Uh oh, Coach ain’t gonna like this.
Well, Colorado Springs is ~6000’ closer to space XD
I find it interesting that Huntsville AL, where Trump wanted to move space force, is where we sent all the Nazi scientists from operation paperclip:
TIME magazine: How America Educated the Children of Nazis after World War II
The scientists did build the missiles that they were brought here to build. They then went on to [help] build NASA which I think is actually considered a far greater accomplishment. Wernher von Braun, who was the leader of this group, is deeply woven into the history of NASA. So in that sense, yes. But there was definitely a sense that it wasn’t clear why we needed German scientists to do this. A lot protested not just on ethical grounds, but also on the feeling that American scientists were pretty great too and could have produced the same results.
And a good contingent of the Operation Paperclip children [are still] in the Huntsville, Alabama, area because so many of them went on to work for NASA. Some of them had amazing professional careers and were highly successful people. They’re a close group. Everyone I talked to is still in touch with other people from the group.
How is the story of the Operation Paperclip children relevant to today?
The way in which it feels immediately relevant right now is with this idea of happy white children as symbols of democracy. There are a whole lot of culture wars and anxiety around that right now, particularly in Republican states where there’s been legislation about how children [should not] feel discomfort, guilt or anxiety based on race. This sort of concern with protecting white children, or seeing white children’s own sense of self privileged over that of all other children is an echo of [the way that] German children of Nazi scientists were treated far better and seen as far more valuable than their Mexican American peers. Talking about happiness, or guilt or discomfort [is] often really talking about political power, more than emotional truth.
There’s a lasting legacy of racism in the area and I’m glad to not be sending the region more federal dollars and exposing more recruits to that culture. Redstone arsenal doesn’t need another government aerospace agency there. I’d much rather support Colorado.
This sort of concern with protecting white children, or seeing white children’s own sense of self privileged over that of all other children is an echo of [the way that] German children of Nazi scientists were treated far better and seen as far more valuable than their Mexican American peers.
spoiler alert for For All Mankind - sorry, on mobile, and I cannot seem to figure out how to do spoiler tags…
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Huh. This is an aspect of Aleida Rosales in For All Mankind that I actually had no idea about. They touched on a lot of the Nazi rocket scientist stuff in there, and definitely presented themes of racial injustice, but I didn’t realize that that whole dynamic was specifically tied to the character in such a pointed way.
YES OMG GET FUCKED TUBERVILLE, YOU FUCKING PRICK!
I’ve said before I was terrified of the DoD capitulating to this fucking sorry excuse for a human being, but I’m glad to see his actions have had negative consequences for him specifically.
Ugh, even if this wasn’t done to protect the younger generation of women joining the armed forces, I’ll take it. It’s one less location that they can be sent to (yes of course Maxwell exists, as well as Scott in MO and alllllllll the fucking bases in Texas and Florida, so it’s a small win, but it IS a win)
Tuberville’s asinine blockade of military promotions presumably played a big part in this. I think it’s a smart idea even in a vacuum though. The types of people that would be interested in serving in Space Command positions are, I expect, going to be the types of people least likely to find living in Alabama to be tolerable. Locating the HQ in Colorado is going to be a lot better for their recruitment efforts.
That’s not to mention the official reasons offered, that it would be a clusterfuck to relocate the HQ. Which is a perfectly sufficient reason on its own too.
The overall state matters far more than the local area for determining what your government is going to be like. Colorado Springs cannot make abortion illegal for its residents; Colorado can. Colorado Springs cannot ignore the state’s laws on minimum wages, or LGBTQ rights, or any myriad other laws.
It’s why I, as a progressive, would have no interest in living in Austin Texas: as left-leaning as Austin is, the state of Texas plays a bigger part in that governance and would make it an undesirable place for me to live.
Incidentally, Colorado Springs has been moving left. It has a non-republican independent mayor now, and the democratic governor even won the city in his reelection campaign (still lost the county, but came close). Trump won the county by 10% in 2020, after winning it by 20% in 2016. Likewise, Romney and McCain won it by 20%; Bush Jr. won it by 30% and 34%. In 1988 Bush Sr. won it by 40%. I expect the city-only results are even closer at the presidential level but cannot find data for that quickly.
Tuberville’s asinine blockade of military promotions presumably played a big part in this.
This is the first I’ve heard of this, what an asshole:
Why not just station them at Cheyenne Mountain?
That’s where the Stargate is anyway.
That’s the official story at least, but we all know what’s really going on. There are 10 seasons of documentary detailing what’s really happening under that mountain.
