Sean O'Keefe is to Hubble as Frankie Dunn is to Maggie Fitzgerald, if you just swap out compassion for selfishness and soul searching for obstinancy.

Don't you think?

Update: Sean O'Keefe has replied with a letter to the editor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/19/opinion/l19nasa.html

He says that the CAIB recommendations dictated the Hubble decision.

"Nothing less than the credibility of the agency hangs in the balance. This is not about being "petulant," nor is it personal. It's about meaning what we said, doing what we said, and being responsible regardless of the popularity of the consequences."

I can respect him for his willingness to take responsibility for an unpopular but well-founded decision. It seems his absolute rationality on the matter is frustrating to a public that plays itself as an avid risk taker -- that is, until something bad actually happens, at which point the public has shown itself to be quite the dutiful flip-flopper. It's a no-win situation for O'Keefe, to be sure.

America's Billion Dollar Baby, Left to Die Cold and Alone