Newt Gingrich’s suggestion that we establish a 51st state on the moon is wonderful reminder of the nature of dreams and ambitions and of how, in most people, they tend to mellow with age to the point of vanishing. It was delightful, the disjunction between the former speaker’s proposal and his years. Whatever you may think of a colony on the moon, how refreshing that a man pushing 70 would give voice to the kind of gee-whiz “let’s put on a show” ambition that you might expect to hear from a 12-year-old.

And why not? Why should dreams be downsized with maturity, anyway?

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