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I’ve decided, gentle readers, to use my usual Monday education slot to touch on China’s latest humiliation of America. I refer, of course, to the Chinese spy balloon that just happened to overfly and “hover”—balloons can do that?!—over Malmstrom Air Force Base, one of our premier land-based missile sites, and surely, other sensitive installations.

If you have any doubt Joe Biden, and his entire Meat Puppet Administration is compromised by the Chinese Communist Party, have I told you I’m a Nigerian prince in exile, and if you’ll give me your bank account numbers, I’ll deposit millions for safekeeping and you can keep 50%?

We begin with a few observations:

*If we were so stupid as to pull a stunt like this over China, Iran, Russia, etc., the balloon would have been shot down, harvested for intelligence and used for propaganda the second it crossed their borders, likely even before.

*China wasn’t stupid in doing this. Saving face—avoiding at all costs embarrassment and shame—is an integral part of their culture. This was a gross insult, and a propaganda victory. Without having to explicitly say it, the CCP has told the world it owns Joe Biden and the US Government.

*Some have suggested the CCP did this to see if they could get away with it, to see just how feckless our Meat Puppet government is. Nonsense. They know. They did it to make Biden, their Meat Puppet, lose face, to tell the world they are on the rise and we are declining, and to make clear to our allies we won’t do a damned thing to protect them. Better to do what the Chinese want.

*Threatening to withhold a visit from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is not a bad thing, but a much to be desired promise and gift. They don’t have to pretend Blinken is a serious diplomat, or a serious human being.

Let’s visit Scott Johnson at Powerline for background information:

*On Thursday afternoon [02-02-23], the Billings Gazette published a photo of the balloon. The cat was out of the bag.

*’As it turns out, US authorities were well aware of the unidentified object that had entered American airspace on Jan. 28, that had then left and re-entered over North Idaho on Tuesday. But with such a high-profile trip at stake, keeping it on the down-low was key.’

The “high-profile trip” was Blinken’s threatened visit to China.

*Bloomberg does not state when the authorities determined it was a Chinese spy balloon. However, in other words, the Biden administration knew all about it and intended to remain mum. They intended to remain mum to preserve the viability of Secretary Blinken’s planned trip to Beijing this weekend.

I can’t see why. I’m sure the Chinese have all manner of other conduits with which to betray America other than a personal visit.

*LOL, as though this is a coincidence: ‘The gravity of the situation was only exacerbated by Montana being home to Malmstrom Air Force Base, which houses a large portion of the US’s Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.’

But not to worry, America, because:

*LOL: China claims an innocent misunderstanding. Their Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement that the balloon was merely a weather research ‘airship’ that had blown off course.

I’m sure the Chi Coms are trustworthy:

*The Pentagon rejected that out of hand — as well as China’s contention that the balloon, about the size of two school buses, was not being used for surveillance and had only limited navigational ability.

Uh-huh. So “limited” it managed to blow itself over sensitive military installations.

*Biden’s daycare minders in the White House want it to be known that Biden ‘ultimately decided to let the balloon continue on its way as the US sought answers from the Chinese embassy in Washington, but they struggled to obtain satisfactory responses. US officials said they were baffled by China, which itself appeared to be caught off-guard by the bizarre [sic] incident.’

If you think the Chinese were “baffled,” have I told you I’m a Nigerian prince…

*And this: ‘The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into U.S. airspace due to force majeure,’ the statement said, citing a legal term used to refer to events beyond one’s control.

Suuuuuure they do.

*No word on whether the Chinese side regrets entry of ‘a second balloon flying over Latin America.’

Oh, I’m sure they do, and I’m sure they regret all the other balloons they’ve already flown over America that our Meat Puppet government has kept hidden.

*Per the AP this morning, ‘China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a question about the second balloon.’

I’m sure they regret their lack of response.

*LOL: Also per the AP this morning, as to the spy balloon traversing the United States, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs again emphasized that the balloon’s journey was out of its control and urged the U.S. not to ‘smear’ it based on the balloon.

