Here’s what I hate most about the partisan bickering that’s been going on lately: the reactionary GOP has been so busy opposing anything and everything that the President of the United States says that events like this have been submerged in all the rapid-news-cycle media hoopla.

Mr. Obama gave a short speech on the value and necessity of science and technology, and on his proposed efforts to boost science and math education in American schools. (He also acknowledged dignitaries such as NASA adminsitrator Charlie Bolden, Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Shuttle astronaut Sally Ride, and a 14-year-old who is the youngest person to discover a supernova.) Now, these things ought to be the kind of things that every American can agree with. Okay, every sensible American; I guess I just wrote about some of our citizenry who think that science is valueless. Still, the positive response to an event like this ought to be overwhelming. If only the constant coverage of so-called “tea parties” didn’t override it.

Anyway, this is the kind of event that makes me really love our President.