How To Have Hope When Things Seem Hopeless: NASA and Comey

The country appears to be melting down in real time. Today, James Comey (who I'm not an especially huge fan of and blame for HRC's loss in 2016) was indicted for essentially nothing, meanwhile Trump proclaims Comey threatens the rule of law. This is a new low for American democracy, especially because the prosecution appears to be politically motivated, meaning even if there were truth to the allegations, Comey is clearly being singled out because he represents a threat to Donald Trump as an outspoken critic with legitimacy because the FBI is still an institution many Americans respect, and the FBI as opposed to local police carries a lot of weight and legitimacy with the American people. And that alone is reason enough to drop the investigation, not that Trump will do so because Trump shows every day he doesn't care about the rule of law, and that law is imaginary. 

So on the one hand, today's news cycle might make people like me cry and I admit I did cry, and shed actual tears, because the nation is clearly "going through something" and while I firmly believe "we are all in this together" at the same time political polarization is undeniable and with the shootings and killings of individuals both on the left and right based on what looks like political speech, it is a dangerous time to speak out and share one's views. One could say a person who speaks out at a time like this risks their lives, and that view is in line with my familiarity of other failed states, including Chile and Argentina, where I studied and worked, and specialized in representing torture victims.

At the same time, optimism is vital, and dreams are vital, and dreams are what keep humans going, even when they might otherwise want to call it quits, or just cry. And today I want to share with you an inspirational story about how even in darkness, our nation still cooperates, and there is still hope in the arena of science. NASA is going to the moon! And of course, I was aware of this, but I didn't realize how close NASA had come. NASA held a press conference, and there's a new space race against not Russia but this time China. And the astronauts spoke of a topic near and dear to my heart, which is cooperation. There's nothing more beautiful than cooperation, and NASA is not only math and physics and exploration, but it embodies hope now when Americans need it more than ever. All I have to say is, NASA keep it up, you inspire me. And who knows, maybe one day, I'll consult for you. (I'm pretty good at a thing called math and physics, even if I use unconventional techniques.) 


-Cortelyou C. Kenney (Sept. 26, 2025, 9:48 CT) 

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