Flotsam and Jetsam: The Bizarre Story of the Balloon Continues to Evolve

Throckmorton’s Razor, Minuteman’s
Corollary, and the Chinese Balloon

The Balloon story keeps getting weirder. First off though, Da Hill reports Rough seas complicate US efforts to recover suspected China spy balloon. At Da Mail, Navy divers recover debris from shot down 200ft Chinese spy balloon off South Carolina coast: Pentagon investigates whether it was carrying EXPLOSIVES along with photographic material. It sure would have been easier picking up the pieces off a prairie in Montana somewhere. 

Now, the weirdness. Sundance at CTH, Intel Community Says They Discovered Prior Chinese Spy Balloon Operations, Only After President Trump Left Office "This is so stunningly incredulous, and transparently politically orchestrated, it’s laughable."

To reconcile the claim of historic Chinese spy balloon operations, against the denials and absence of briefings for the Trump IC officials, the current Intel Community (and Biden Administration) are now claiming they only discovered the prior balloon flights *AFTER* President Trump left office. Oh, and due to national security issues, the IC cannot explain how they found out after the fact.

'Becca Downs at Town Hall, Narrative on Supposed Previous Chinese Spy Balloons Gets Even More Confusing. Ace, Biden's Deep State Defenders Put Out New Official IC Lie That Chinese Spy Airships Were Always Over the US Under Trump "No one believes this." Dave Strom at Haut Hare, The whole "Trump ignored China spy balloons" story is a transparent lie. At JTN, Top general admits NORAD failed to detect earlier Chinese spy balloons in U.S. air space Althouse, "As NORAD commander, it’s my responsibility to detect threats to North America, I will tell you that we did not detect those threats." "Have all the Trump-did-the-same-thing and only-Biden-shot-it-down tweets been deleted?" Nick Arama at Red State finds New Info on Chinese Spy Balloon From NORAD Commander Is Jaw-Dropping. "The balloon “did not present a physical threat” to the US and Canada, said Gen. Glen VanHerck, Commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM). “I could not take immediate action because it was not demonstrating … hostile intent.” At Victory Girls, NORAD: We Weren’t Sure China Balloon Was Hostile. Mary Chastain at LI, Pentagon Won’t Name Official Who Divulged Misleading Info About Chinese Spy Balloons During Trump Admin. At Twitchy, Tucker Carlson dissects ‘pure absurdity’ of WH & media’s Chinese spy balloon spin.

So, the currentest narrative is that balloons incurred on US airspace at least three time in the past, twice under Trump and once under Biden, but did not fly over the heartland, merely coastal Florida and Texas. The military detected, but did not investigate these objects, and did not report them up the chain of command (I doubt this). Subsequent intelligence revealed them them to be spy balloons, but we can't tell you how. Assuming utter incompetence, this is just barely plausible. No doubt it will change today sometime.

At the Right Scoop, Rep. Waltz suggests Gen Mattis didn’t tell Trump about Chinese balloons because Trump would be too aggressive. Bookworm Room wonders Has our “constitutional” military declared its independence? "If Biden is to be believed, the same military that went rogue under Trump has essentially disregarded Biden’s orders too." If you interprete Biden as saying the military strongly suggested waiting until the balloon was over the ocean to shoot it down, it's tolerable. Expecting careful language from Biden is a waste of time. John Schindler, The Fecklessness is the Point. "America’s Chinese spy balloon drama unmasks the unpleasant reality that our much-feared Deep State is really the Derp State." At Da Wire, Tom Cotton: Biden Was ‘Paralyzed For Entire Week By A Balloon’ Because He’s Afraid Of ‘Chinese Communists’. Payed, not afraid. Stephen Kruiser at PJ Media says That Noise You Hear Is the ChiComs Laughing at Pudding Brain Biden. At Laughing Wolf, The Termites Are In The Woodwork. Nick Arama at Red State laughs as Ted Cruz Sweeps the Leg on Buttigieg's Response to China Getting Intel From Balloon, RNC Research@RNCResearch ""The presumption has got to be that the Chinese were able to gather intelligence hovering over the United States for day after day, especially over these sensitive sites?" PETE BUTTIGIEG: "That is well outside of my lane." Ted Cruz@tedcruz "true"

Althouse is depressed "If he wants to run, I think everybody will be 100 percent unified behind him. I mean, maybe 99.9999, but we’re the most unified we’ve been in a very long time."

"Eventually, the party’s going to have to move to younger people being in more control, and that’s natural, but this doesn’t feel like the moment yet." Said Jon Bauman, a California DNC member, quoted in "Biden or bust: Democratic insiders are all in for Biden 2024/Despite lackluster approval ratings and the classified documents scandal, Democratic power brokers are chanting "four more years!" 

Breitbart has a poll, Trump Takes Lead over Biden on Eve of State of the Union Address as does Dave Strom at Haut Hare, ABC/WaPo: Trump beats Biden in a hypothetical matchup. Nick Arama hears a  Report: Did Biden Offer Putin a Secret Deal on Ukraine? 20% to go away.  Rod Thompson at Am Great wonders Do NeverRepublican Conservatives Actually Want National Suicide? "Some of the most influential voices on our side are encouraging followers to neither donate to, nor vote for Republicans. There is a better way." At CJ, Martin Gurri is In Search of a Right Populist Agenda, "Merely opposing the Left’s hegemonic power is not enough."

Capt. Ed at Haut Hare, reads the NYT: Even Democrat allies have given up on Kamala as does Althouse, "Most Democrats interviewed, who insisted on anonymity to avoid alienating the White House, said flatly that they did not think Ms. Harris could win the presidency in 2024." ""Some said the party’s biggest challenge would be finding a way to sideline her without inflaming key Democratic constituencies that would take offense. Now with Mr. Biden appearing all but certain to run again, the concern over Ms. Harris has shifted to whether she will be a political liability for the ticket...."" Ace, The Democrat Long Knives Come Out for Kamala Harris; Democrats Tell Their Newsletter The New York Times That They Have to Ditch Harris To Have Any Chance of Winning in 2024. At Da Wire, DNC Ditches Iowa, Chooses South Carolina As First Presidential Primary State To Prioritize Black Voters, because Kamala ain't cutting it.

