In the 1998 film Armageddon, the entire plot of the film centered around the absurd notion that applying surface force to an asteroid would have no effect on sparing the earth annihilation.
Nope, in true American movie fashion, no resolution would suffice other than to literally blow the threat to pieces.
In the 1998 film Armageddon, the entire plot of the film centered around the absurd notion that applying surface force to an asteroid would have no effect on sparing the earth annihilation.
Nope, in true American movie fashion, no resolution would suffice other than to literally blow the threat to pieces.
Even back then, it didn't require mastery of the laws of astrophysics to see how backward this was - expeditiously diverting the path of an asteroid in the vastness of space so that it simply passes us by, versus embarking on a time-consuming operation resulting in chunks of a Texas-sized asteroid hurtling with even greater velocity in random directions when it would be far closer to earth. Of course, people who, at the time, *were* masters of the laws of astrophysics pointed this out, and this year finally demonstrated that early course correction is a viable – and the obviously correct –solution.
There is a lesson here for the importance of the January 6th committee. It's not a perfect analogy – eventually, I believe, we do need to go for the kill shot, so to speak, and convict Donald Trump. But that's a forward looking effort - to deter the next ambitious, authoritarian crook or self-obsessed celebrity who thinks they know how to "solve America"; to send the message that the U.S. presidency is not a playground for man-children.
But relying solely on that would have been folly. The slow-turning wheels of our justice system, allowing Trump to proceed with his existing trajectory and momentum, hurtling toward another run for the presidency, only to drop the hammer at the last moment would have ensured maximum possible damage to our republic.
We needed something sooner. We needed to nudge him off course.
In the 1998 film Armageddon, the entire plot of the film centered around the absurd notion that applying surface force to an asteroid would have no effect on sparing the earth annihilation.
Nope, in true American movie fashion, no resolution would suffice other than to literally blow the threat to pieces.
Even back then, it didn't require mastery of the laws of astrophysics to see how backward this was - expeditiously diverting the path of an asteroid in the vastness of space so that it simply passes us by, versus embarking on a time-consuming operation resulting in chunks of a Texas-sized asteroid hurtling with even greater velocity in random directions when it would be far closer to earth. Of course, people who, at the time, *were* masters of the laws of astrophysics pointed this out, and this year finally demonstrated that early course correction is a viable – and the obviously correct –solution.
There is a lesson here for the importance of the January 6th committee. It's not a perfect analogy – eventually, I believe, we do need to go for the kill shot, so to speak, and convict Donald Trump. But that's a forward looking effort - to deter the next ambitious, authoritarian crook or self-obsessed celebrity who thinks they know how to "solve America"; to send the message that the U.S. presidency is not a playground for man-children.
But relying solely on that would have been folly. The slow-turning wheels of our justice system, allowing Trump to proceed with his existing trajectory and momentum, hurtling toward another run for the presidency, only to drop the hammer at the last moment would have ensured maximum possible damage to our republic.
We needed something sooner. We needed to nudge him off course.
Thank you, Jan 6th committee.
If you don't want Bruce Willis to be President, just say so!
j/k, well said and a good point.
If Bruno were president, we would have been robbed of years of action hero awesomeness!