Obama versus the moon men

When you were betting in your office pool on what Bush Administration department was going to give the Obama transition the most trouble, I bet a lot of money went on the Justice Department. You should have bet it all on NASA.

NASA administrator Mike Griffin is not cooperating with President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team, is obstructing its efforts to get information and has told its leader that she is “not qualified” to judge his rocket program, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.

In a heated 40-minute conversation last week with Lori Garver, a former NASA associate administrator who heads the space transition team, a red-faced Griffin demanded to speak directly to Obama, according to witnesses.

In addition, Griffin is scripting NASA employees and civilian contractors on what they can tell the transition team and has warned aerospace executives not to criticize the agency’s moon program, sources said.

Really? The big rift in the transition is the space program? Apparently Griffin wants to preserve the new "go to the moon" Constellation program and has decided the best way to do that is to belittle transition staffers, angrily demand to speak to the President ("Fuck this economic crisis, he needs to devote time to the moon!"), and order loyalty and silence pledges from his contractors. Sounds like someone who is going to get fired. They'll probably have to drag him out of his office, Griffin clutching tight to his model Saturn rockets and toy Millennium Falcon, screaming "I don't wanna go." I'm sure these are all things that will make lawmakers judge NASA as a wise expenditure during the economic crisis.

I wonder what this bodes for Project "Mars, bitches!"?