RIP Neil Armstrong, and deepest condolences to his friends and family. Armstrong was a truly historic figure in a way that almost nobody else will ever be, a truly great American as well.
Since this IS a political blog, I'd also point out to Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan et al. that what Neil Armstrong accomplished was an absolutely perfect example of how our collective efforts, organized through our national government (NASA, in this case, putting your hard-earned tax dollars to extremely productive work!), and combined with the courage, hard work and indomitable spirit of an amazing human being, can TOGETHER lead to great things.
Also, note to Romney, Ryan et al: no single person "built that" (the Apollo program in this case), just as no single person built the interstate highway system, the U.S. armed forces, the power grid, the financial and monetary system, etc, etc. Is this really a difficult concept for you guys? Do you REALLY think that the private sector, operating without any government involvement, could have managed - as JFK promised - to send a man to the moon and return him safely to earth, within a decade of JFK's promise to do so? If you DO believe that, then you're ignorant and/or delusional, because there is ZERO - nada, zilch, zip - chance that ever would have happened.
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