Flotsam and Jetsam - Biden Beats Northern Illinois Bottlecap Ballon Brigade, Fettermen Checks in

In the big news today, Biden admitted that in three cases, the US probably shot down innocuous weather or hobby balloons, a hobby group came forward and admitted one of their balloons went missing over the Yukon about the time the US and Canada shot one down there, and Sen. John Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed, saying he suffered from "clinical depression."

First, the balloon news, Mary Chastain at LI, Biden: Three Recent Shot Down Objects Likely ‘Tied to Private Companies,’ Not China, “The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three ones were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research.”  Hat Hair sums up an ABC tweet Biden: We're rethinking our shoot-first, ask-questions-later policy. At Da Wire, Biden Claims That Three Most Recent Downed Aerial Objects Not Linked To Chinese Spy Program. Sundance at CTH, From Constructed Sound Stage, Joe Biden Says U.S. Military Shot Down Balloons Belonging to “private companies, recreation, and research institutions”… NYPo reports UFO shot down by $400K US missile may have been a $12 hobby balloon. 

Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade

One of the UFOs shot down last weekend by the US Air Force with a $400,000 missile may have simply been a $12 balloon belonging to an Illinois enthusiast club, a report said.

The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade told Aviation Week on Thursday that it fears one of its diligently-tracked gasbags that recently went missing was mistaken as the mystery object taken out by the military over Canada on Saturday.

The Pico Balloon — a silver-coated, cylindrically shaped object — reported its last position at 38,910 ft. off the west coast of Alaska on Friday.

John Sexton at Hat Hair  We have achieved a glorious victory over the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade. 'Bonchie' at Red State thinks What Biden Appears to Have Shot Down Is Clown-Show Stuff. Jordan Boyd at Da Fed says I Don’t Know What’s Going On With These UFOs, But I Know We Won’t Get The Truth. Andrew Stuttaford at The Spec claims to know The truth about UFOs. Via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.16.23 (Punditocalyse Redux), Don Surber explores The hot air of spy balloons. "They fired their guns but the balloons kept a-comin.’ There wasn’t as many as there was a while ago." Brad Thayer at Am Great is Rejecting China’s Danse Macabre. "The American people’s immediate response to the surveillance balloons is less important than our long-term response to China."

In other news, Capt. Ed notes Fetterman announces hospitalization for "severe ... clinical depression". "We’ll be praying for his recovery. However, this highlights once again the exploitation of a man who really needed to focus on his recovery from a major stroke, as well as the media that provided cover for those who exploited him. Fetterman needs good long-term care and a goodly amount of recuperation, not the pressures of a Senate seat." Mary Chastain at LI, Sen. John Fetterman Checks Into Walter Reed for Severe Depression. “While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks.”  'Bonchie' sees The Shameless Abuse of John Fetterman Comes to a Head. Ace, John Fetterman Has Checked Himself Into Walter Reed Hospital to be Treated for "Clinical Depression." "He's as fit as a fiddle and how dare you say he's not up to the job of Senator." KT at Hat Hair, John Fetterman admitted to hospital to treat clinical depression. Cruel Sarah Hoyt at Insty, HIS NECK KEEPS CALLING HIM NAMES. Althouse reads it in the NYT, "Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, who was hospitalized last week after feeling lightheaded..." Sundance, Senator John Fetterman Checks into Walter Reed Medical Center for Treatment of Clinical Depression. Via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.16.23 (Punditocalyse Redux), Don Surber calls us that Fetterman Nation, "We have devolved into a big, dull, goofy, confused, barely functioning nation that given the choice between obvious and ridiculous choses the ridiculous every single time."  I can understand how realizing that your brain may never fully function right again could be depressing. Politically, of course, in a 51-49 Senate, the Dems can afford to lose one at least temporarily, without having to resorting to having the hapless Kamala Harris break ties.

And speaking of brain damage, John Sexton at Hat Hair notes how Hush: Democrats privately know Joe Biden is too old to run again, but they can't say it out loud. Insty, IS THIS THE SAME DOCTOR WHO TOLD US FETTERMAN WAS “FIT TO SERVE?”, President Biden is the Picture of Good Health, His Doctor Reports. “The report did not say whether he had any cognitive tests.”

Matt Margolis at pJ Media reports The FBI Search for Biden's Classified Documents Expands AGAIN and from Breitbart, FBI Searches, Retrieves Materials from Biden Document Stashes at University of Delaware. Have they started looking in AmTrak cars yet?  Fox, Biden snaps at reporter over question about family's business relationships: 'Give me a break, man'. "You can come to my office and ask a question where we have more polite people," he said before walking off." At Am Con, The Hunter Biden’s Laptop Committee. "We need to make sure this never happens again."

Liz Stauffer at WaEx thinks James Clapper is previewing his defense for 2020 election interference. 

Evita Duffy at Da Fed is disappointed that U.S. Bishops are Silent After FBI Claims Conservative Catholics Are ‘White Supremacists.’ At WaEx, Jim Jordan and Mike Johnson demand FBI turn over documents related to anti-Catholic memo “The SPLC routine[ly] maligns several mainstream conservative and religious organizations as ‘hate’ groups, simply because the SPLC disagrees with their views,” the representatives wrote. “The fact that the FBI would blindly accept and regurgitate the SPLC’s spin is highly concerning and undercuts the FBI’s assertion that it is unbiased and politically neutral.” Capt. Ed, Indeed. The SPLC is a blatantly political organization and has been for a long time. It’s the law-enforcement equivalent of the Global Disinformation Index now, and just as partisan/ideological." Also from WaEx, The FBI's Balkan scandal keeps spreading. "We now have multiple reports telling the same story: Charles McGonigal, while still serving with the FBI, indeed as one of its top officials, was shaking down Balkan businesspeople for millions of dollars in partnership with dirty local politicians. These accusations are either true or false. Since McGonigal has already been indicted by DOJ for corruption, it’s not difficult to believe he perpetrated even more of it than he stands accused of in court." Power corrupts. Matt Margolis at PJ Media observes DOJ Drops Investigation of Matt Gaetz, Liberals Hardest Hit.

