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Comment by Cheyana | Hacker News Reader

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"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? That's not my department!" says Wernher von Braun"

What does this even mean? I literally cannot figure it out. Like, they’ll just put warm bodies anywhere, as if that’s a feature of naziism? That Nazis love rockets? Something else?

I think they’re referencing Operation Paperclip: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip

The US and USSR both snagged a lot of German scientists at the end of WWII. Many of those scientists ended up working for NASA and were critical to rocket development in the US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun - A major example of this

It's a reference to Wernher von Braun. I think it's a really pointless thing to say, since it adds nothing to the conversation and just sort of makes an unrelated, uninformative reference. But here we are nonetheless.

Yes, that's why I'm asking him for clarification.

“ What does this even mean? I literally cannot figure it out. Like, they’ll just put warm bodies anywhere” Yes, that is literally it. The current administration has no qualms about appointing unqualified people to cabinet positions, whether they’re former entertainment CEOs espousing the merits of A1, or drunken news commentators to lead our military… if the spray tan man saw them on the teevee they must be good, with extra bonus points for doing the ol’ sieg heil in public, along with considering that the Fuhrer had “some good ideas”.

Yeah, but I don’t get how “we’ll use any dumbass” equates to “well take your absolute top scientists”.

It doesn’t, that’s the point. Operation Paperclip took a calculated risk, for what they saw as the good of the country, long-term. With the current grifters at the helm, we’ll, let’s grab the popcorn and see.

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