I'm not an idiot for questioning the necessity of a manned flight to Mars. You act as if you're in favor of science but money saved with using unmanned missions, or non-landing missions, could be used towards countless other researches in the program. Ultimately, a government-backed space program is going to have to prove that it does something, if it wants tax payer support. If people think it's wasting money sending men up to Mars for an exponent of what it would cost to send unmanned vessels, they're going to start voting against politicians who take pro-exploration stances.