'Wow': NASA startles with invitation to sanctioned Russian
Source: Politico
Dmitry Rogozin is no typical rocket-science technocrat. He is an ultranationalist politician with a record of stark racism and homophobia who is under American sanctions.
By BEN SCHRECKINGER 01/01/2019 08:06 AM EST
A Trump administration officials plan to host a sanctioned Russian nationalist in the U.S. in the coming months is raising alarms among Russia hawks in Washington.
NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine extended an October invitation for his counterpart, Dmitry Rogozin, to visit NASA headquarters in Houston in early 2019. U.S.-Russia space cooperation is nothing new. But Rogozin is no typical rocket-science technocrat. He is an ultranationalist politician with a record of stark racism and homophobia who is under American sanctions, which typically bar him from entering the U.S. over his 2014 role, as deputy prime minister, in Moscows annexation of Crimea.
Bridenstine, a former three-term Republican congressman from Oklahoma, told the Russian state news agency TASS in mid-October that he had succeeded in temporarily waiving sanctions on Rogozin so that he could visit Houston and speak at Rice University, Bridenstines alma mater, sometime after the new year. The U.S. and Russia cooperate extensively on space exploration and, according to the TASS report, Bridenstine stressed the need for a strong working relationship with his counterpart.
Yet lawmakers from both parties and former national security officials are crying foul, saying the invitation undermines U.S. sanctions and would give a government-approved platform to an anti-American bigot.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/01/nasa-sanctioned-russian-nationalist-1076621
ancianita
(36,238 posts)From Wikipedia:
He probably doesn't have classified clearance and will be a conduit to Russians for all that. Because hey, "free" markets solve everything.
UpInArms
(51,295 posts)😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
Perseus
(4,341 posts)There should be a way to stop that guy from entering the USA, if not, the laws need to change, it drives me nuts when this administration gets away with murder because of the laws...I believe the laws in the USA were written under the assumption that intelligent, moral individuals would occupy sits in congress, senate and of course, the presidency. Current history has proven that it isn't so, that the most corrupt individuals, at leas on the GOP side, seek political appointments and sits in the executive.
Laws must change, the assumption must be, from now on, that corrupt individuals who seek office if indicted in the past, and found guilty, should be enough reason to disallow that individual from seeking office. I cannot remember their names but I know that a couple of individuals in Florida who had been in jail for fraud were seeking office, and one of them almost won too, both republicans of course.
dalton99a
(81,708 posts)tanyev
(42,677 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(14,034 posts)rockfordfile
(8,709 posts)TexasBushwhacker
(20,256 posts)such a person to speak at their campus.
dlk
(11,606 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)EX500rider
(10,891 posts)We need russian rockets to get our astronauts and supplies to the space station for now.
Therefore it is best we keep a warm & friendly relationship with the Russian Roscosmos State Space Corporation which does the launching and Rogozin is unfortunately head of Roscosmos. Giving him the cold shoulder could threaten to derail the launch deal. In a few more years hopefully we will have enough home grown capacity to not need Russian help, what with SpaceX etc.
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)and your statement, so very reasonable in those terms, makes no difference on this thread. Rockets, schmockets, we may have been allied with Stalin or met with Brezhnev, we may sell arms to the butchers in Saudi Arabia and Israel, but Russkie 2018 is bad, bad always.
Try realpolitik when it's about bombing somewhere. Especially if Trump seems "hesitant" to bomb, or if some bemedaled war criminal in uniform is urging the bombing. Then it will be okay!
elmac
(4,642 posts)SunSeeker
(51,811 posts)Rory McRory Fitzrory
(23 posts)Bride of Frankenstein is only gonna show Rogozin the specs of our satellites and how to destroy them, that's all.
pazzyanne
(6,560 posts)when his administration throws open the doors and invites "the enemy" into the inner sanctum. It has been this way since day 1 of this administration. Disgusting!
DRoseDARs
(6,810 posts)The Russians have likely been working on this since before the fall of the Soviet Union, doesn't involve just a few people in recent years. Remember, Putin went to school on theory and methods of destabilizing the United States.
orangecrush
(19,666 posts)B Stieg
(2,410 posts)Next, The Acting President will nominate Matia Butina to head NASA.