— — Normally I would jump at the chance to make fun of Newt Gingrich for saying something zany like how he plans to build American colonies on the moon. That’s my wheel house!

“By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon. And it will be American," Gingrich said.

Really, building a moon colony is a silly idea — one made sillier by Newt’s previous musing that once 30,000 Americans inhabited the moon they could apply for statehood. Pity this hasn’t happened already so we could happily blast Newt, Mitt, Rick and Ron into outer space for the all-important Moon (uppercase because it’s a state now!) primary — and simply forget to give them a ride home.

Besides, if we’re adding states to the union I’m pretty sure Puerto Rico has called dibbs.

I promise, folks, I’ve got at least another 15 column inches worth of snarky material needling Newt for being so over the moon. Trouble is, I sort of agreed with him.

OK, not with moon colonies, per se. Those really are silly.

But my inner space nerd stood and applauded for a candidate who boldly went where few politicians have been willing to go. Our nation was once galvanized by a young president whose brave vision for the future included Americans walking on the moon.

Today, our only way into space is hitching a ride with the country we beat in that race. JFK must be rolling in his grave.

I understand people’s misgivings. There are times for austerity and sound fiscal policy and this sure feels one of them. With mounting debt here on earth, why would we waste even more money in space?

Permit me to reframe the question: As we debate America’s role as world leader in this new century, what better possible way to lead the world again than by putting a man on Mars?

America is a land “discovered” by the bravest — some might argue the most foolish — of those born to the European continent. Discovery is in the American DNA and space really is the final frontier.

The New York Times has never ran a larger headline than the day after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. These things capture our imagination and remind rocket scientists and average Joes alike we really are capable of doing anything we put our minds to.

The fact that we’ve all but abandoned our space program is sad. It’s un-American, really. How can we make the case for American exceptionalism when we abandon the legacy of arguably our most exceptional accomplishment?

It’s too bad we lack anything approaching the political will to get our space program off the ground and judos to Newt for giving it a try. We’re really not that far off, technology-wise. One scientist quipped that the toughest thing about building Newt’s moon colony would be electing Gingrich president.

The pessimist will look at such an idea and dismiss it as lunar lunacy. The pragmatist will look at such an idea and say it’s too much money for no tangible benefit, that it just isn’t worth the expense.

Does anyone remember how much we spent on the Apollo program? Of course not. We remember Armstrong bravely declaring, “It’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

That is the stuff of dreamers — and all it took was a challenge to all Americans to make it a reality.

Blasting Gingrich for his moon colony idea is too easy. Newt is a bit of a lunatic, after all. By all means, dismiss his campaign for its lack of gravitational pull. America’s galactic ambitions, however, are much tougher to laugh off.

Eric DuVall is the managing editor of the Tonawanda News. His column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. Contact him at eric.duvall@tonawanda-news.com.