In the mid-to-late 1960s an acquaintance was walking through Kendall Square, an area of high-tech companies near MIT, and he saw a huge cleared area. What’s that? he asked. It was supposed to be NASA Headquarters, explained his companion. Kennedy wasn’t even buried yet and Johnson switched it to Texas.

That doesn’t entirely hold water because NASA HQ isn’t in Houston: Mission Control is. But my acquaintance was adamant that, the moment JFK’s patronage was gone, LBJ moved something significant from MA to TX.

And I don’t dispute his head-shaking conclusion: Politics really is just that blatant.