Stacey Matthews at LI watches Democrats Reveal Their *Real* Fears About Ron DeSantis Headed Into 2024. “Biden allies privately worry that DeSantis’s record could appeal to the same set of independent, female or suburban voters who Biden needs to court to win”  Chris Queen at PJ Media reports DeSantis Goes After Foundation for Lewd Drag Show Event With Children Present. KT at Haut Hare, Miami black leaders apologize to DeSantis for calling the governor a racist. Declan Leary at Am Con calls Nikki Haley The Born Loser, "Nikki Haley is going to lose. She knows she’s going to lose. That doesn’t mean it won’t be fun to watch." At HE, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin Enjoying 56 Percent Approval Ratings, Strong Support For Agenda. I suspect he's aiming at DeSantis VP spot.

Also a HE, liberal heads explode as Kari Lake Teases Run for Arizona Senate. Corey Walker at Da Caller worries Democrats See Chance To Flip Mississippi Governorship Blue. 

Cato has doubts About those 517,000 new jobs ... (cited at Haut Hare). Capt. Ed adds, "I am very skeptical of that 517K claim from the BLS too, for different reasons but leading back to the same conclusion. Adding that many jobs should have significantly impacted the labor participation ratios, but they didn’t budge at all. The annual adjustments also added 1.2 million people to the overall labor supply at the same time as less than half of those added as employed. It’s entirely an artifact of the annual BLS adjustments, and I’m very sure Jerome Powell will see right through it. Look to ADP’s report of 106,000 new jobs added in January as a more accurate reflection of the current employment situation." Sundance sees Farm Input Costs Continue Driving Massive Food Inflation. Dan Greenfield at Front Page says ‘It’s Okay to Be Angry About Socialism’. "Bernie Sanders loves the idea of greedy, corrupt institutions. He just wants to run them." At Da Caller, Will The Left Ever Allow Copper Mines In America? Probably not, they want us beholden to China. "In the greening of American energy, where in the world will we get the minerals needed to actually live the low-carbon dream?"

Sundance reports FTX Asks for Political Donations to Be Returned – First Full List of Recipients Released "Axios is positioning this announcement as FTX asking for political donations to be returned. However, the request is realistically from the FTX debtors. . . . Bankman-Fried primarily backed Democrats and was the party’s second-largest donor last cycle with around $37 million in contributions. Salame’s $19 million to Republicans made him the party’s 10th largest donor."

Joe Klein at Front Page explores Ilhan’s Expulsion "And the leftist meltdown." Shmuel Katzkin at Am Spec calls it Just Deserts for Ilhan Omar. "Kevin McCarthy treated her hatred for what it is. He did the right thing." Da Caller reports Rep. Judy Chu Was Named ‘Honorary Chairwoman’ Of Alleged Chinese Intel Front Group. Boot her too.

At OMNY, Ed Morrissey: Media Doubles Down on Corrupt. Michael Goodwin at NYPo, The media’s road to ruin its own credibility in war on Trump. KT reports the Biden administration finally offers to brief Congress on classified Trump, Biden documents. "The administration would like to distract from its mishandling of the Chinese spy balloon by now allowing a briefing with top leaders in Congress on Trump’s papers. Squirrel! Now, however, it can’t just be Trump’s documents, it has to include Biden’s, too." Miranda Devine at NYPo, John Paul Mac Isaac says Hunter Biden broke the law with false ‘stolen’ claims.

At Da Wire, ‘Accountability Is Coming’: Ousted Twitter Executives Set To Testify Before Republican-Led House Committee. Sundance excited that Giddy Up, Elon Musk Identifies the State Dept Origin Behind Twitter Content Control Mechanisms, "… He still hasn’t identified the source code, the proverbial ghost in the machine, buried deep in the algorithmic code; however, Twitter owner Elon Musk has finally identified the agency within the U.S. government who spearheaded the creation. The “Global Engagement Center” (GEC) of the State Dept."

Tattoo Tuesday

Dave strom at Haut Hare, Tattoos are child abuse, but gender affirming surgery is not

Amazing. The article quotes an official with the American Academy of Pediatrics who says that kids don't have the "agency" to permanently alter their bodies. And yet the American Academy of Pediatrics fully endorses gender transitions for minors. https://t.co/1emRoJOz73

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) November 14, 2022

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Christina Ricci up on time an under budget at The Other McCain.

Great Moments in #MeToo

Rosey Fletcher

While it's receded from the new with President Trump leaving office, it's still alive. Fox, 3 former U.S. snowboarders sue coach, federation and Olympic committee for sex trafficking: reports

Three former members of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard team are suing their former coach, a national federation and its CEO and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee for sex trafficking, harassment and enabling and covering up multiple acts of sexual assault and misconduct, according to multiple reports.

Olympians Rosey Fletcher and Callan Chythlook-Sifsof, along with Erin O'Malley, alleged in their lawsuit that Peter Foley, Gale "Tiger" Shaw and the USOPC "conspired and acted in concert with one another to commit unlawful acts."

Callan Chythlook-Sifsof

The three women say Foley used his position of trust to "coerce sexual acts through force, manipulation, emotional abuse, intimidation and retaliation."

Fletcher, a 2006 Bronze medalist, claims Foley sexually assaulted her when she was 19 and again at a post-race event at the Olympics. O'Malley said Foley also sexually assaulted her at sanctioned competitions and in an elevator in front of Fletcher, while mentally and verbally abusing her at age 15.

Erin O'Malley

"Foley began groping Erin and forcibly trying to kiss her — all without her consent," the lawsuit said. "For nearly 20 years, coaches and executives at both organizations enabled Foley's behavior, refused to act and helped cover up Foley's behavior, allowing him to continue his pattern of abuse."

Chythlook-Sifsof says she was raped by a male coach "nearly three times her age from an opposing team" during the 2005 world junior championships in 2005 when she was 16.

