Can anyone else figure out what or who Jon Goff is talking about here? Because I sure can’t:

NASA figures that making our nation look like petty hypocrates regarding freedom of speech is a better plan. Inflammatory cartoons about another relgion? No problem. Publically calling for nuking another country off the map? No worries. Wearing the flag of your native land on a spacesuit that you bought for a spaceflight that you paid several million dollars of your own hard earned cash? Sorry, no can do boss.

It’s been sad seeing friends who have told me ithat they’d rather just see Iran and most of the rest of the Middle East nuked off the face of the map, all the sudden trying to turn Ansari’s flight into some sort of political event. Let someone who actually cares about the Iranian people as an end, rather than merely a means, say what she wants to say. It’ll probably do far more lasting good for the people of Iran (and the rest of us too) than all of the words that the spacenut side of Right Blogostan would prefer to put in her mouth.

First of all, there’s an implication that the same people are advocating different policies under different circumstances (otherwise the talk about “hypocrisy” would make no sense). But NASA didn’t publish, or approve the publication of any cartoons of which I’m aware, or publicly call for nuking any countries off the map. In fact, I’m unaware of anyone doing that, other than Jacques Chirac, but maybe I just missed it.

I’m also unaware that anyone who did publish the cartoons, or defended the right of the publishers to do so, has cheered, or even noticed NASA actions with regard to the Ansari flag issue.

(And I’m not sure what Jon’s point is with regard to the cartoons–he calls them offensive, but that’s only because some Muslims consciously decided to be offended when the cameras were around. What was much more offensive, as is the case with the Pope’s recent speech, was all of the violence and death threats over cartoons. Is it only pictures of Allah that offend Jon, or is he also outraged by crucifixi in urine and pictures of the virgin painted with elephant dung?)

So who is it that Jon is kvetching about here? (I’m also curious to know which of his friends would like to see Iran and most of the Middle East being nuked off the map.)

Here’s a suggestion. Don’t blog when angry. You don’t make much sense.

[Update on Saturday evening]

Jon, who is an extremely standup guy, has second thoughts, as I expected he would. I should be so reconsiderate.

I do think, though, that he should leave the original words up for posterity, with accompanying retraction. I correct stuff that I put up, but I don’t delete it. Simply removing it (albeit with apology) seems a little too Orwellian to me…