Where's the next JFK?

Yesterday afternoon upon my return from dropping my eldest grandson off at his mothers' I was idly channel hopping when I came across NASA's Greatest Missions on the Freeview channel Quest.

Well I went from merely looking for some background noise to sitting there  glued to the box till it all ended at 9pm. Which included a hastily cooked TV meal during the commercial breaks.

A lot of the Mercury mission footage was new to me, I suppose I had been too young for it to register, also as children our television access was very strictly monitored by my mother. It was really interesting to see how the participants had aged.

Then we were into the Gemini mission, which I was quite familiar with, but there was still a lot of footage that I had either forgotten, or never seen before.

Finally, we got to the Apollo program, the one that put men upon the Moon, mankind (oops I'll have the PC brigade after me!) actually landing upon another planet. Which to be honest I don't think my children will ever see in their lifetime.

I can vaguely remember the shock of the ill fated Apollo One pre-launch fire that killed the entire crew. With some very poignant shots of that tragic scene last night. Followed by the euphoria of watching Neil Armstrong take those first footsteps on the moon.

In fact I was surprised how much it affected me last night watching it all again.

I can remember my father so taken up by the drama of Apollo 13's unlucky flight that he camped out in our lounge with the radio and television on 24/7 till they were safely home; and that was someone who didn't rate our American cousins too highly!

Re-living it all again I reflected that John F Kennedy was certainly a very visionary leader when he challenged America to put a man on the moon. I realize he had other faults but I doubt we'll ever see anyone as inspiring leading this country - they're all pygmies.

His "... ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." speech is something our politicans should be forced to learn by heart before they take office.
Leaving that to one side, it was also a great time for mankind (oops there I go again!) to be living thru, with it looking as if our dreams could come true. Life seemed colourful then.
Now we're back to a grey. cold world led by pygmies, vain selfish ones at that; who only want to control our lives not enrich them by reaching for the stars.
So as we look towards a New Year I ask you: "Where's the next JFK?"