnist Belen Fernandez articulated in June of this year, the idea of increasing military infrastructure in space, let alone creating a so-called Space Force, is "astronomically misguided."
Meanwhile, the ridicule and ire directed at Pence's speech on Thursday mounted quickly online.
What follows is a (small) sample.
"Idiotic":
"Wasteful":
On the one hand, Space Force is a foolish idea that solves no actual problems, but on the other hand, it's a great way to transfer taxpayer money to defense contractors
-- Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) August 9, 2018
"Ridiculous":
Though as some noted, Space Force might create jobs. And that's important:
In the end, however, President Trump was not going to let Pence get all the credit for Space Force:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence strapped on his most earnest "serious face" on Thursday as he made the argument about why the U.S. military must come to dominate outer space with its military - an idea that has been panned with a stream of derisive adjectives that could quite possibly stretch to Mars and back.
"What was once peaceful and uncontested is now crowded and adversarial," said Pence of space during his speech at the Pentagon.
"And as President Trump has said, in his words," he continued, "it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space. And so we will."
Watch:
But was Pence's a convincing case? Not really.
As Common Dreams has previously reported--in a piece overtly titled Poverty Rampant, Puerto Rico Destroyed, Single Payer "Too Expensive," and Flint Still Doesn't Have Clean Water. But You Can Have Space Force!--the idea that more Pentagon spending should be devoted to further militarizing and dominating outer space--when so many pressing problems remain under-funded and unsolved--is laughable on its face.
And as columnist Belen Fernandez articulated in June of this year, the idea of increasing military infrastructure in space, let alone creating a so-called Space Force, is "astronomically misguided."
Meanwhile, the ridicule and ire directed at Pence's speech on Thursday mounted quickly online.
What follows is a (small) sample.
"Idiotic":
"Wasteful":
On the one hand, Space Force is a foolish idea that solves no actual problems, but on the other hand, it's a great way to transfer taxpayer money to defense contractors
-- Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) August 9, 2018
"Ridiculous":
Though as some noted, Space Force might create jobs. And that's important:
In the end, however, President Trump was not going to let Pence get all the credit for Space Force:
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence strapped on his most earnest "serious face" on Thursday as he made the argument about why the U.S. military must come to dominate outer space with its military - an idea that has been panned with a stream of derisive adjectives that could quite possibly stretch to Mars and back.
"What was once peaceful and uncontested is now crowded and adversarial," said Pence of space during his speech at the Pentagon.
"And as President Trump has said, in his words," he continued, "it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space. And so we will."
Watch:
But was Pence's a convincing case? Not really.
As Common Dreams has previously reported--in a piece overtly titled Poverty Rampant, Puerto Rico Destroyed, Single Payer "Too Expensive," and Flint Still Doesn't Have Clean Water. But You Can Have Space Force!--the idea that more Pentagon spending should be devoted to further militarizing and dominating outer space--when so many pressing problems remain under-funded and unsolved--is laughable on its face.
And as columnist Belen Fernandez articulated in June of this year, the idea of increasing military infrastructure in space, let alone creating a so-called Space Force, is "astronomically misguided."
Meanwhile, the ridicule and ire directed at Pence's speech on Thursday mounted quickly online.
What follows is a (small) sample.
"Idiotic":
"Wasteful":
On the one hand, Space Force is a foolish idea that solves no actual problems, but on the other hand, it's a great way to transfer taxpayer money to defense contractors
-- Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) August 9, 2018
"Ridiculous":
Though as some noted, Space Force might create jobs. And that's important:
In the end, however, President Trump was not going to let Pence get all the credit for Space Force:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.