Sarah Palin may be able to see Russia from her house, but she has no idea about Russian history, or U.S. history for that matter.
In the State Of The Union address, President Obama used the term "Sputnik Moment". "This generation's "Sputnik moment" has arrived," he said. I'm sure he meant it as a wake up call to Americans that things need to change in today's economy.
"In general, a "Sputnik moment" refers to the realization, triggered perhaps by a threat or challenge, of a need to do something different, setting a course in a new direction."
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/25/def...Sarah Palin countered in her "rebuttal" interview with Fox's Gretta Van Susteren saying, "He (Obama) needs to remember that, uh, what happened back then with the communist U.S.S.R. and their victory in that race to space,"
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/...Palin called Obama's Sputnik reference a WTF moment and added "Yeah, they won but they also incurred so much debt at the time that it resulted in the inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union,"
No and No again Sarah. No Russia did not win the Space Race. Sputnik may have started the Space Race, and while the Russians had many firsts in Space before the Americans like Yuri Gagarin first man in Space and to orbit the Earth (1961), Valentina Tereshkova first woman in space (1963) and Aleksei Leonov first man to perform a space walk (1965) they ultimately lost the Space Race in 1969 when Apollo 11 with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon.
Sputnik 1 was the first Satellite launched into orbit on October 4th, 1957 by the Soviet Union. Amateur Radio operators around the world could hear Sputnik beeping from orbit for three weeks until the batteries drained and a couple months later it fell from orbit and burned up reentering Earths atmosphere. Today we take satellites for granted. We use them for all sorts of communication from TV to Cell Phones to GPS, but in 1957 Sputnik was a big deal.
No again to the collapse of the Soviet Union which was largely due to over spending on Defense due in part to the Cold War, but that's another piece of history Sarah Palin probably has no idea about.
Instead of a Sputnik Moment, Sarah says we need a "Spudnut Moment" referring to The Spudnut Shop
http://thespudnutshop.com/, the oldest coffee house in Richland, WA that is not needing any government assistance. Sarah says We need more "Spudnut Moments in America" Does she mean we all need to go out and buy donuts made from potatoes?
Does Sarah mean that we can solve all our problems by eating Spunuts, Spuddies, Spuffins, and other treats this shop sells. Or does it mean we should all get a franchise and open our own Spudnut Shops, just like Subway, McDonalds and Burger King do. Who knows what Palin means, Spudnut Moment is just another Palinism to add to her lexicon.
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