GOP files suit to prevent Democratic candidate from claiming to be an astronaut.

[Glassunion]

Hernandez was a crew member on the space shuttle in 2009.
http://www.lodinews.com/news/article_0b053d76-f38e-11e0-9336-001cc4c03286.html

I wonder if he also listed that he was a farm worker they would challenge that title as well?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/24/jose-hernandez-astronaut-title_n_1377389.html?ref=politics

Guy lives out the American dream... Did not speak English until he was 12, worked with his family one farms while growing up. Finishes college, gets accepted to the space program, leaves the damn planet and they(GOP) want to challenge his credentials by carrying the title of astronaut.

What ass holes.

[Kalidurga]

1. He isn't claiming to be an astronaut.

He is an astronaut or maybe you could say he is a former astronaut, since he is now a politician.

[Glassunion]

4. Me, I'd call him an astronaut.

Every single "retired" astronaut I've ever met(you meet quite a few in Coco Beach FL), was always given the title of "Astronaut". I'd agree. Even retired doctors are still given the salutation of Doctor.

How petty can they get?

[EC]

16. John Glenn

is retired and still called an Astronaut...so what is the GOP's problem? Oh, I know, he's a Democrat.

[ProgressiveATL]

20. Speaker Newt Gingrich

Gingrich was Speaker 1995-1999. I've often heard him referred to as "Speaker Newt Gingrich," and I quickly found an online example, via the neo-conservative Foreign Policy Initiative, from a September 2009 conference, "A Conversation with Speaker Newt Gingrich": http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/advancing-and-defending-democracy/a-conversation-with-speaker-newt-gingrich

[ChairmanAgnostic]

26. but there is no confirmed report of his ever returning from orbit.

[Fla Dem]

27. I've always found that odd. Why are politicians no longer in office still

addressed by the position they once held? I understand if when introduced or mentioned in the media they are referred to as former congressman (woman), former senator, former Governor, etc, but why are they addressed as if they still hold the position? In fact why do certain professions, (mostly political) insist on using their position as part of their name? We do not refer to most people by their occupations. Do we say Engineer John Smith, Mechanic Jane Jones, Store Clerk Mary Christmas? Lawyers are not addressed as Lawyer Don Adams and yet Judges are addressed as Judge Rabbit Warren. Yes we do address Doctors with their titles. Lots of people have doctorates who are not refferred to as Dr. Again, find that odd. Just my musing for a Tuesday morning.

[Mz Pip]

2. And yet

GOP refer to Noot as Mr. Speaker.

Can they get anymore petty? These are the same folks who kept insisting on calling Obama a community activist, a job he had decades ago right after college. Twits.

IMHO this will be great publicity for Hernandez.

[ProgressiveATL]

21. Word :-)

[IDemo]

3. Flat Earthers don't believe orbital flight possible, anyway. n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. How incredibly petty.

The good thing is that this will backfire on the nasty little GOPers - it will only draw attention to the fact that Hernandez really was an astronaut, and will emphasize what a bunch of petty snots they are.

[Scuba]

6. Imagine if the R's win and candidates are required to tell only exact truths Sweet dreams.

[mainer]

7. That's like saying a Marine is no longer a Marine

Man, would they get called on that in a heartbeat.

[Downwinder]

8. I'm a pilot, even though I haven't flown for thirty years.

[ehrnst]

9. Unlike Palin - who is still called Governor... (nt)

[groundloop]

10. I thought it was Half Governor.....

[The Wielding Truth]

11. Once you've been an astronaut you are always introduced as an astronaut. Ask John Glen.

It's almost a first name.http://www.protectedsearch.com/websearchresults.aspx?si=36715&chrome=true&q=john+glenn

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

12. So retired Senators and Congressmen lose their titles when they retire?

And I like the comment about half-governor Palin.

[sarge43]

13. It wasn't that long ago when the Repubs were having hizzies about frivious lawsuits.

If this idioticy reaches a court, I hope the judge tells them to pound sand and get a life.

[SDjack]

14. The Repukes are giving Hernandez better publicity than he can buy.

Looks like they will never learn.

[bluedigger]

15. We should countersue for their claims of being "human".

[Ruby the Liberal]

17. I hope his campaign can capitalize on this petty behavior.

THIS is the kind of thing that swings people. Petty bullshit.

[denbot]

18. Even though "Joe" was never a plumber, he's still "Joe the Plumber"..

But a guy with the surname Hernandez, who actually went up in space, he can't be an astronaut.

The fucking hypocrisy of the GOP is bottomless.

[jmowreader]

23. Joe was a plumber, and Hernandez will always be an astronaut

Even if he never flies again, he'll always be an astronaut.

And as already pointed out, Palin is referred to as "governor" even though she bailed when either (1) it stopped being fun or (2) they were this close to indicting her for all the slime she left behind her.

[sakabatou]

19. Job bills? Who cares? We have to keep this one guy from calling himself an astronaut.

[xxqqqzme]

22. I bet he filed more

than one tax return w/ that designation. (Or whatever IRS-ese for astronaut is). When I ran for state assembly, the SoS office called me about my designation (paralegal). It was cleared up in one phone call.

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Seems to me NASA regards it as a permanent status

Through a conversation with then NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and associate administrator of the Space Operations mission directorate, William F. Readdy, I hoped to remedy the situation. This conversation took place in 2004, just weeks after the Federal Aviation Administration had awarded astronaut wings to civilian pilots Brian Binnie and Michael W. Melvill of Scaled Composites Inc. for their flights in SpaceShipOne. Both O'Keefe and Readdy agreed it would be appropriate to recognize the three NASA X-15 pilots for their achievements.

During the conversation, I mentioned the discrepancy between NASA's and the military's definition of "astronaut." The first issue was whether to select 50 or 62 miles as a defining altitude; Readdy selected 50 miles to eliminate any inconsistency between military and civilian pilots flying the same vehicle.

Beyond that, a major stumbling block in recognizing the X-15 pilots as astronauts had been, according to lore, the wishes of the Astronaut Office at the Johnson Space Center. To determine how the office actually felt about the issue and in an effort to resolve any potential concerns, I turned to Col. Michael J. Bloomfield, the Astronaut Office operations officer. Bloomer, as Mike is known, had flown on three space shuttle flights. Readdy also had flown three times. They seemed appropriate ambassadors. Between the two of them they smoothed the way; the chief of the Astronaut Office, Capt. Kent V. Rominger, subsequently agreed that recognizing the three NASA X-15 pilots would be appropriate and offered his assistance in the matter.

Figuring out exactly how to honor the pilots proved trickier. NASA does not issue metal astronaut wings, and has no official policy on the subject. In the end, it was decided that each pilot – McKay and Walker posthumously – would receive a set of the cloth-and-leather nametags worn by space shuttle astronauts on their flight suits, along with a certificate signed by Readdy, Rominger and Kevin L. Petersen, director of the Dryden Flight Research Center. Forty years after their groundbreaking achievements in the X-15 rocket plane, the three pilots finally got the recognition they deserved.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/X-Press/stories/2005/102105_Schneider.html

They recognise non-NASA Americans who have been into space as astronauts, so continued employment by NASA is not the qualification.

[mainer]

25. This lawsuit is great for Hernandez. Now EVERYONE will know he flew in space.

Sometimes the GOP just can't help shooting itself in the foot.