Right Wing: Oh Noes! NASA Doing Muslim Outreach! (VIDEO)
Right Wing: Oh Noes! NASA Doing Muslim Outreach! (VIDEO)
Have you heard? President Obama has turned NASA into one big self-esteem booster for the Muslim world. At least that’s what conservative commentators — who say they have proof Obama is ordering NASA to boldly go to the Middle East and make Muslims feel better about themselves — are saying today.
At issue is an interview NASA administrator Charles Bolden gave to Al Jazeera while on a trip to Quatar recently. The interview came as Bolden was in the Middle East to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Obama’s Cairo speech, where he called for renewed ties between the U.S. and Muslim nations around the world. Bolden renewed the message of the speech, and said that NASA will be a part of forging the new path, thanks to a new focus on international engagement included in the Obama administration’s space policy guidelines released last month.
NASA says Bolden’s comments are no big deal, and merely represent Bolden’s attempt to reach out to his local audience. But right-wing commentators say the interview is a sign that the only booster rockets NASA will be developing under Obama are the ones that lift Muslim spirits.