Touching the Sun

It was better than coffee, that infusion of vitamin D I got this morning when I turned on the news and saw the story about NASA's plans to visit the sun. A cool story, particularly welcome in the midst of the steady onslaught of "breaking news" of new revelations about our apprentice-president, tidbits that shock for a nano-second before we shake our heads and file them away with so much other crap we can barely remember.

Touching the sun, in a contraption that could fly me from here to Tokyo in a minute -- an appealing side note to a mom who would certainly relish the opportunity to deliver a quick hug to a son who lives far away. Still cool, though, even if I never get to hitch a ride.

The other day, I watched a show celebrating what would have been President Kennedy's 100th birthday. I was mesmerized -- by photographs that evoked such youthful optimism, the speeches that inspired, the grandness of purpose. The fairytale of Camelot, overblown but not altogether ridiculous. I watched the posthumous fulfillment of his dream, a man -- an American man -- walking on the moon. America first, in a good way. Winning, in a good way.

I had just turned four when Kennedy was killed, and to this day I'm not sure whether I remember watching the funeral or whether the indelible images of his children, so close in age to me, have tricked me over the years into retrieving a memory that could not possibly belong to me. Either way, I often wonder how different history might look had he been allowed to finish out his term, blunders and all.

He was a product of his time, I suppose, just as 45 is a product of ours. Telegenic, charismatic, articulate, Kennedy took full advantage of the magic of television. No doubt, in the 21st century, he would have availed himself of the tweet.

Ask not what your country can do for you....  

If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. 

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

Lock her up.

Fake news.

Covfefe. 

There's always a learning curve with a new job, but seriously? We can land a man on the moon, get to Tokyo in a minute, touch the sun, but we can't recruit somebody with a bit of dignity, grace, and experience to take the reins of the free world?

Camelot may have been an illusion, and this may be a nightmare, but hope springs eternal.