NASA should prioritize space colonization over puexploration

There's an old tongue-in-cheek saying: "No matter where you go,
there you are". In regard to the ISS, it's my hope that although it
"goes nowhere", it will be the progenitor of a permanent LEO transfer
point between Earth and destinations beyond. Likewise, I suspect that
there will be a similar orbiting transfer point at Mars.
The people manning the ISS serve a useful function - now, for
observation and research - and, hopefully, later for facilitating
missions and commerce between Earth and our other enclaves around the
solar system. Dismissing their work as a mission to nowhere does them
a disservice.
I don't believe there's anyone at NASA or in the space community in
general who feel that the ISS is an end result. It's a first - and
necessary - step in our evolution towards a being space faring species.
In the future those who find themselves on the Earth, on an
orbiting space station, on the Moon, Mars or elsewhere will all be
part of the fabric of our civilization. Describing any one of these
groups as being on a mission to nowhere marginalizes their
contribution and their value as human beings.
Chris