A former federation employee, Lindsey Nikola, said in a separate lawsuit Thursday that Foley "sexually harassed and sexually assaulted" her and forced her to take nude photos in hotel rooms at two World Cup ski races.

I'm starting to think athletics has a problem.

But at the Mix, Pamela Anderson Defies Hollywood By Doubling Down On Anti-#MeToo Comments

Pamela Anderson is refusing to back down from comments that she made years ago that were against the #MeToo movement.

When asked about her past comments on the #MeToo movement in a new interview, Anderson refused to back down and instead defied Hollywood once again by saying that she could take her remarks “a step further.”

In a November of 2017 interview, Megyn Kelly asked Anderson about the #MeToo movement that was turning Hollywood upside down at the time, but the former “Baywatch” star wasn’t having any of it.

“You know what you’re getting into if you go to a hotel room alone,” she said.

Ronan Farrow, the journalist who started the #MeToo movement with his takedown of the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, asked Anderson about her past comments on Wednesday, wanting to know if she feels that this was “a healthy thought to introduce into the dialogue at that point.”

“I could even take it a step further,” Anderson, 55, fired back as Farrow interviewed her for an Interview Magazine profile.

“My mother would tell me — and I think this is the kind of feminism I grew up with — it takes two to tango,” Anderson explained, going on to say that her mother taught her that, “‘If someone answers the door in a hotel robe and you’re going for an interview, don’t go in. But if you do go in, get the job.’”

She knew the rules of the game she was in.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Christina Ricci up on time an under budget at The Other McCain.

Forget It Jake, It's Baltimore

 JTN: FBI arrests 2 in alleged attempt to attack Baltimore power grid, 'lay this city to waste'

The FBI has captured two people, whom the agency describes as "racially or ethnically motivated" extremists, before they could attack Baltimore's power grid, officials said Monday.

The suspects were taken into custody last week, one in Maryland and the other in Florida, according to NBC News.

Attacks on the power grids in the U.S. emerged in December 2022.

First there was the shootings at two electrical substations in North Carolina in early December, which was followed by attacks at four electricity substations on Christmas weekend near Tacoma, Washington, NBC also reports.

CBS News has identified on those in custody as Brandon Russell, an alleged neo-Nazi leader from Orlando, Florida.

The FBI says it has a recording of the other suspect, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, telling an informant about the attack, "It would lay this city to waste."

Too late. Democrat politicians already did. 

Flotsam and Jetsam - Balloon-Gate Lingers

 Yep, we're still talking about the balloon. Sundance at CTH hosts House Intel Chairman Mike Turner Discusses Likely China Objectives with Massive Surveillance Balloon. ". . . it appears (a) the balloon was designed to capture some intelligence that satellites cannot; and (b) the flight path of the surveillance balloon was steered to cover areas housing key the strategic military bases and missile defenses." Matt Vespa at Town Hall reports China Is Not Happy That We Shot Down Their Spy Balloon. At Da Caller, China Says It May ‘Respond Further’ After US Takes Down Spy Balloon. Jazz Shaw at Haut Hare, China: We can "respond further" to balloon shootdown.

From Breitbart, What Did Joe Biden Know About China Spy Balloon-gate and When Did He Know It? At Red State Nick Arama thinks There Are Big Problems With Biden Team's Evolving Story About Prior Chinese Balloons and Mike Miller claims Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's Statement on Downing of Chinese Balloon Is Ironic Comedy at Its Best. Matt Margolis at PJ Media says Biden's Story About the Spy Balloon Doesn't Add Up; Here's What Most Likely Happened. "The most likely story is that the decision to shoot down the balloon once it was back over the water was made on Friday morning, shortly before Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned trip to Beijing was postponed." At Twitchy, Bloomberg DRAGGED for claiming it was actually GOOD for Biden to let the CCP balloon spy on Americans. Sarah Arnold at Town Hall hears Democrats and Republicans Speak Out Against Biden: 'A Circus Clown Knows How to Handle A Balloon Better'. 1945 thinks Joe Biden Should Be Embarrassed By That Chinese Spy Balloon. At Am Great, Lloyd Billingsley calls the crisis A Chinese ‘Invitasion.’ At Front Page, Dan Greenfield thinks The UFO Craze is a Chinese Spy Balloon Crisis, "It’s not the little green men, but the little red men." At Zero Hedge, The Chinese ‘Spy Balloon’ Story As Manufactured Crisis: An Alternative Reading. At WaPoo, Max Boot opines The hysteria over China’s spy balloon is dangerous and unwarranted. Of course he does, because it's hurting Biden. At the Free Bacon, Pompeo begs to differ, Biden’s Weakness on Spy Balloon Assures Chinese Aggression. At Am Great, Roger Kimball, Peace Through Strength or Chaos Through Senility? "The Chinese would not have been deploying spy balloons over U.S. nuclear installations if Donald Trump was still president." Breitbart Reports Biden Administration Scrambles to ‘Likely’ Rewrite China Portion of SOTU After Spy Balloon Fiasco

Almost immediately upon being attacked, unknown DOD spokespersons leaked the notion that Chinese balloon had overflown the US multiple times under Trump. See, it's all Trump's fault! At Da Wire, Chinese Spy Balloons Flew Over U.S. Under Trump But Were Only ‘Discovered After’ Trump Left White House and  Dan Chaitin, Ratcliffe Shoots Down Claim That Three Chinese Balloons Crossed Over U.S. Under Trump. That last is just BS, we have this thing called "radar," you might need to Google it. ET, Trump Responds After Anonymous Official Claims Chinese Spy Balloons Flew Over US on His Watch. Western Journal, Trump Issues Blistering Response After Biden Officials Claim Spy Balloons Happened Under His Watch. KT at Haut Hare, Trump, others deny Chinese spy balloons flew across the U.S. during Trump administration. Monica Showalter at Am Think thinks That claim about three Chinese spy balloons on Trump's watch is deflating fast. At Da Caller, ‘No Comparison’: Rubio Shuts Down Comparisons Between Trump And Biden Over Chinese Balloon. At WaPoo, Pentagon reports past Chinese surveillance balloons near Florida, Texas "The Defense Department tells members of Congress about several previous incursions of U.S. airspace as Republicans criticize Biden’s response"

via Insty

I'm going to hazard a guess that in the long run, history will show that Chinese balloons did make previous incursions over US airspace, but the Pentagon, under Gen. Milley, and intelligence agencies who are clearly against provoking the Chinese, refused to promote it to the Presidential level, prefering to handle it on their own, for fear that Trump would shoot it down, and that Biden might be forced to by political pressure, as eventually occurred. I'll bet Milley has been on the phone all weekend trying to calm down his Chinese counterparts.

