Today, the Moon

Tomorrow all of space, muhahaha!

Digby picks up this quote:
"Though the Bush administration's attempts to realize a Pax Americana in the Middle East is the subject of sustained international debate, there's been less attention to the White House’s dream of American hegemony in space. (This isn't an accident: The current National Space Policy was released to the public at a moment when few reporters were around—5 p.m. on October 6, the beginning of Columbus Day weekend.) The Defense Department now has orders to "deny, if necessary, adversaries the use of space capabilities hostile to U.S. national interests."

Exactly what this means in practical terms remains to be seen. But as Aviation Week and Space Technology recently reported, the new directive now has "military space commanders... discussing 'space control' and 'space superiority' issues with unusual candor" after years of those "politically sensitive terms [being] off limits." Among the few Democrats who appear to have taken notice is Al Gore, who, according to the magazine, told the audience at a recent private conference that this "may be the most serious strategic error in the entire history of the United States of America." Will Bob Gates be sympathetic, opposed, or indifferent to letting generals with stars in their eyes push the new policy to the limits? Stay tuned."