America’s Macho Clowns Go Nuts Over a Balloon
You’d think that all circus clowns running around Capitol Hill these days would have better things to do than get upset over a balloon. But you’d be wrong.
The “Chinese balloon” became a national security problem over the weekend as Republicans took a break from defending gas stoves to get photographed pointing a gun of some sort at the sky. The prospects of shooting down an object approximately 10 miles from the ground were infinitely less than a random bullet falling from the sky hitting an innocent civilian, but there was a point to prove: Joe Biden weak, MAGAts strong.
This isn’t the first time a Chinese balloon has drifted over the US; there were three of them during the Trump era and one during Biden’s first days in office.
The real story here has to be why this story became a story in the first place. Anybody with experience in intelligence/foreign policy knows that there’s nothing to be gained from disrupting the tit-for-tat games being played out all over the world.
A bunch of publicity hungry politicians have a) derailed the first high-level meeting between the US and Chinese regimes in many years, and, b) given the Chinese military an opening to take offensive action at a time and place of their choosing over a minor incident.
I’ve seen plenty of speculation that the balloon incident was a deliberate attempt by some faction opposing President Xi to derail the prospect of opening up a line of communication with their super power rival. Frankly, it’s more likely that the tip-off came from Trumpian sympathizers in the military or the halls of Congress.
Prior to the wave of faux news cresting, the President and his advisors had decided to make this intrusion into an opportunity to acquire a rival’s hardware by shooting the balloon –the size of four school buses– down once it flew over shallow coastal waters.
Pentagon officials told CNN’s Jim Sciutto that not only were they able to block the balloon from collecting intelligence during its overflight of the US, the military was able to turn the tables, to gather intel on the balloon itself and its equipment.
The solar panels and other equipment landed in less than 50 feet of water, prompting the Navy to change its plan to use an underwater submersible for recovery in favor of divers, who could scour the site for bits and pieces of evidence.
In the hours prior to the F22 downing the intruder a stampede of Republicans rushed to get their manly plans published on social media.
House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCall let it be known that hearings were already in the works, “I will be demanding answers and will hold the admin accountable for this embarrassing display of weakness.”
Former Secretary of State Pompeo posted a picture of himself aiming a rifle. So manly!
And Fox News dredged up an “expert”
Will any of these clowns back down and admit they were wrong? Nah.
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