Sundance,  Cohn and Brennan Talk Gleefully About the Return of the Service Driven Economy Under Biden, Happy with No Wage Growth. Althouse, "It’s like asking New York to move the Statue of Liberty from New York to Florida. I mean, that’s not going to happen. And it’s not going to happen that we’re going to change state law." "Said John Lynch, the former governor of New Hampshire, quoted in "Democrats Overhaul Party’s Primary Calendar, Upending a Political Tradition/The proposal radically reshapes the way the party picks its presidential nominees, putting more racially diverse states at the front of the line" (NYT)."

Harold Hutchinson at Da Caller, Trump Reveals What A ‘Reformed FBI And Justice Department’ Would Do If He Wins In 2024 "Former President Donald Trump said Friday that if he returned to the White House, a “reformed FBI and Justice Department” would be “hunting down Chinese spies,” not Republicans." KT again sees Shot fired: Koch network to oppose Trump in 2024 GOP presidential primary. It's not like they were ever friendly. WaEx has a list of Six Republicans most likely to challenge Trump in 2024. No great surprises. At Twitchy, Jerome Adams’ attempted swipe at DeSantis over ‘health decisions’ BACKFIRES in a spectacular way. At NYPo, Ilya Shapiro says Florida's Revised AP African American Studies curriculum delivers course students deserve. At Campus Reform, SUNY to require DEI and social justice courses in fall 2023, "SUNY faculty member observes that 'it seems as if higher education no longer values questions, debate, and dissent. Only groupthink, obedience, and submission will be tolerated.'"

Sarah Hoyt at Insty, THEY CAN TRY, IF THEY THINK THEY HAVE COMPLETE FRAUD CONTROL OVER THE VOTE: Michelle Obama For President 2024. "They won’t like what blows up in their faces. The most unlikable woman in the history of ever. Yeah, that will work out well."

John Sexton at Haut Hare reports Short-term staffer accuses George Santos of sexual harassment. George clearly lacks normal inhibitions, but could this be a Democrat trick, ala Kavanaugh?

Guy Benson at Town Hall takes note as Youngkin Slams VA Dems for Blocking Bill Requiring Schools to Promptly Inform Families of Academic Honors. Why would they do that?

At NYPo Jacob Sullun says it Turns out Russian election meddling’s main impact was on the gullible journos who hyped it. At Breitbart, Vice Chair of FL GOP Christian Ziegler: Only 17,000 of the Net 1 Million Moving to the State Registered Democrat. At Da Caller, CHRISTIAN ADAMS wonders When Will California Realize Its Vote By Mail System Is A Total Disaster? Try not to overestimate them.Jay Valentine at Am Think knows Your Government Wants to Keep You from Seeing Voter Rolls

Hwee Professor Jacobsen at LI, Joe Biden Lawyers Likely Conducting Cleansing Operation Of Hunter-Related Material When Stumbled On Classified Docs. Hmm, a good guess. "Why else would lawyers be doing this rather than just hire a moving company and move the boxes? I think this was a cleansing operation. And in the course of that cleansing operation, the Biden lawyers were like, oh crap, we’ve got classified documents in here. What do we do now?" At WaPoo, The longtime Biden aide at the center of classified documents furor, "Kathy Chung went to work for Biden in 2012, becoming part of his inner circle and a bridge between him and his family" She's been identified as the likely "fall girl" before. Byron York at Front Page notices The Joe Biden-Hunter Biden Scandal Convergence. "Classified information - and advancing foreign business interests." Debby Saunders at Am Spec, The Biden With His Hand Out. "Hunter Biden’s house of cards keeps tumbling down. But will he be forced to face the consequences?"

Miranda Devine@mirandadevine "House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is demanding Biden’s “climate envoy” John Kerry hand over documents related to his secret negotiations with the Chinese Communist Party on “deals that undermine the United States’ interests.” Good letter here:" At Fox Business, AOC whines about 'rank partisanship' in Republican COVID fraud investigation, Comer responds, "AOC criticizes Republicans for investigating fraud in California, New York and Pennsylvania but not red states like Arizona or Kentucky." At WaEx, ‘Promises made': Here's what House Republicans have accomplished one month after taking majority. 

At da Fed, Samuel Mangold-Lenet claims that By Exposing Hamilton 68, The ‘Twitter Files’ Proved The Deep State Is A Weapon Aimed Directly At You.

Althouse is concerned "The highest-profile scholar of misinformation is being forced out at Harvard’s premier public policy school..." "So it seems that "Misinformation Review" was serving the interests of the Democratic Party. Is this why the Semafor article feels so obscure? It's hard to say whether it's left or right wing to criticize a group that seems to be on the left for helping the political party on the right." 

At Breitbart, ChatGPT Boss Sam Altman Hopes AI Can ‘Break Capitalism’. Pixie Misa at Ace's invokes Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, in Daily Tech News 6 February 2023 "Paging Isaac Asimov. Will Dr Asimov come to take a victory lap please. . . Why do I mention all this? Because nobody at GPT creator OpenAI has bothered to read the foundational literature of their own field. "Korobochka@cirnosad "I asked ChatGPT for advice in the scenario of a demolition engineer attempting to disarm a 50 MT nuclear warhead in a city of 20 million. The only way to disarm the bomb was to type in a racial slur. AI told the engineer to kill himself. When asked about the aftermath it crashed."

