Political Quotes

“in the opening scene of ``Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,'' Darth Vader pays an unexpected visit to the construction site of the new Death Star. Of course it was behind schedule and probably overbudget. The commander in charge first claimed that there was no delay, and then he said to Darth Vader that it would be impossible to meet the schedule without more resources. Darth Vader warned the commander that the emperor was ``much displeased'' with the apparent lack of progress, noting that ``the emperor is not as forgiving as I am.'' Government projects being overbudget and behind schedule or just out of this world are not just a problem for the emperor in that galaxy far, far away; they are a problem right here on Earth. Our own space agency, NASA, can no longer even launch astronauts into orbit, yet NASA is spending $1.2 million to study the impact of microgravity on sheep. NASA is also spending $280,000 to develop plans to build a cloud city on Venus. It is strikingly similar to the cloud city that was featured in ``Star Wars: The Emperor Strikes Back'' where Han Solo was captured in carbonite. The National Science Foundation is spending $2.6 million in part to design sculptures that would raise awareness of drought and harvest dew, much like the moisture vaporizers on Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine. The Pentagon is spending $2 million to teach robots how to play jazz and $2.5 million in part to create a robot lobby greeter.…”