Quote from: Blackstar on 02/28/2014 08:09 pmI've been observing these hearings for a very long time (since the mid-1990s), often in person where I've been able to watch the body language of those present. And yes, there are some members of Congress who regularly demonstrate their uselessness on this subject. I know that lots of space geeks worship him, but they don't seem to understand that despite all his time in Congress, he has a relatively paltry legislative record. And for the most part his colleagues don't take him seriously. It is not that they disagree with him: they don't respect him.I can't say that I agree with you. Rohrabacher is the vice-chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology. He managed to get the worst provisions out of the 2013 House NASA Authorization bill. More specifically, the provision that provided that the NASA Administrator would be elected every 6 years by an independant body was taken out because of his actions. He also had the language forcing cost plus contracts on commercial crew taken out of the bill. There is a reason why he is popular among space geeks. See this thread for a prior discussion of these points:http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=32171.120
I've been observing these hearings for a very long time (since the mid-1990s), often in person where I've been able to watch the body language of those present. And yes, there are some members of Congress who regularly demonstrate their uselessness on this subject. I know that lots of space geeks worship him, but they don't seem to understand that despite all his time in Congress, he has a relatively paltry legislative record. And for the most part his colleagues don't take him seriously. It is not that they disagree with him: they don't respect him.
IIs Mr. Rohrabacher a net positive or negative influence on the American space program?
What's going on here?
I waited a couple of days to post this--I wanted to think about asking this question in a (semi-)open forum.
Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 07/20/2017 09:54 pmI waited a couple of days to post this--I wanted to think about asking this question in a (semi-)open forum.Like I wrote before, his colleagues don't take him seriously.
He takes on the role of court jester is my impression. He sometimes speaks inconvenient truths and seen as a jester he gets away with it. <snip>
Like I wrote before, his colleagues don't take him seriously.
Why do the majority of their constituents re-elect them term after term? If their representative is not taken seriously, doesn't that damage the interests of the constituents?
Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 07/21/2017 03:46 pmWhy do the majority of their constituents re-elect them term after term? If their representative is not taken seriously, doesn't that damage the interests of the constituents?Even among those who vote, almost none pay close enough attention to know how well respected their member of Congress is within government.Almost every member of both the House and the Senate is far more popular within their own district/state than Congress as a whole is. Therefore, even if they knew what congressional colleagues thought, they probably wouldn't care.
It's funny but when people ask whether habitable exoplanets have civilizations, it's a good question. But when a Congressman asks a question about civilization on Mars, it's a stupid question. Mars had oceans billion of years ago, so it's actually more likely to have a civilization than a "habitable" exoplanet. If a question like Rohrabacher's helps to debunk the beliefs of people that see stuff on Mars (because of some strange NASA images) that is a good thing. Plus, Hillary Clinton made very bizarre comments about UFOs on Jimmy Kimmel. She seems to believe in them but nobody said anything about that.
There appear to be similarities between Rohrabacher and the late James Traficant (D-OH).
Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 07/21/2017 03:46 pmThere appear to be similarities between Rohrabacher and the late James Traficant (D-OH). Traficant served seven years in prison. Rohrabacher has not been to prison yet.