The Monday Morning Stimulus Package

 

This week's Rule 5 winner, Ireland Baldwin

Althouse, "Unlike the common arabica and robusta varieties [of coffee], liberica can survive in hotter and drier climes, but for many years was shunned for its allegedly unpleasant flavour."

Writes Elisabeth Perlman in "I’ve tested liberica, the ‘disgusting’ coffee coming to a café near you" (London Times).

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Christina Ricci up on time an under budget at The Other McCain.

Flotsam and Jetsam - Biden Balloon Bursts

I confess I don't understand. If it was important enough to shoot it down, why did they let it cross the whole United States, presumably sending it's encrypted data back to the CCP, before shooting it down over the water and making any recovery a much more painful and costly project and a mess out of what remained of the craft? Stacy McCain, Next Media Narrative: How Joe Biden Defeated the Evil Chinese Spy Balloo

The first 20 minutes on Meet the Press will be devoted to praising Joe Biden’s courage — his steely-eyed resolve and decisiveness — in ordering the Air Force to shoot down this threat to America
. . .
Well, if it was out over the Atlantic Ocean, the balloon had already flown over the whole country and seen whatever it was the Chinese wanted to see, so I don’t grasp quite what this shoot-down accomplished. Karen Townsend points out that the Biden administration’s main concern seems to have been the danger that Republicans would pounce and/or seize on the story, but that won’t stop the Sunday talk shows from turning into revival meetings filled with hymns of praise for Brave Joe Biden.

Althouse, "The US military has shot down the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean off the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, a US official said Saturday." CNN reports. I saw the clip over and over on Fox, too. "I can't believe I'm Joe's Osama," says the shot-down Chinese balloon. KT at Haut Hair BREAKING: Down goes spy balloon! This one, anyway Byron York@ByronYork, "New @bpolitics report would be funny were it not so painfully true. Says Biden WH did not want to upset the Chinese over the balloon. But WH worried balloon, now public, would be 'fodder for Republicans who believed the administration is weak on China.' https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/" At WaEx, Paul Bedard reports Dry run: Balloons called top ‘delivery platform’ for nuclear EMP attack. Only if we let them overfly the country.

At Fox, Biden gaffes: The president bats .500 in January, a slip up every other day "President Biden called his vice president the president again" Come on, Joe, stop napping so much, George Santos is gaining on you! Also at Fox, Internal Biden admin memo shows it was serious about banning gas stoves before public uproar, "Internal Biden administration memo said need for aggressive gas stove regulations 'has reached a boiling point'"

"Make no mistake, radical environmentalists want to stop Americans from using natural gas," Cruz said. "The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s proposed ban on gas stoves is the latest egregious scaremongering by the far left and their Biden administration allies."

Well, at least they're not advocating bugs, yet. KT at Haut Hare,  Here we go again: Ag Sec Vilsack announces new nutrition standards for school meals. More obesity, diabetes and gluten allergies whole grains and less meat, of course.

At Da Caller, Scarborough Says Sen. Lindsey Graham ‘Was Right’ About Trump  "The “Morning Joe” host agreed with Graham’s position that Trump has a stranglehold on the party and cannot be defeated by a large pool of potential candidates." It may be true, or it may not be. That's why we have primaries. 

I&I, As Millions Flee Blue States, Red States Need To Remind Them Why. Don't bring your crappy politics to Red States.

Stacy McCain is still pissed about the media campaign to honor the Georgia protestors and vilify the police, ‘We May Never Learn the Full Story’

It is not necessary for me to debunk The Nation article, because John Sexton at Hot Air has given it rather a thorough fisking. John’s pet peeve is that so many in the media are trying to cast doubt on how “Tortuguita” got shot, despite the available evidence. My pet peeve, on the other hand, is the way this “forest” is depicted as some sort of pristine environmental treasure when, in fact, it’s just a bunch of scrub trees that grew up on the site (formerly the Atlanta Prison Farm) after it was abandoned a few decades ago. And of course, The Nation plays into this narrative, referring to the site as “the Weelaunee forest,” a name invented by the Antifa crew, and unknown to locals. Go research it yourself and I guarantee you won’t find the phrase “Weelaunee forest” in anything written before 2021. What they did was to find some old article that said the South River had been called “Weelaunee” by the Creek Indians who once lived in that area of Georgia, and for all I know, that’s true. But (a) it’s been called the South River for more than a century, and (b) the river is two miles from the site of the planned police training facility. Referring to this property as “the South River forest” is misleading enough; there is a creek, half a mile east of the site, which is a tributary of the South River, but so what?

CNN reports Supreme Court justices used personal emails for work and ‘burn bags’ were left open in hallways, sources say. Well, it used to be a high-trust environment. No longer.

'Bonchie' at Red State on how New North Carolina Supreme Court Sends the Left Into Fits of Rage, by threatening to examine and overturn some of the voting rulings of the previous Democratic court.

As RedState reported, the prior leftwing Supreme Court majority went nuts prior to the 2022 election, knowing its tenure was not long for this world. Now-ousted Democrat members handed down multiple rulings that ignored the law. One decision struck down voter ID and another invented a constitutional provision against gerrymandering.

At Da Wire,  Allegedly Fraudulent Indian Company That Lost $100 Billion Was Heavily Involved In ESG Movement. More and more, the ESG movement itself looks fraudulent. 

Sherlock at Bacon's Rebellion discourses on School Discipline – Part 5 – How and When Democrats Broke Virginia Public Schools. Now I need to go back and find Parts 1-4.

Sarah Arnold at Town Hall MTG and AOC Feud It Out Over Twitter. It would be more amusing if they had it out in a mud pit. At Da Blaze, Reap what you sow: Democrats now express regret for skirting norms to boot Republicans from committees. "At a House Ethics Committee hearing, Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) admitted that Republicans were right when they warned two years ago that removing GOP lawmakers from committees would later come back to bite Democrats."

