Snipped text:

" you (sic) ability to build rockets isn't much better."

As contrasted to whom?

Have we made mistakes? Oh Yeah!
Have we made misjudgements? Oh Yeah!

But who has accomplished more? Russia and the U.S. have both had many
things go wrong with their respective space programs. But whom else
would you cite as better in terms of proven performance over a broad
scope of spaceflight related activities? Yes, there are other centers
of excellence throughout the world, especially in Europe, China,
Japan, and India. But in a broad long term view, history does not
support the contention that there is a lack of ability to build viable
spacecraft.

As to a lack of political wisdom or business acumen, that is another
discussion.