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09/14/2006: "And You Thought Our Government Was Nuts ..."

These days, it's pretty easy to take potshots at the government. It doesn't really matter what the topic, chances are they're well on their way to screwing it up. But at least they tend to stick to relatively weighty matters in their discussions. The same cannot be said for their counterparts in Russia, who actually considered a measure to send Madonna - yes, that Madonna - into space on one of their rockets.

State Duma member Alexei Mitrofanov, referring to Madonna's reported expression of desire to become a "space tourist," proposed that the lower house of parliament send a formal inquiry to the Russian space agency about organizing a space trip for her in 2008.

"Because of the television possibilities, it would be a pretty serious event in the year of elections in the United States and Russia," he was quoted as saying by the RIA-Novosti news agency.

The Duma turned down the proposal, agencies reported without specifying the vote tally.

Now, admittedly, the Soviets have shown a certain willingness to trade pride for dollars (remember, they almost sent 'NSync's Lance Bass into space - the first gay cosmonaut). We take our space program much more serious - maybe too serious - and only fly politicians like John Glenn, Jake Garn or Bill Nelson. Come to think of it, there are probably more than a few people who'd like to send the current administration on a one-way trip into space ...