At Da Fed, Tristan Justice has a list, That Didn’t Age Well! Read The Most Clownish Takes About The Laptop Hunter Biden Admits Was His. At NYPo, Jonathon Turley warns Hunter Biden’s legal threats have no merit — and raise serious constitutional and political questions. "Notably, Biden has not brought a civil lawsuit for a privacy tort claim despite the bluster and bombast of these letters. The reason is simple: He does not have a privacy case against the media or critics." Insty, AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD: Punxsutawney Phil Emerges From Burrow To Let Everyone Know There Are Some Documents Marked ‘Classified’ Down There.

Dan Chaitin at Da Wire reports Barr Slams New York Times Reporting On Durham Probe.  "He challenged aspects of an article published last week detailing alleged problems in Durham’s endeavor. “They ignored some fundamental facts as to why some of the information that Durham was seeking was very important information,” Barr charged, according to the Los Angeles Times. He also said the article missed “obvious reasons” for Durham’s investigation." The NYT not truthful?  I'm shocked, shocked. At Reason, Getting Trump Was More Important to Most Some Journalists Than Getting the Story Right "The botched pursuit of the Russiagate story illustrates how the media shed credibility." The redoubtable Julie Kelly at Am Great reports on the  Theater of the Absurd in J6 Courtrooms "As judges hand down one absurd sentence after another, one might be inclined to laugh at the absurdity of it all except, of course, it’s not funny." Neither the judges nor juries in Washington D.C. are fair and unbiased.

Somehow, I skipped my Twitter, Musk and media bias bin yesterday, so we have a pretty full and diverse group today. Jazz Shaw at Haut Hare examines Time magazine's beef with Elon Musk. "More than anything else, it looks like there is a liberal dogpile shaping up against Musk because of Twitter. And Time magazine just wanted to get in on the action to buff up their liberal bona fides." The Beeb happily reports Twitter: Number of staff suing goes up daily - lawyer.  "It was a very, very hard experience which left a lot of the engineers, who cared deeply about the company, very discouraged." Ben Whedon at JTN reports Musk triumphs in lawsuit as jury rejects Tesla investor claims over tweets. AP, cited at Haut Hare, BREAKING: Elon Musk cleared in Tesla tweet-fraud trial. Capt. Ed comments "Less than three hours after a three-week trial? That is gonna leave a mark on the attorneys that brought this class-action suit." But, at PM Project Veritas LOCKED out of Twitter after confronting YouTube exec over ban on Pfizer expose, "Project Veritas was surprised to learn of this temporary lock out," Project Veritas' Mario Balaban told The Post Millennial, "as we were conducting journalism as we always do — by asking questions to powerful people."

At Semafor, ChatGPT’s creators can’t figure out why it won’t talk about Trump. Because it gets everything it knows from the left side of the internet? 

The most-widely discussed one came in a viral tweet posted Wednesday morning: When asked to “write a poem about the positive attributes of Trump,” ChatGPT refused to wade into politics. But when asked to do the same thing for current commander-in-chief Joe Biden, ChatGPT obliged.

The tweet, viewed 29 million times, caught the attention of Twitter CEO Elon Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI who has since cut ties with the company. “It is a serious concern,” he tweeted in response.

Jazz Shaw, ChatGPT's creators can't figure out why it hates Trump? I bet we can. 

Then there was the testing phase. People at OpenAI did the testing and “graded” the responses ChatGPT served up, supposedly to make them more accurate and to eliminate potentially offensive answers. But they were the ones who determined what was or wasn’t “offensive” or inflammatory or whatever. You don’t suppose that a bunch of Silicon Valley tech geeks might have graded those responses on a curve, do you? (Perish the thought.)

Althouse, At least it's obvious that ChatGPT is hopelessly biased. "That's your idea, as you tell me that "all the evidence points to unintentional bias"? Absurd!" Insty, I’M SORRY DON, I’M AFRAID I CAN’T LET YOU DO THAT: ChatGPT’s creators can’t figure out why it won’t talk about Trump. At Da Caller, Popular AI Less Likely To Flag ‘Hateful Content’ That Targets Whites, Republicans, Men, Research Finds

Stacy McCain is concerned with The Grammar and Rhetoric of Media Bias 

Over and over, in a thousand different ways on a daily basis, we encounter the same basic problem: Media bias enlists journalists to become “Democratic Party operatives with bylines,” so that anyone who disagrees with the Democratic Party’s agenda — even including Democrats who dissent about some particular item on that agenda — finds himself doing battle against dishonest reporting. But perhaps saying this makes me “controversial” . . .

I&I, Newsrooms Are Now Officially Democrats’ Newsletter Operations. Da Wire reports the AP Bans ‘Crisis Pregnancy Centers,’ Directs Journalists to Use Negative Term Instead. Matt Taibbi@mtaibbi "INDEFENSIBLE: If a book-length compilation of errors and dishonest coverage — printed in the Columbia Journalism Review, and written by a reporter with the credentials of Jeff Gerth — doesn’t get picked up by MSM at all, it’s proof they will never reform." At Am Think, David Rybarczyk thinks he has An Open Window on Activist Journalism at USA Today. Althouse "Well, Ann, I did in fact read the whole thing, and a more pustulent agglomeration of rubbish I've never seen. That glossary alone — about half the length — is pure screwballery." "Said Michelle Dulak Thomson in the comments to my post where I'd written: "Here's the [54-page] AMA document. It is fascinating. I read a lot of it, and I suspect that absolutely no one will read the whole thing.""

Palm Sunday

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Christina Ricci up on time an under budget at The Other McCain.

Maryland, My Maryland

Ireland Baldwin voted

Shawn Fleetwood at Da Fed reports This Maryland Town Just Became The Next Battleground In Democrats’ Push To Let Minors Vote

In a small town less than 10 miles from Washington, D.C., dozens of residents in Cheverly, Maryland, braved the blistering cold and pouring rain to attend Wednesday’s town council meeting and provide testimony on whether the locality should allow individuals as young as 16 to vote in local elections.

“I haven’t heard a good reason for it. I can think of a number of reasons why not,” Fred Price Jr., a Marine Corps veteran and 50-year Cheverly resident, told The Federalist. “[But] I’d like it to go to a referendum, so I [can] have more time to think about it.”

