Forget the Democratic haters — Bezos flight represents innovation, brilliant future

An American born to a 17-year-old mother, adopted at the age of 4 by her newly wedded Cuban immigrant husband and raised in middle-class circumstances in Texas and Florida, gave a valedictory speech at his high school graduation speech in 1982. His goal in life, Jeff Bezos said, was to colonize space.

On Tuesday, Bezos blasted off into the upper atmosphere on a craft he paid for in part with the unprecedented fortune he has made as the greatest retailer of the 21st century. History may record not that Bezos created Amazon, but rather that he was our age’s Magellan. Following the trip into space last week by fellow billionaire Richard Branson, and in the wake of fellow billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches, Bezos’ flight has now solidified a future that will feature private-sector exploration of the universe beyond the Earth and sea.