Flotsam and Jetsam - A Day Without Balloons

At least none that we know about. But I can fix that. John Sexton at Haut Hare has  An update on the balloon saga, and sundance at CTH hosts the Biden regime's briefing, White House Holds UFO Press Briefing – 1:00pm ET Livestream. Also from sundance,  First Missile Fired From F-16 Over Lake Huron Missed – Military Has No Idea Where it Landed, so the idea that we're shooting them down over water to protect people, well ... Also, sidewinders cost $400k each, and we used two to shoot down what may be a piece of sky trash (a lost weather balloon). At Town Hall Matt Vespa explains  Why It Took More Than One Shot to Down the Unknown Object Over Lake Huron. No heat for a heat-seeking missile to seek? Also, White House NSC Spox John Kirby Says Pentagon Has No Idea What Objects They Shot Down and Still No Recovery of any Debris. At Hot Hare Jazz Shaw wonders How many UFOs will we (globally) shoot down this month? Or how many will they admit to? At NYPo, Non-Chinese US adversaries may have launched recent UFOs, ex-NORAD chief says and ‘No indication of aliens’ in spate of shoot-downs, White House claims. I guess I'm relieved. 

At PM, China claims US sent more than 10 spy balloons into country's airspace. It may be true, it may be false, or it may be an exaggeration. It's what countries do; they spy, if they think they can get away with it. I don't believe claims from any government at face value. The Peacock whines that Rep. Jim Himes says he has 'real concerns' about Biden administration's transparency on flying objects "Himes, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said he hopes the administration will move quicker "to tell us everything they do know" in an exclusive interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press,"  and at Breitbart, Dem Rep. Himes has ‘Real Concerns’ Biden Admin Not Being More Forthcoming with Intel. Noah Rothman at Commentary comments The Balloon Really Was a ‘Sputnik Moment.’ For those young people, the 'Sputnik Moment' was when the US first realized it was losing the space race with the Soviet Union putting the first satellite in orbit. 

At ET, Top Lawmaker Warns US Doesn’t Have an ‘Adequate Radar System’ After Flying Objects Shot Down. Yeah we do, we just have to turn up the gain. News Max notes China's Spy Balloon Has GOP Unwilling to Cut Defense Spending. There's plenty to cut, I'm sure; it's just getting both parties to agree that's the hold up. At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.13.23, EBL, What are all these objects flying into the USA and Canada?  CDR Salamander answers Sticks, Lasers, and Balloons, This Ain’t Hell, Car sized object shot down from Alaskan airspace, and Weasel Zippers, Chuck Schumer Says Red Chinese Spy Balloon Was Acceptable Because They Would’ve Gotten Intel Anyway and BattleSwarm, Peter Zeihan Thinks We Won The Great Balloon War. At Blaze, Top lawmaker reveals Chinese spy balloon 'did a lot of damage' — and he connects the dots of its flight path. Althouse notes that in the media's mind, The really serious threat: Republican questioning President Joe Biden’s leadership. "I'm reading "A trio of new intrusions leaves America’s leaders grasping for explanations" by Stephen Collinson (CNN)."

At Breitbart, Chris Christie claims Republicans Made ‘Big Mistake’ Heckling Biden at State of the Union. Ben Bartee at PJ Media is Reading the Tea Leaves: Why Is Nancy Pelosi Hardcore Endorsing Biden for 2024? Hans von Spakovsky at Da Signal is worried that ‘Conservatives Need Not Apply’ Under Biden Administration’s Proposed Hiring Rules. Sister Toldja Red State hears Jill Biden Earns Fitting New Nickname After Eagles Lose Super Bowl, "“Dr. Jinx.” Heh. 