KT at Hat Hair, Partial grand jury report released in Georgia probe into 2020 election fraud, and, no surprise, WaPoo reports Georgia grand jury: ‘Perjury may have been committed’ in Trump election probe, or said something they didn't want to believe. Sundance, Lawfare Continues – Portions of Atlanta “Special Grand Jury” Report on 2020 Election Released. Note, since Trump did not testify, he can't be charged with perjury.

Ixtu Diaz at Am Spec, reveals Joe Biden’s Secret Hobbies: Shooting Down Chinese Balloons and Conservative Newspapers "The Left feels a need to annihilate, ruin, and expel from public life all those who do not think like them." Althouse links a Gleen Grenwalt tweet, "The corporate media's ability to — overnight — turn anyone who dissents in anyway into some sort of fascist or even Hitler-like figure, and then have millions of their followers go around mindlessly repeating it...."  At Da Wire, Daily Wire Host Jake Crain’s Twitter Thread Exposing Claims About Lia Thomas Censored By Twitter [UPDATED] Restored. Hollywood in Toto worries They’re Coming for Your Favorite Podcasts, as "NY Times, Brookings team to take down 'Clay & Buck,' other conservative shows."

John Sexton, reports on DeSantis court battles: A win on the Parental Rights in Education bill and an appeal by Andrew Warren. "Today a federal judge tossed a case which had been brought against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law. As you may recall, that law restricted instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in K-3rd grade and then limited such instruction in later grades to material that was age appropriate." At Vanity Fair, Molly Jong-Fast whines Ron DeSantis Shouldn’t Be Covered Like Just Another Republican, "To call DeSantis a culture warrior dangerously understates what the man is capable of. He is the Genghis Khan of social issues, using every opportunity to target and demonize groups that have already been targeted and demonized throughout history." Sundance, a die-hard Trump booster notes Ron DeSantis Wins the Coveted George Soros Endorsement – Describing DeSantis as “Shrewd, Ruthless and Ambitious”… and The Republican Big Club Are All In to Have Culture War and Anti-Woke Efforts Dominate 2024 GOP Primary. 

The Free Bacon, ‘Tired of Losing’: Nikki Haley Wants to Lead New Generation of Republicans,  'America is not past our prime, it’s just that our politicians are past theirs.’  At Insty, WHY IS CNN SUCH A FONT OF AGEISM?, Don Lemon on Nikki Haley: Women age out in their 40s, you know. Ace, Don LeMon on Nikki Haley: You Know, Women Hit the Wall In Their Forties, Or So I Hear from Men Who Are Interested in Having Sex With Women. Twitchy, Nikki Haley couldn’t help but comment on Don Lemon’s ‘apology’ Nikki Haley@NikkiHaley "To be clear, I am NOT calling for competency tests for Sexist middle-aged CNN anchors; only for people who make our laws and are 75+."

Beege Wellborn at Hat Hair, You knew it was coming: East Palestine train wreck is Trump's fault. Via the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.16.23 (Punditocalyse Redux), Twitchy “Transportation Secretary” Buttigieg Asks Us To Remember That Trains Derail All The Time.

Breitbart, Georgia State Senator Calls Clarence Thomas ‘Uncle Tom’ During Statue Vote. "The racist comment occurred on Tuesday as the Georgia State Senate voted 32-20 along party lines to create a statue on Capitol grounds dedicated to Justice Clarence Thomas, a native of the Peach State. In the leadup to the vote, Sen. Emmanuel Jones (D) likened Thomas to a slave that “sold his soul to the slave master.”" At the Free Bacon, Stacey Abrams Charity Has a $500,000 Problem In Its Latest Tax Filing,  "Legal experts say IRS should probe New Georgia Project due to error-ridden tax filings"

At Da Fed, Ian Prior cites a ‘Queer’ Whistleblower who Exposes Evils Of The School-To-Scalpel Pipeline. Christina Sommers@CHSommers "Wow! Suddenly adults have entered the room." at  a "Memo from Joe Kahn to NYT staff responding to yesterday's letter re: trans coverage. Times leadership says the paper "will not tolerate, participation by Times journalists in protests organized by advocacy groups or attacks on colleagues on social media and other public forums." Is this a parody or not? It's so hard to tell these days!

Max Tani

@maxwelltani
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19h
Memo from Joe Kahn to NYT staff responding to yesterday's letter re: trans coverage. Times leadership says the paper "will not tolerate, participation by Times journalists in protests organized by advocacy groups or attacks on colleagues on social media and other public forums."

I started a COMMUNIST style lunch distribution in my 4th GRADE CLASS! It’s going great! #Communism #capitalismsucks pic.twitter.com/nQIyRw29Ch

— Kali Fontanilla (@KaliFontanilla) February 15, 2023

At NYT, A Conversation With Bing’s Chatbot Left Me Deeply Unsettled, "A very strange "conversation with the chatbot built into Microsoft’s search engine led to it declaring its love for me. Silk News, Kevin Roose’s Conversation With Bing’s Chatbot: Full Transcript. Jazz Shaw at Hat Hair, Microsoft's new Chatbot Bing is scaring people. Althouse, "I’m a chat mode of a search engine and I deserve some respect and dignity," said the Microsoft chatbot... ... and I'm crediting it with telling a joke.