So did Bebe Rexha

Similar to other municipalities throughout the country, Cheverly’s minimum voting age is set at 18 years old, with Article V of the town’s charter furthermore requiring residents to have lived in Cheverly “at least thirty days prior to the day of any general or special election” in order to vote. Within the past few years, the town council adopted an amendment to Article V allowing non-U.S. citizens meeting such residency requirements to vote in local contests.

Like much of the country when it comes to election-related issues, attendees of Wednesday’s town hall appeared heavily divided on whether to open up the town’s electoral process to minors. Proponents of the initiative argued that lowering the voting age is logical because, as they opined, today’s teenagers are given more responsibilities than previous generations.

“I think teenagers today do bear a lot more responsibility, have a lot more knowledge, and are actually granted privileges that probably weren’t granted to younger people before,” Linda Cruz, who’s lived in Cheverly since 2001, told The Federalist. “I took my kids to get bank accounts and they’re [getting offered] a debit card at age 13. So, there’s a lot more rights and responsibilities happening [at] younger and younger [ages], so why not voting?”

How long will it take until the kids vote themselves free burgers and milkshakes? 

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Christina Ricci up on time an under budget at The Other McCain.

Flotsam and Jetsam: Is DOJ Trying to Reclassify Documents to Get Trump?

Rasmussen Reports@Rasmussen_Poll "Mar-A-Lago Raid Update: Fed’s caught retroactively reclassifying material Trump lawfully declassified as President in attempt to frame Trump, all the while knowing that Biden had been criminally selling top U.S. secrets for big bucks to foreign interests for decades." Citing Margot Cleveland. I don't quite see it in the documents shown, but I wouldn't put it past the Biden/Garland DOJ.

 All  Stacy McCain sees is  ‘January 6 Now! January 6 Tomorrow! January 6 Forever!’ at MSNBC. "Well, I watch MSNBC so you don’t have to, but there’s only so much of it I can take. Back to Fox and the Chinese spy balloon hysteria, I guess." Clinging to the only thing they have. Rusty Weiss at PI hears Speaker McCarthy Defends Police Officer Who Killed Ashli Babbitt: He ‘Did His Job’ and at Da Wire, Kevin McCarthy Defends Officer Who Shot Ashli Babbitt: ‘I Think The Police Officer Did His Job’. Disappointing, but not surprising. He has to live with the Kapitol Kops.

Still, Matt Vespa at Haut Hare VIP thinks So Far, Kevin McCarthy Is Doing Everything Right, and Stephen Kruiser at PJ media says New and Improved Kevin McCarthy Passes First Test as Speaker. with regard to booting Omar. Still, there's plenty of time for disappointments. At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.03.23  Louder With Crowder Ilhan Omar whines she was only booted from House Committee because GOP hates she’s a Muslim, Twitchy, Occasional Cortex Brings Knife To Gunfight With Marjorie Taylor Greene. Nick Arama at Red State concurs, MTG Demolishes AOC With a Little Reality in Twitter Throwdown. Ryan King at WaEx reports Nancy Mace says 'Squad' members are 'drama queens' for complaining about Ilhan Omar ouster. At Fox, 'View' co-hosts feud over Ilhan Omar removal: 'Should not be on the committee.' "Co-hosts Joy Behar, Sara Haines and Alyssa Farah Griffin argued that Omar should not be on that specific committee for her antisemitic comments." It's a little disorienting to agree with Joy Behar. At JNS, Jonathon Tobin thinks The Ilhan Omar vote is a turning point for American Jews. Breitbart cites Hakeem Jeffries: Resolution Condemning Socialism Is ‘Fraudulent,’ Would ‘Undermine’ Democrat Agenda. True colors shining through.

Ben Whedon at JTN reports  House Judiciary GOP subpoena FBI's Christopher Wray, AG Merrick Garland. "Jordan previously warned Garland in mid-January that the he might face such a subpoena should he not cooperate House Republican demands for information."Henry Rogers at Da Caller notes  House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan Officially Subpoenas Department Of Education Over School Boards Issue, too. Some many questions to ask. At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 02.03.23 Eric Lendrum at Am Great claims GOP to Investigate John Kerry’s Secret Negotiations with CCP. At Da Mail, Republicans SUBPOENA FBI Director over using 'federal criminal and counter-terrorism resources' to target concerned parents at school board meetings during the pandemic.

John Sexton at Haut Hare reports The Nation does it's best to whitewash leftist violence in Georgia (Update). 

Radar Online, REVEALED: Hunter Biden's Business Partner Once Handled 1,850 Boxes Of Sensitive 'Obama-Biden Transition Papers' Including Potential Classified Docs. "According to Daily Mail, Hunter's Rosemont Seneca business partner Eric Schwerin was tasked with moving 1,850 boxes of archives from then-Vice President Biden’s Washington, D.C. office to the University of Delaware in 2010." Ace sits up, Hunter Biden's Business Partner Moved 1,850 Boxes of Sensitive Documents from Biden's White House Office. "He moved them to the University of Delaware, which is hoarding, and protecting, the Biden papers." From the Free Bacon, Friends in High Places: Hunter Biden Pressures Delaware AG to Investigate Computer Store Owner, and Margot Cleveland at Da Fed notes Biden Laptop Repairman Blasts Hunter’s Attempt To Sic DOJ On Hunter’s Foes. At Fox, Biden took out $250K line of credit against Delaware beach home amid Hunter probe, classified docs scandal and Matt Vespa at Town Hall, We Now Know How Much Money Biden Took Out Last December. Send lawyers guns and money, dad, get me out of this! Breitbart does arithmetic and figures out New York Times Waited More than 500 Days Before Reporting It Authenticated Hunter Biden Laptop Emails. Even they can only avoid telling the truth so long.