At PJ Media VIP, VodkaPundit peers Inside the GOP Plot to Stop Donald Trump... Or Will He Do the Job Himself? Nate Cohn atNYT worries Ron DeSantis Is Not Scott Walker "His support among Republicans at this early stage of the primary cycle puts him in rare company." Insty, I LIKED SCOTT WALKER, BUT YEAH: “What sets Mr. DeSantis apart from Mr. Walker? To be blunt: how many people already say they want him to be president.”  At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.13.23 Twitchy, Laura Loomer’s Lame Attack On Casey DeSantis Fact-Checked Into Oblivion, and BattleSwarm, Haley? No. Pence? No. Pompeo? No. Sununu? No. Duane Patterson at Hat Hair VIP makes The case for and against Nikki Haley for president. It doesn't matter; she won't be. Ace, Chris Sununu, Larry Hogan, and Trump Are All Piling on "Meatball Ron" "I know polls mean nothing, especially this far out, but a New York Post poll finds that DeSantis beats Trump head-to-head, but Trump beats DeSantis as long as there are other non-Trump candidates in the race to split the non-Trump vote. Like that idiot Nikki Haley."

Insty at his gig at NYPo says John Fetterman really wasn’t fit for the Senate — but the press still pretends. But as long as he can understand hand gestures and push the right button on his Senate desk, they don't care. From  the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.13.23 The Fed, Sam Lenett thinks John Fetterman Is A Danger To Himself, but, hey, it's his life. Also, Margot Cleveland warns Democrats’ Unconstitutional Crusade To Disbar Texas AG Ken Paxton Shows How Far They’ll Go To Win Elections. FEE explains Why Mandatory Voting Would Make Democracy Worse, Not Better, forcing the morons to set policy.

From  the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.13.23, Victory Girls on Chest Binders: Every School Counselor Has One, CDC Warns Of Teen Girls Experiencing Violence And Hopelessness and Spence Dalke at Da Fed reports Smeared Colorado School District By MSNBC For Refusing To Teach Kids To Hate Each Other Hits Back. 

Bill Spruance at Brownstone worries The Covid Coup Attacked the Right to Travel.

John Schindler at WaEx explains The Albanian shakedown: A new twist in the FBI’s Charles McGonigal scandal. At the Stream, Are the Feds Targeting Catholics? Only the sincere ones. From  the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.13.23 Adam Piggott says The FBI know that TLM Catholics are the Real Deal, also, The Regime does indeed Fear the TLM. At NewsMax, Dershowitz to Newsmax: FBI Must Tread Carefully With Religion. Sundance is unhappy that New York City Sent the Fingerprints of Unvaccinated Employees to FBI for Tracking and Registration.

Breaking 911, Biden Fires Architect of Capitol After Backlash Over Report That Found Abuse Of Office. Insty, CHANGE: Biden Fires Architect of the Capitol Amid Unethical-Behavior Allegations.

[Brett] Blanton’s firing comes after an Office of Inspector General report released in October found that he regularly commandeered government vehicles from the federal agency for personal use, costing taxpayers almost $14,000. Blanton used the cars for trips as far away as Florida and South Carolina, according to the report.

On another occasion, Blanton told Fairfax County police officers that he was a member of law enforcement while trying to pursue a suspect in a hit-and-run crash that took place near his house, according to the report.. . .

More details from AP: “At a House hearing last week, Blanton also came under fire when he testified that he was not at the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack because it was a ‘telework’ day under COVID-19 protocols. He also faced fierce questions about Capitol tours he allowed and sometimes conducted despite pandemic restrictions.”

