I do have a passing thought... As often as Geordi's blindness was exploited by enemies through his VISOR, it seems like the Federation would've banned the technology.
True. But you're assuming what lawmakers do makes sense. And a different party might've been in power in 2371 than in 2399. That would explain quite a bit.
Kirk learns from his experiences. Picard shows everyone why they're wrong. Sisko compromises (in many senses of the word). Janeway does what she does. Archer has faith of the heart. That's how these things work.
Archer not only has faith of the heart, he has a statue of Zefram Cochrane that can be used as a deadly weapon in close-quarters combat.
President Jaresh-Inyo in DS9 talks about not having wanted to serve on the Federation Council but didn't turn it down when the people elected him.
But the analogy to be made need not be one of a rescue mission. The reporter says the rescue mission was a project analogous to building the Pyramids which suggests it was just an ambitious pooling of resources and manpower to do something extra-ordinary. Picard dismisses the Pyramid analogy since they were what he calls a project of vanity then offers Dunkirk. Now, Picard may be trying to be making a more 1:1 analogy since in a very loose way you could say the two are the same, but they're really not considering what had to be done to save the Romulans and Dunkirk were Allies trying to save Allies not Allies trying to save Axis. The outlawing of Romulan Ale strikes me as something that's been misunderstood by people. Many, even the movies/shows themselves (of note Nemesis) seem to imply it's illegal because it's so powerful or whatever. It always seemed to me it was illegal for the same reason Cuban Cigars are/were. It was an embargo to prevent any stimulation of the Romulan "economy" or support of their culture since they were such strong enemies. It had nothing to do with the ale itself, everything from Romulus was likely illegal.
Jaresh Inyo, a pacifist to the core, was Federation President in 2372. He might've been elected in 2368 if they have a four-year cycle. Quite a bit of difference between 2368 (TNG Season 5) and 2372 (DS9 Season 4). So much difference he was referred to as Former-President in "Extreme Measures" in 2375. Inyo says in "Homefront" he wished he didn't run for office. Sounds like his first term and then he turned out to be a one-termer. This is of course me treating the UFP as if it's an interstellar version of the USA as it was originally intended to be. The VISOR destroyed helped the Enterprise-D in 2371. So that was several news cycles ago during 2372. But. Geordi also has occular implants from First Contact on. So who knows? Maybe they did do something about VISORs.
About the reporter and Dunkirk: I don't think the point was that she should have gotten what is likely a fairly obscure reference in the 24th Century. I think the point was that she pretended to know.
Or just said, "Hey if one of your crewmen are kidnapped by a hostile force, when you get him back, maybe scan him for bugs and stuff."
I think this might have been touched upon back in the premiere screening posts, but it occurs to me that whatever Picard's standing might have been with Starfleet in the years since he left, the interview alone gives them pretty good grounds not to roll out the red carpet for him when he comes knocking. Talk about a PR nightmare! Not an enemy...people. Hear you nothing that Picard says?
Just read this. I feel like the opening scene of Picard was a good way to transition from TNG into PIC.
As a corollary, if a crewman has just had a 'creature' put into their ear, maybe it would be best to keep them in sickbay, rather than put them at the weapons/tactical station!
But it crawled out and was incinerated. If it's good enough for McCoy, it's probably good enough for Kirk.