Of course not. It would be wrong to smear genocidal maniacs bent on world domination. It is, gentle readers, impossible to adequately describe just how much fun the Chinese are having at our expense. Their leaders are probably still rolling on the floor, quaking with uncontrollable laughter.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the Trump Administration would not have had to shoot down such balloons, because the Chinese would never have sent them. At the Free Beacon, Pompeo comments further:

President Joe Biden’s weakness with China is once again on display. Earlier this week, U.S. officials tracked a Chinese reconnaissance balloon over the American mainland. A Chinese Communist Party spokesperson claimed this was nothing more than a ‘weather research’ balloon that had simply blown off course. Sure, the CCP’s harmless weather balloon just happened to pass over multiple sensitive military sites vital to America’s national security—nobody should believe that nonsense, especially not the Biden administration.

Even if it were true, the CCP’s policy of civil-military fusion—which requires all available research and technology, from China’s private sector or otherwise, to be shared with the Chinese military—makes such an excuse an impossibility. Thus, this appears to be an intentional act of espionage, and it signals that the CCP is feeling ever more emboldened with Biden in charge. If the Biden administration does not act to change this paradigm quickly, the threat of conflict will only continue to grow. Weakness breeds aggression. America must demonstrate clear strength and resolve.

Take the link are read the whole thing. Pompeo correctly notes our nation is overrun with Chinese spies. He also provides information on the steps the Trump Administration took to eradicate those spies, steps the Meat Puppet Administration has abandoned. Pompeo has some suggestions:

If the Biden administration wishes to reestablish the relationship of deterrence and reciprocity we cultivated with Xi’s regime, it must take the following steps:

First, the balloon should be safely brought down in a manner that minimizes risk to American civilians and that allows its contents to be recovered. Then, the content and purpose of the balloon should be made entirely public. The American people deserve to know what they are up against.

Second, we should examine every part of the surveillance balloon, determine the manufacturer of each, and sanction them accordingly. Companies around the world need to be on watch to ensure their high-tech parts are not being used by the Chinese government.

Third, the Biden administration must take the threat posed by the CCP seriously. China has been waging economic warfare against the American people for decades, but Biden still fights to cooperate with them on issues like climate change. This must end.

Fourth, Secretary of State Antony Blinken should use planned travel to the region to consult with allies, partners, and friends on further actions that will deter any more of Xi Jinping’s adventurism and hare-brained schemes.

Lastly, America must demand reciprocity. If China doesn’t allow Americans to purchase farmland next to their military installations, we shouldn’t either. If China doesn’t allow our diplomats to move freely across China, then Chinese diplomats shouldn’t be able to either. If Americans can’t get research jobs at top installations in Beijing, then Chinese researchers shouldn’t be able to get jobs here either.

Pompeo observes Biden’s weakness threatens our national security and the safety of the American people, and he’s right. China is routinely flying fighters and bombers in Taiwan’s airspace, conditioning them to accept such intrusions. They’re doing the same thing to us. How easy would it be for them to detonate an EMP device over our soil, crippling us, particularly when they know we won’t shoot down their delivery vehicles?

Lots and lots of empty space out there in the wild west…

The Meat Puppet Administration and its Pentagon woke lackeys tells us they refused to shoot down the balloon because they were worried about harming people on the ground—in Montana. I know these idiots avoid Flyover Country at all costs, but how hard is it to look up a map of Montana, which is largely devoid of population (just over 1.1 million in 2021)? They didn’t tell Montana’s governor Greg Gianforte until long after the balloon crossed into the state, and appearing on Tucker Carlson’s show on 02-03-23, he said he would have been delighted to shoot it down, and had no concerns about damage on the ground, pointing out Montana is kind of big and largely empty.

One might think by allowing it to keep flying, we were using our electronic intelligence assets to intercept its signals, but that’s nonsense. How are we served by letting China gain any intelligence on our military installations? Listening to the intelligence bonanza they are reaping helps us how, exactly, and why would that matter to a government that has abandoned any border enforcement anyway?  How can anyone, other than people concerned with pronouns, gender, CRT and climate change, believe we would not be best served by immediately downing the balloon, seizing it’s tech, and wringing every bit of intelligence out of it?