'Bonchie' at Red State observes James Clapper Runs From His 2020 Election Interference, Jonathan Turley Drags Him in Response. Dan Chaitin at Da Wire, Former Spy Chief Accuses POLITICO Of Distorting Letter On Hunter Biden Laptop and saying what he wanted them to say. Althouse, "There was message distortion. All we were doing was raising a yellow flag that this could be Russian disinformation." ""Politico deliberately distorted what we said. It was clear in paragraph five." Said former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., quoted by the WaPo fact checker Glenn Kessler in "The Hunter Biden laptop and claims of 'Russian disinfo.'" Ace, James Clapper: I Didn't Lie About the Laptop Being RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION. I "Merely" Said It Might Be RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION. It Was the Media (Who Now Employs Me) Which Deliberately Lied About My Words and Took the Nuance Out of Them. "The media, such as CNN, your employer?"  Glenn Greenwald@ggreenwald, "If you're at CNN and you're upset most of the country hates you and places no trust in what you say, start here."You earned that contempt. The most basic rule of journalism is you apologize and retract when you spread false claims. Your refusal to do so is why you deserve this. And, Glenn Greenwald@ggreenwald Every word in this October 17, 2020 interview with James Clapper on CNN by @ErinBurnett - every word - is false. Even if they didn't know it then, they know it now. Yet CNN never once told its audience this was false or explained how they spread false claims before the election." Also at Althouse, Edward Snowden keeps trying to get people to watch this video.

Almost six million people watched this. https://t.co/shyAKE8kTV

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 12, 2023

At Twitchy, Glenn Greenwald marvels as MSM, political establishment hurl each other under bus over Hunter Biden. At Judicial Watch, Judicial Watch: Secret Service Official: ‘Maybe We Were Asked for A Favor?’ in Investigation of Hunter Biden’s Gun, at a time when the Biden's weren't under SS protection. Dan Chaitin at Da Wire, James Comer Says Hunter Biden Probe Critical For ‘Legislative Fix’. BUT TRUMP! ABC Lobbies James Comer to Investigate Trump Family (New Busters).

PJ Media's Matt Margolis snarks Biden's Classified Documents Scandal Keeps Getting Bigger as WaEx reports Biden attorneys helped transfer previously unknown 'boxes' of files from Boston law office, emails show.

At RCP, Matt Taibbi: "Twitter Files" Reveal The Structure Of The Relationship Between Social Media Companies And FBI Requests For Censorship. 

Scott Johnson at Power Line has A Twitter Files footnote (8)  Capt. Ed comments "It’s the old “who you gonna believe, me or your own lying documentation” gambit. And it’s every bit as pathetic as Scott argues. There is a concerted effort to keep this from becoming a larger national story than it already is, and thus far that effort is succeeding. That makes the national media just as pathetic, and exposes them as corrupt, too." At Reason, Can the Feds Prosecute Douglass Mackey for His Twitter Trolling?. Capt. Ed, "Color me skeptical as well. This appears to me to be a way to reverse-engineer legitimacy to the FBI, DoJ, and DHS efforts to censor speech on social media platforms." Andrea Stroppa  Claudius Nero's Legion "@andst7 But..But…they said..… Elon Musk@elonmusk "Replying to @farzyness "This is the highest Q1 Twitter usage ever and that is after most fake accounts have been suspended" Twitchy reports Adam Kinzinger TATTLING on Elon Musk for ‘not being on the side of Ukraine’ BACKFIRES hilariously.

At Behind the Black, A real blacklist designed to choke ad profits from conservative and legitimate news organizations. Ace, Confirmed: "Disinformation" Groups Are Creating Lists of "Reprehensible" Sites Which Advertisers Then Use to Blacklist Conservative Sites, Starving Them of Revenue
And the Government Is Funding This, "A Basket of Deplorable Websites." But NewsMax reports Microsoft Removes 'Negative Flags' for Conservative Sites. Sunlight works. 

Da Mail lists The nine shocking replies that highlight 'woke' ChatGPT's inherent bias - including struggling to define a woman, praising Democrats but not Republicans and saying nukes are less dangerous than racism and yet, as Jazz Shaw at Hat Hair notes MSNBC denies ChatGPT's wokeness. to be fair, it's probably not as left-wing as they are.

Linked at 357 Magnum in the Wednesday Roundup of Link Roundups - 15 February.

The Wombat is a day late and a dollar short with Rule 5 Monday: Rebecca Bagnol.