‘We Spy on Them, They Spy on Us’: Battle Over Chinese Balloon Lives On
The spy device may be history, but the political fallout continues
A US military fighter jet may have dropped the Chinese spy balloon which traversed the United States, into the waters off the coast of South Carolina.
But the political fight over the spy device continues to sail overhead.
President Biden authorized the takedown of the large balloon last week, after it spent days crossing over the continental United States at high altitude.
The president's opponents on the political right took the opportunity to harangue him as feckless because he didn't immediately order the immediate shootdown of the foreign airship.
That continued as Republican Sen Steve Daines, of Montana, appeared on the Fox News morning program, to say that Biden should’ve gone against Pentagon advice and blown China’s spy balloon out of the sky while it was still above his state.
“The biggest risk would’ve been hitting a cow, a prairie dog, or an antelope,” Daines claimed.
The US military, however, had said that firing on the balloon over land would be inviting potential civilian casualties.
Asked Monday by a reporter if he eventually ordered the shootdown only because of the outcry, Biden replied, “Oh, no. It was always my position. Once it came into the United States from Canada, I told the Defense Department I wanted to shoot it down as soon as it was appropriate.”
Biden's top spokesperson also defended the handling during Monday's regular press briefing.
“At the same time, we protected against Chinese intelligence collection, because we knew exactly where the balloon was going,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “The military recommended taking the balloon down over water, following the determination by military commanders that there was undue risk of debris causing harm to civilians while the balloon was over land in Alaska, Canada or the continental United States.”
Meanwhile, comedian Chelsea Handler mocked Biden for his announcement after he ordered the balloon's destruction off the coast.
“Wow, Joe Biden really liked giving that announcement. He hopped off his big, strong plane, and he walked over with his aviator sunglasses, looking like a real tough guy, popping a balloon. Giving off some serious Top Gun: Maverick vibes. The straight kind,” she joked. “Honestly, though, poor Joe Biden. [President Barack] Obama got to order the assassination of [Osama] Bin Laden, and all he gets to do is murder a bag of helium. And as you heard, this balloon was the size of three buses. I love measuring things in buses.
“And for the rich people out there who don’t know what a bus is, they’re those big yellow vehicles that bring Matt Gaetz’s girlfriends to school,” she added, referring to the Republican congressman from Florida under investigation for underage sex.
Guest-hosting Comedy Central's Daily Show, Handler wondered why China needed the balloon when it already spies on Americans using the China-owned TikTok social media app.
“And as usual, America went haywire and brought out way too much firepower to address the problem. They brought two fighter jets and shot a missile through a balloon. Was that really necessary? Couldn’t we have just hired another hot air balloon to float by and shoot it with a bb gun?” she asked. “Or just waited for it to get stuck in a ceiling fan? Did we really need the fighter jets to turn this thing into the world’s saddest used condom?
“But hey, why not shoot it when you have a trillion-dollar defense budget and all of these rock-hard missiles lying around? [Donald] Trump must be so jealous,” she joked. “What I don’t get is, why does trying to even need to send this balloon in the first place? They are already spying on us with TikTok. Is it possible that the Chinese spies became the first people ever to get sick of TikTok? Were they like, ‘I swear to god, if I see one more basic bitch make a lasagna and a slow cooker.’”
Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of the daily chat show, The View, took a larger and more-sanguine view.
“Well, you know, listen, we spy on them, they spy on us. We find out stuff, they find out stuff, you know, and the world keeps going around,” she said during Monday's program.
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