Kyle Boatright wrote:

In hindsight (always 20/20, right?), I'd say that the shuttle and the ISS
were both boondoggles. The shuttle was built in order to transport stuff
to a space station that didn't exist until 20 years after the shuttle's
launch.

You're neglecting the cold war mentality that existed at the time of the
Shuttle's introduction. Grabbing the high ground certainly appeared to be
(and likely was, even if it turned out to have been unnecessary) a
reasonable strategy.

- Andrew