Word: apollos
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ERIC HOFFER, that relentlessly middlebrow longshoreman turned philosopher, applauds the Apollo program as "a triumph of the squares." The historic journey to the moon is infinitely more than that, of course, and Hoffer's phrase is mildly offensive. But he does have a point. The laconic Apollo 11 astronauts who returned to earth last week, and many of the people in science and industry who made the trip possible, epitomize the solid, perhaps old-fashioned American virtues. So do the thousands who came to see them off at the Cape and those who celebrated their return with flags...
...fame, the upright citizen, the doer somehow left a bit unsophisticated despite his success and prominence. Nixon could scarcely contain his exuberance as he waited on the flag bridge of the carrier Hornet for the Pacific splashdown. Waving his arms, he exclaimed: "Oh, boy! Oh, boy!" As the Apollo command module bobbed in the sea, Nixon shouted down to the flight deck to ask the Navy band to play Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean...
...moon is rapidly becoming a mark of where one stands on political and social issues. If Apollo was a victory for U.S. engineering genius, it could not disguise American failures at home. That fact has already become a thundering cliche, and one that promises to be heard for a long time. If we can put men on the moon, why can't we build adequate housing? Or feed all citizens adequately? Or end social and economic injustices? (Or even make the airlines run on time?) One answer, at least, is obvious: unlike the moon landing, these earthbound problems involve...
...Prod. Ted Kennedy himself has argued for a shift of national priorities away from space and Viet Nam to pressing domestic needs. Given the temper of Congress and the Nixon Administration, and the continuing costs of war, that shift is not likely to happen soon. The very success of Apollo 11 is an augury that the level of space spending may not be cut. The liberals seem out of tune with the majority of middle Americans-at least for now. Middle America does not seem discontented with the present ordering of national values. It elected Richard Nixon and strongly backs...
...future space shots are to be judged on the basis of their diversionary possibilities, Apollo 11 scores high on the ratings. After all, if President Nixon, a man whose distinguished career is speckled with its own glorious moments, can call Sunday the proudest day of his life, what else can it be for the rest of us? And yes, Spiro, if you want to go to Mars, we're all for it as long as, next time, more color cameras are on board. For despite a few tedious stretches necessarily involved in transversing the macromiles, Apollo 11 carried...