We wouldn’t even have to let it crash. We could put enough holes into it to allow it to slowly descend, and use a properly equipped heavy lift helicopter, to snag the balloon and lower it, undamaged. We do have that capability. The Chinese might have a self-destruct charge, but why let them get any intelligence, or propaganda value, at all from the damned thing? Why let it enter our airspace at all?

It will be a miracle, gentle readers, if the Chinese don’t seize Taiwan, and a variety of other nations in that part of the world, before their Manchurian Candidate in the White House wobbles off the world stage. They’ve proved beyond any doubt we’re too stupid, woke, compromised, or all three to dare threaten them.

Thanks Brandon!

PRE-POSTING UPDATE: this from Fox: 

The U.S. military has shot down the Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean.

While the balloon was off the coast of South Carolina, it was shot down by U.S. military fighter jets on Saturday afternoon, according to Fox News sources. A senior U.S. military official said that an F-22 was used to bring down the balloon at 58,000 feet, adding that a single A9X missile was fired.

How nice: waiting until the balloon traversed the entire US, including Alaska, before shooting it down. One hopes our military is actually trying to recover it. A South Carolina Congressman is a bit miffed: 

Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., told Fox News that the Chinese surveillance balloon fell right off the coast of his district near his hometown and that he’s ‘incredibly concerned’ about why it took days to handle.

REP. RUSSELL FRY: We haven’t been told much, honestly. It fell right above my hometown. We’re kind of in the dark a little bit. I think the American people are in the dark. Why was it allowed to go clear across the country for so many days? You look at this — national security is one of the biggest things that the country can do. It is a core function of government, so I think for us in Congress and I think for the American people, there are a lot more questions than answers at this point. 

But hey, none of this is Biden’s fault: 

President Joe Biden said shortly after the U.S. military shot down a Chinese spy balloon that he gave the order to shoot it down on Wednesday but that military officials waited until Saturday to do so.

‘I ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down on Wednesday as soon as possible,’ Biden told reporters on Saturday. ‘They decided without doing any damage to people on the ground they decided that the best time to do that was when it got over water outside within a 12 mile limit.’

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also acknowledged that the order was given to the military on Wednesday and that the military decided to wait.

‘On Wednesday, President Biden gave his authorization to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon’s path,’ Lloyd said.

So, what? Did General Milley need time to warn his Chinese allies before the military decided to shoot down the balloon? We’ve supposedly been tracking it since Alaska at least. Is Joe the Commander in Chief, or is it Milley or Austin? Are the Chinese laughing their asses off any less now? Do we look any less feckless now? Are Americans any safer?

The most transparent, honest Administration in history: 

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s ‘Fox News @ Night,’ House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) stated that he was never alerted by the Biden administration about the Chinese spy balloon.

Host Trace Gallagher asked, ‘Are you getting any information, sir, from the Pentagon about the specifics or anything else about this balloon?’

Green responded, ‘No. We’re getting very little and we never got a phone call. We never got alerted to this. It’s a crying shame when the Chairman of Homeland Security finds out about a Chinese spy balloon flying over the United States, it’s just — it’s really unconscionable.’

Yes. Yes it is.

UPDATE, 02-06-23, 1430 MT: D/S/Cs have been trying to claim Chinese balloons—three!–floated across America during the Trump administration too, but that claim has been deflated faster than Biden’s claims of creating a vibrant economy. Take this link From Brietbart, and this link from Laughing Wolf as well. Even John Bolton, who hates Trump, says no such thing happened. Trump Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell is quite clear:

You’ll find in the first link a NORAD general saying there were Chinese balloons that crossed the continent during the Trump years, but NORAD didn’t detect them!  Un-huh.  If so, how does he know now that then-undetected balloons weren’t detected?  How do you detect the undetected years later?  And if the balloons were undetected, obviously President Trump wasn’t told, so how could he have shot down balloons he never knew existed?  How could he have covered up what he didn’t know existed and didn’t shoot down because he didn’t know they existed?  Hmmm.  There doesn’t seem to be much comparison between Trump and Biden on this one, does there gentle readers?