99% of the world would never have seen a photo of those astronauts, let alone known any of their names, had they not been made "heroes" by splintering into a thousand charred pieces all over the Lone Star state.
The media's definition of "hero", by the way, should be clear by now:
"A formally living individual who has been gunned down or incinerated while giving the true or false impression of seeking unselfish ends."
The mainstream media sure as hell didn't show any respect towards any astronauts' goals before this shuttle blew up. Unless you count that last time a shuttle blew up.
The only reason the Columbia landing was being covered on TV in the first place was that a landing spaceship makes for good TV. It was the spaceship that was being covered, not the science. And now that the media has a color photo of seven dead people, they're acting like the American public is a bunch of Star Trek geeks.
In his memorial speech, President Bush told the families of the astronauts, "Our nation shares in your sorrow." Congressmen are tripping over each other to tell us how much we're all "mourning". And yes, that we're mourning for seven "heroes".
