The Republican party needs to get its act together and take away the position of NASA administrator from Jim Bridenstine, a man with no scientific background and who thinks global warming is fake.
On April 23, Bridenstine was sworn in as NASA’s 13th administrator after barely winning the Senate vote, 50 – 49, on April 19th.
The 50 votes for Bridenstine were all from Republicans, except for John McCain, who was experiencing health problems at the time and could not vote.
The 49 votes against him were the Democrats and two independents.
Bridenstine is the first member of congress to hold this position and he’s also the worst possible choice.
The man has no scientific background whatsoever, he’s a former Navy pilot that managed the Air and Space Museum in Tulsa which doesn’t mean his capable of managing NASA.
He also doesn’t believe in global warming, or at least he denies how much of an impact humans have on climate change despite NASA scientists studying it and providing evidence to the contrary.
How can we be sure a man who denies the information the government program he’s supposed to oversee will lead it in the right direction?
When an everyday person has to apply for a new job they have to have experience in the field that they chose if they want to have any hope of actually getting the position.
The same should apply to people who are nominated for important positions that can actually affect a lot of people, you know, like being the administrator for NASA.
You wouldn’t let someone who only has experience working retail become a heart surgeon, now would you?
That’s basically what the Republican party did by voting for Bridenstine in the first place, an unbelievably irresponsible move on its part.
What makes what the Republicans did even more ridiculous is that they were initially opposed to Bridenstine’s nomination.
According to an article by Vox, Senator Marco Rubio pointed out in September that NASA has remained relatively free of politics and that putting a politician in charge “could be devastating for the space program”.
The same article states that Rubio changed his mind and voted in favor of Bridenstine because Robert Lightfoot, NASA’s current running administrator.
Rubio would rather the leadership position be filled, even if its by someone who lacks the experience and knowledge necessary to do the job properly, than leave it empty until someone far better qualified is nominated.
Though with our “great” President Donald Trump still in charge, the odds of that happening are basically zero to none given his track record for making logical decisions.
None of this even takes into account the fact that like Trump’s previous nominee, Sam Clovis, who was nominated as Chief Scientist for the Department of Agriculture, Bridenstine has a history of discriminating against the LGBTQ+ community.
Maybe his opposition against same sex marriage and his complaints about the Boy Scouts of America becoming more inclusive, more of his anti-LGBTQ+ commentary and actions can be found on GLAAD’s Trump Accountability Project, may not affect all Americans.
But, again, how can anyone think that a man with such outdated ideologies be able to guide NASA as it advances its scientific studies for the future of this country and the globe.
