Yesterday, many Americans came together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the nation’s crowning achievements: the Apollo 11 moon landing. That is, unless you’re The New York Times.
In an op-ed penned by Sophie Pinkham, the Times states that, actually, the Soviets were the ones to win the space race because of… um, equality?
The Cold War was fought as much on an ideological front as a military one, and the Soviet Union often emphasized the sexism and racism of its capitalist opponents — particularly the segregated United States. And the space race was a prime opportunity to signal the U.S.S.R.'s commitment to equality. After putting the first man in space in 1961, the Soviets went on to send the first woman, the first Asian man, and the first black man into orbit — all years before the Americans would follow suit.
If anything, Pinkham's piece is just another clear attempt by those elements of the left to disregard American successes merely for the sins of the nation's past. This time, however, they praised a genocidal regime to do it. That seems counterproductive.