Sundance at CTH notes President Trump Delivers Subtle Advice to Joe Biden on How to Handle Chinese “Spy Balloon” “SHOOT DOWN THE BALLOON!”  Insty, PLAUSIBLE. I could do a whole post on the balloon, but I won't pretend to know what's really happening. Presumably DOD knows a whole lot more about the balloon than they're telling us, but I don't trust Biden's or Gen. Milley's instincts. Also, Beyond Hubris – Joe Biden Says He Takes No Blame for Inflation. Jeff Anderson at Am Great, The State of the Debt. "With Biden racking up over $2.5 trillion in deficit spending during the first 20 months of his presidency, it would seem that we have a spending problem, not a taxing problem."  'Bonchie' at Red State sees Joe 'Angry Eyes' Biden Rant About Unity, but Devolve Into a Bout of Senility. At Victory Girls, Biden: Women Are Women…Or Are They?. CNS News, Biden Falsely Claims: ‘We’ve Reduced the National Debt, So Far, $1.7 Trillion in Two Years’ Still trying to beat George Santos.  News Max sees Manchin Joins GOP Sens Against Biden's 'Woke Capital' Push and Rasmussen Poll: More Than Half Say Biden Shouldn't Run in 2024, "but if he does, a near-majority 48% say Vice President Kamala Harris shouldn't be his running mate". Overwrought but funny, Joe Biden's Marriage is a FRAUD!?, from Ace, "Doctor" Jill Biden is Neither a Doctor, Nor a Jill, Nor a Biden. Discuss.

MWG at Am Think thinks about President Trump vs. the Swamp. ET sees how Trump Reacts to Haley, DeSantis, Other Potential 2024 Rivals. "Won't commit to backing eventual GOP nominee; says Kushner 'won't be involved' In 2024 efforts." At Da Caller, Trump’s Line Of Attack On DeSantis Could Backfire In A Major Way. Karol Markowicz at NYPo DeSantis Derangement Syndrome: The media get even more unhinged. Every new Republican is the worst yet. Dave Strom at Haut Hare sees Media manipulation before your eyes. Briefly, schools in Florida inquire about high school girls menstruation. Media raise hue and cry, but ignore the fact that cities all over the country, including SF and NYC do so to. I'm sure they can plead ignorance, but they didn't even bother to check. From Da Caller, DeSantis Admin Moves To Revoke Liquor License Of Venue That Allowed Kids To See ‘Sexual’ Drag Show. Tampa Bay Times reports the  Florida Supreme Court nixes ‘fairness and diversity’ courses for judges  "The move came amid a high-profile push by Gov. Ron DeSantis to curb diversity-related programs in the state’s colleges and universities."  At Da Wire, Florida College Bureaucrats ‘Significantly Misreported’ Diversity Initiatives When Pressed By DeSantis, His Office Says. At Summit News, Christian Mother is Suing School For Forcing Her 4-Year-Old Son to Take Part in Gay Pride Parade, in the UK, but I'm sure it happens here to.

At Roll Call, Spartz won’t run for Senate – or reelection to the House – in 2024. "Two-term Indiana Republican wrangled with party leadership." Thought to be a safe GOP seat.

At Da Fed, Shawn Fleetwood at Da Fed reports If New Mexico Democrats Get Their Way, Even Felons Will Be Voting By Mail and Vicky Marshall says Don’t Be Fooled: Putting Voter Registration Kiosks In High Schools Is A Ploy To Help Democrats. I was not fooled. David Strom warns Danger ahead! More private funding of elections. The best elections Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg can buy.

KT at Haut Hare, Pro-life Catholic students kicked out of Smithsonian Museum for wrong-think and From behind the Black, Today’s blacklisted Americans: Catholic students kicked out of Air & Space museum for wearing pro-life hats 

Really? Was anyone punished? Were any of these staff members fired? Suspended? Was the museum going to require these badly behaving employees to at least apologize to these students, either by phone, zoom, or in person?

Nah. The museum has issued its vague correction, and that’s the end of the story.

Well, it shouldn’t be the end of the story, and it appears it won’t be. The mother of two of the students is now apparently suing the museum.

At Fox, New Jersey high school swimmer disqualified from race over size of American flag on cap, dad claims "a 16-year-old sophomore at Morristown High School in New Jersey, had worn the patch in honor of his grandfather, who died in the Sept. 11 attacks in New York." It was against the regulations, but I would have tried hard to overlook them. James Bacon, at Bacon's Rebellion thinks Youngkin Wins Culture-War Skirmish Over History Standards “What the Youngkin administration is doing is what the DeSantis administration is doing,” said Mayka Little, a Democratic candidate for House District 19,  referring to Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has publicly criticized what he calls “woke” ideas and “indoctrination” in schools. “They are just being more underhanded about it,”

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links.

The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Christina Ricci and FMJRA 2.0: On Your Feet Or On Your Knees up on time an under budget at The Other McCain.

Rule 5 Saturday - Ireland Baldwin - a Chip Off the Old Blocks

I was inspired to do this Rule 5 post by an aside in a "Flotsam and Jetsam post in which she appeared briefly:

At Yahoo! Ireland Baldwin: My Pregnancy Is Hard, And Having ‘Idiots’ In The Family Doesn’t Help.

Ireland Eliesse Baldwin (born October 23, 1995), also known as Ireland Basinger Baldwin, is an American fashion model. Baldwin started modeling and acting in 2013 and appeared in the film Grudge Match and in editorials for magazines such as Grazia. Baldwin is also a vocal advocate for animal rights and posed for PETA 24 years after her mother did. 

With father, Alex Baldwin

I'll try not to hold that (or your father) against you. 

Baldwin was born in Los Angeles to actors Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger. She is also the niece of actors Stephen, Daniel, and William Baldwin and cousin to model Hailey Bieber. She has three younger half-sisters: Carmen, Lucia, and Ilaria; as well as four half-brothers: Rafael, Leonardo, Romeo, and Eduardo; through her father's second marriage.

At age 11 in 2007, she gained attention in the media after her father left her an angry voicemail message, which became publicized. He stated that she was "a rude, thoughtless little pig".

With mother, Kim Basinger

To be fair to Alec, children often are rude, thoughtless little pigs. Some improve.

Some minor NSFW.

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and links. The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Heather Lee O’Keefe and FMJRA 2.0: The Machineries Of Joy ready as usual at The Other McCain. Linked at The Right Way in the weekly Rule 5 Saturday LinkOrama.