But Michael Medved reports,
These clashing opinions on extraterrestrials amount to more than a trivial split on an arcane topic; they connect, in fact, both logically and emotionally to big conflicts over worldview, culture, politics and America's role in history.
In Colorado, these conflicts erupted in a recent battle over a proposed Denver commission to investigate visitations from alien life forms. Initiative 300 won enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in November 2010 but lost in a landslide, with conservatives leading the derision of the "ET Initiative," as a loony waste of taxpayer money. The chief support for "greater transparency" regarding sightings and encounters came from the city's Bohemian left, with advocates proudly citing the interest in flying saucers from liberal icons like Jimmy Carter and John Podesta, Bill Clinton's former chief of staff.
Polls show that Americans remain closely divided on attitudes toward extraterrestrials, with a 2008 Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll reporting 56% who believe it is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that intelligent life has developed in other worlds. Self-described Democrats (according to the same survey) are far more likely to say they have personally seen "visitors from another world" than are their Republican counterparts, who remain distinctly skeptical.
For more, go here. A most interesting discussion follows.
Of course the Initiative is a waste of money! If the ETs really wanted to talk to us... well, like I always advise, in matters of the heart: If he's there and if he cares, he'll phone. He knows you want to hear from him. So, if you don't...
By the way, I hope it's not true that Jimmy Carter spent a lot of time thinking about... flying saucers?... when he was president. Didn't he have, like, "issues" to address? I recall something about the Ayatollah Khomeini holding American hostages back then... Ring a bell?
For more stories on extraterrestrials, go here.
"Note:" This sounds kind of preachy,but it is important to distinguish between "space aliens" as above, and the possibility of primitive life on other planets. The latter is a question on which information from science has a bearing; the former an article of faith, based on other beliefs.
