BIDEN’S BALLOON BALONEY

Should anyone believe the Biden administration’s ridiculous story about the mysterious balloons that gripped the nation several weeks ago? According to the administration, a massive Chinese spy balloon was allowed to travel from China across the Pacific Ocean into Alaska through Canada and back into the United States. At that point, the balloon traversed over the interior of the country before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina.

The Biden administration claimed that the delayed action allowed intelligence to be gathered on the balloon and to protect Americans who might have been harmed if there was a shoot down over a populated area. Of course, the balloon could have been easily shot down while it was travelling over unpopulated areas in Alaska or Montana for example.

While claiming that the administration waited to protect against civilian casualties and property damage, President Joe Biden also stated that the incursion was “not a major breach.” Really, what about those antennas that were attached to the balloon to gather intelligence?

Not coincidentally, the balloon travelled “over or near four military sites in Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska and Missouri.” Yet, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin assured Americans that “we were buttoned down and movement was limited, and communications were limited so that we didn't expose any capability unnecessarily.”

Despite such guarantees, it is unlikely that the Chinese did not score a massive intelligence bonanza from a balloon that travelled across the United States and Canada for one week.  

After this humiliating episode, Secretary of State Tony Blinken cancelled his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, but the administration was clear to emphasize that there would be no change in our relationship with China. When asked whether the balloon incursion would weaken our relationship with China, Biden firmly answered “no.”

Thus, the Chinese gather huge amounts of vital intelligence from our country and fly a humongous balloon over sensitive military installations, and the Biden administration can only muster minor criticism and one meeting cancellation. It was a shameful response to say the least and may indicate President Biden is extremely compromised regarding China.

Supposedly, after our radars were “recalibrated,” three other balloons were shot out of the sky in Alaska, Canada and Michigan. None of these other balloons were retrieved because they were probably too small to locate. These balloons were either conducting weather research or were launched from a hobbyist group such as the Northern Illinois Balloon Brigade.

The balloon hypersensitivity resulted in the Biden administration using expensive military aircraft with costly missiles worth approximately $439,000 each to shoot down balloons worth as little as $12. None of this leads to any confidence in this President or his administration.

What really happened? The balloon hysteria may have been created to distract American attention from the release of the bombshell investigation by journalist Seymour Hersh. The report uncovers that in June of last year, “Navy divers…planted the remotely triggered explosives that, three months later, destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines.”

When the pipelines were destroyed, the left-wing media and the Biden administration quickly blamed their favorite nemesis, the Russians. Yet, it never made any sense that the Russians would destroy their own pipeline which gave them both tremendous financial benefits and leverage over Europe by controlling a portion of their energy supply.

This theory made sense to exiled NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden who tweeted that the balloon hysteria was “engineered panic.” He called it a “nuisance” that would preoccupy reporters assigned to cover balloons “rather than budgets or bombings.”

Snowden’s reference to “budgets” may refer to the Defense Department. Whenever there is a national security threat to our country, Americans become fearful about the safety of our country. What happens when Americans become scared? Sadly, some politicians use it as an excuse to create more government bureaucracy and spend more taxpayer money.

For example, after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush supported the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. It was quickly approved by Congress and a new government behemoth was created. Today, this department oversees border security, and all Americans can judge how that is progressing.

After the balloon hysteria, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress started demanding no cuts for the Department of Defense. In the current fiscal year, the Department of Defense has been allocated an extraordinary amount, $816.7 billion. Undoubtedly, there are areas in the budget that can be cut while still providing for the national security needs of the American people.

Nonetheless, last year, Congress authorized an additional $45 billion to what Biden had recommended. Now, after balloon mania, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) said it would be “exceedingly unwise” to make any defense cuts.

As noted by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), “every emergency is an excuse for more money.” He is strongly advocating that Republicans “give up the sacred cow” of never cutting defense spending. This is especially true when the country is teetering on economic collapse and our federal debt is $31.6 trillion!

Another interesting coincidence is that the Chinese spy balloon was shot down one day after the horrific train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. When focusing on balloons, the Biden administration paid almost no attention to the victims in this red state. It took weeks before the Biden administration sent resources and assistance to these suffering victims. In fact, President Donald Trump arrived in the region before the Secretary of Transportation even bothered to visit the disaster site.

The balloon caper also distracted the country from the additional funds being sent to Ukraine. Already, the Biden administration has provided almost $200 billion in assistance and the flow of funds seems to be never ending. On Friday, another Ukrainian aid package worth $400 million was announced.

Often real stories are missed by the American people, because of the distraction created by the media and our political leadership. This is clearly the case in all the balloon baloney, another reason Americans cannot trust our media or politicians like Joe Biden. 

By: Jeff Crouere
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Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America's Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-11 a.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com