A President for all Seasons.

Fresh off his reprise of LBJ, Obama has set his sights on JFK. On a visit to the Kennedy Space Center Obama told his audience that he is "100 percent committed to the mission of NASA and its future." His commitment to NASA however does not include a return trip to the moon. "We've already been there" said Obama. True to his vision, Obama has set his sights on bigger game. "There is a lot more space to explore" he went on to say. "Space exploration is not a luxury, not an afterthought in America's bright future - it is an essential part of that quest." If it is indeed essential and not an afterthought, why then has Obama waited nearly two years to bring the subject up? Perhaps his administration has been thinking about it the whole time and was just waiting for the right time to break it to the public.

At odds with his vision, and perhaps to reestablish himself as a sensible and sober man, Obama outlined a series of less than glamorous missions over the next few years. Those missions include practical things such as extending the life of the space station and developing new technology to ferry astronauts and cargo into orbit: not the sort of things dreams are made of. Obama's showcase goal however is to put a man on Mars and have a deep space rocket ready by 2015 but he gave no specifics on how he planned to bring those goals about. It is safe to assume that the administration has a plan. They have a plan for everything. We can be sure it is a very good plan.

It will not be long before Obama has everything straightened out and under control here on Earth. No doubt he expects to have his terrestrial obligations well in hand by the next election. After that he can set his sights on the stars. Not even the Earth itself can contain Obama's ambition. There is no reason to think he will not be able to realize his vision. He has not failed us yet. With all that Obama has accomplished so far, going to Mars should not be difficult: not for a gifted man like him. Even the solar system will know his name before he is through.

Obama has won a Noble Peace Prize. He has gotten his health care reform package through Congress. He has challenged the United States to put a man on Mars. If he can just fix the economy, he will truly be a president for all seasons.

A week without a new plan, a new goal, or at least a new headline, is a bad week for Obama. I do not know about the nation, but I am beginning to suffer Obama fatigue.