How Romney is like Tiberius and how Gingrich is like Diamandis

This is number 6 of the miscellaneous post series.  That post was updated earlier today, by the way.

As mentioned in Peter Diamandis' new book, the Emperor Tiberius of the ancient Roman Empire, had the discoverer of aluminum executed.  This delayed the benefits of aluminum to humanity for nearly two millenia.

It cannot be considered an isolated event in history, and may well have its counterparts today.

Consider these developments over the last 50 years:

1. Why hasn't there been any follow up to the Apollo program?  The conquest of space suddenly became "too hard" even while technology in general progressed at a rapid rate.
2. Why wasn't the nuclear rocket deployed even though the technology for it was at the last step of development before being made operational?
3. Why hasn't cold fusion been studied more aggressively?  Isn't it because of its revolutionary potential?
4. The proof of concept for thorium fuel cycle was demonstrated in the late sixties to early seventies.  Why wasn't this developed?  Why was an impractical path chosen instead?
5. Why has funding been concentrated in expensive tokomak designs for fusion research while simpler and cheaper designs go begging for money?
6. Why do environmentalists try to stop all energy development projects, even so called green ones?

I think it is because of the same phenomenon that Tiberius demonstrated toward the goldsmith who discovered aluminum.  These ideas are revolutionary and so they represent a threat.

Gingrich aligns himself with these revolutionary ideas, and is subsequently ridiculed for them.  Not because of their impracticality nor for their infeasibility, but for the opposite.  The suppression of these revolutionary concepts prevents progress, and we all suffer for it.

Diamandis came up with the X-prize concept, which has scored an important milestone in making space more accessible.   He wants to expand upon that concept, and so does Gingrich.  On the other hand, Romney wants to discourage innovation, if his ridicule of Newt is any indication.  Could it be because these innovations represent a threat to Romney's masters?