Now here’s a blog post that I could really sink my teeth into, if I had the time. If you’re interested in space policy, and the intersection with politics and left-right ideology, this has it all in the comments. Matthew Yglesias wonders why the government explores space.

This post epitomizes the fact that space is a non-partisan issue–neither side gets it. This is, in my opinion, part of the problem, because as long as both sides agree, right or wrong, or at least as long as there’s no consensus in either party about what we should do, there’s unlikely to be little progress, because it’s not a differentiating political issue on which people vote, as I pointed out after the elections last year.

But Matthew’s comment section is chock full of the standard myths about space, by commenters both “left” and “right,” and interestingly, not being a regular reader of his blog, I was pointed to it by science writer and blogger Dave Appell, himself somewhat of a lefty who thinks that Matthew is totally out to lunch here.