There has to be more to it. The military-industrial complex/national security state is the most powerful group in the US. Even if the Chinese had bribed Biden, if he had ruled that the balloon should not be shot down - there would have been hell to pay. Leaks, damaging reports, insubordination, etc.
So I think this is a rather ridiculous panic on the part of the right-wing, which is desperate to paint Biden as "soft on China"... even though he has continued many of Trump's hardline policies.
It's ridiculous panic by everyone. If they thought it was an actual spy balloon I doubt it would have ever made it over land. This is just bullshit to distract and pivot attention from Ukraine to China.
The idea that this big honking naked eye visible bright white balloon is a spy balloon is just insane.
The U2 spy aircraft lit up radar installations like Christmas, spy satellites are known and tracked by amateurs. I fail to see what is so far fetched about it being a lighter than air UAV.
Perhaps the Chinese were counting on exactly this response, and buy enough time to get some good photos.
It's hard to say, perhaps it isn't even Chinese at all, the media etc could be lying. Although their off course weather balloon press release sort of confirms it
The hope had been the Soviet radar couldn't track the U2. U2 couldn't be shot down by Soviet aircraft; this balloon is a sitting duck. If the regime actually thought it was a spy balloon they would have shot it down off the coast of Alaska.
There has to be more to it. The military-industrial complex/national security state is the most powerful group in the US. Even if the Chinese had bribed Biden, if he had ruled that the balloon should not be shot down - there would have been hell to pay. Leaks, damaging reports, insubordination, etc.
So I think this is a rather ridiculous panic on the part of the right-wing, which is desperate to paint Biden as "soft on China"... even though he has continued many of Trump's hardline policies.
It's ridiculous panic by everyone. If they thought it was an actual spy balloon I doubt it would have ever made it over land. This is just bullshit to distract and pivot attention from Ukraine to China.
The idea that this big honking naked eye visible bright white balloon is a spy balloon is just insane.
The U2 spy aircraft lit up radar installations like Christmas, spy satellites are known and tracked by amateurs. I fail to see what is so far fetched about it being a lighter than air UAV.
Perhaps the Chinese were counting on exactly this response, and buy enough time to get some good photos.
It's hard to say, perhaps it isn't even Chinese at all, the media etc could be lying. Although their off course weather balloon press release sort of confirms it
Good photos of what? Shit Google Earth already has hi res photos of?
The hope had been the Soviet radar couldn't track the U2. U2 couldn't be shot down by Soviet aircraft; this balloon is a sitting duck. If the regime actually thought it was a spy balloon they would have shot it down off the coast of Alaska.