A big ol' balloon from China ambled into American airspace, spending some quality time over Montana before moving eastward, just doing whatever a big ol' balloon from China is gonna do.
Here is a photo of the big ol' balloon from China floating over Charlotte NC.
Before that someone had another idea what the big ol' balloon from China looked like.
It was kind of fun wondering where the big ol' balloon from China might wander next while we pointed to the sky yelling "IT IS BALLOON!!!" like in this old clip from F-Troop.
Caution: F-Troop was a sitcom from the 1960s so I'm going to guess the Native Americans in the following clip are not portrayed by actual Native Americans.
I tried to find a clip of Keith Olbermann who used to exclaim "IT IS BALLOON!!!" in his old program on MSNBC but alas I could not.
But the fun had to stop sometime and it did Saturday afternoon when the Air Force shot the big ol' balloon from China down over the Atlantic Ocean just off Myrtle Beach SC.
The operation around shooting down the big ol' balloon from China is a case study of why it's a good thing to have grown ups in the room making calm, deliberative decisions and not say the current Republican Party who have been screaming for days to "SHOOT IT DOWN NOW! IT IS BALLOON!!!!!"
So here's the deal.
When the big ol' balloon from China appeared in American air space, President Biden checked for military options on what to do about the damn thing.
Shooting it down immediately was considered not a good idea. Whatever is attached to the big ol' balloon from China would have to come down and possible land on people.
Also we do not know what exactly is attached to the big ol' balloon from China. What if it's carrying something radioactive or some chemical agent?
Nice to know someone in the Pentagon studies Star Trek. In the episode "Balance of Terror" during the methodical cat & mouse game between Captain Kirk and the Romulan commander, Kirk makes a hasty knee jerk decision to phaser a cylinder off the port bow which turns out to be a NUCLEAR BOMB which fries the circuits of the Enterprise.
Also the big ol' balloon from China was way up high and so far not hurting anybody. It was not a threat. Shoot it down and we might make it a threat if it lands on people.
And if the big ol' balloon from China was just some kind of surveillance thingy, it ain't learning nothing the Chinese don't already know.
China acknowledged the balloon was theirs but called it a “civilian airship” that blew off course.
We don't believe them because, well, someone in the Pentagon studies Star Trek. Romulans would pull that "Oops! Navigational error" shit whenever one of their ships would turn up in the Neutral Zone.
So we knew one thing: IT IS BALLOON!!!! Other than that, we didn't know nothing, the balloon ain't doing nothing and it ain't learning nothing new.
You know who doesn't know their Star Trek? Republicans who were just losing their shit.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Biden should shoot down the Chinese spy balloon immediately. President Trump would have never tolerated this."
Rep. Ryan Zinke: “Shoot. It. Down. The Chinese spy balloon is clear provocation. In Montana we do not bow. We shoot it down. Take the shot.”
Sen. Steve Daines: “The administration failed to protect our border and now has failed to protect our skies."
Donald Trump: “SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON.”
Yep, the ALL CAPS are his.
Anyway, cooler and saner heads prevailed and we took our shot when it was safest to do so.
You may wonder why even bother shooting it down at all? Well, there are just some things that you just can't let go unanswered and one country invading the airspace of another is one of those things.
Since China could not have learned anything from a spy balloon that they didn't already know from their own surveillance satellites, it may well be a test of how America would respond.
We showed we will be methodical in our response but we will respond. Unless Republicans are in charge and then we will be reckless and stupid.
Anyway, I miss our old friend, the big ol' balloon from China.
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