Phoenix Rising

There, there, it's gonna be aaaaall right. President Biden is in charge, not some snake oil salesman, so good decisions will mostly be made. Now, the clue to why this object was shot down immediately is actually in the article you commented on but I guess you missed it. From the article in the OP: "The high-altitude object, Kirby said, was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and “posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight.” Get it now?

Why don't you just follow the news like most of us do? And by 'news' I mean real news from real news outlets, or what some like to call the MSM.

You mean better than that reasonable and logical explanation from the Pentagon that completely took the wind out of your sails? Suuuuuuure..........

Was that the best you could come up with???

Chinese balloon wasn’t downed over Alaska due to ‘dangerous’ recovery "A senior Pentagon official on Thursday tried to justify the military’s decision not to shoot down a Chinese balloon as soon as it entered Alaskan airspace by highlighting the dangers doing so would have posed to the recovery and examination of its surveillance equipment. She noted that bursting the balloon over Alaskan waters would have translated into “a very different recovery operation.” The Bering Sea can reach depths exceeding 13,000 feet, with below-freezing winter temperatures and ice cover in its northern portion, and all of that “can be extremely dangerous” and “induce additional risk,” she said." Well, who knew!* *Sarcasm alert.

Ukraine?

So you admit he beats trump hands down then. Good to know!

This thread is about the SOTU speech, which certainly/unfortunately includes the GOP so maybe try to limit your wannabe mod replies, OK?

We're lucky there are any trees left after what 45 did with the EPA....

Fairly. He had to take into account the very limited attention span of roughly half the audience. Even so some of the duller ones wandered off to play.

"With a shake of its head and a snort, the boar made its daring escape, leaving the rescuers to scratch their heads." Escape how? Blend in with the crowd or merge with traffic??

BTW, here's another one who's talking out of his posterior: Rep. Ted Lieu Bursts Newt Gingrich's Balloon In High-Flying Fact-Check "“We had plenty of capacity to scoop that balloon out of the air,” Gingrich said Monday on Fox News, “we used to do it all the time.” But Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) ― who served in the Air Force ― was standing by with a fact-check, writing on Twitter: "Having served on active duty, I know for a fact the US does not have a balloon scooper aircraft. Newt Gingrich, who never served in the military, has no idea what he is talking about."

Sounds like you have the whole process, including the extremely complicated logistics involved in this, down to a tee so there's two options: 1. Impressive, you must have a high rank military background or somehow be very knowledgeable wrt US military assets and their deployment. 2. You're just another keyboard warrior talking out of his posterior. Guess which option I'm going with.....

Sure, just like the "alleged" 6th Jan insurrection.

Unfortunately for the repubs the barking turned into whimpering when it was revealed that 45 had 3 balloon visits under his "presidency".????

And who has claimed they are "steerable"?

Do I detect some bitterness that this episode seemed to be a rare chance for the right whiners to attack President Biden and then it all imploded when it turned out that 45 had cluelessly allowed it to happen three - 3 - times and not done anything about it?

Yes, I can imagine that lets you forget the cold and starving Brits.

"And just exaclty where do you cite this from other than the crevices of your mind." Honesly, it would save us all a lot of time if you MAGA guys could extract yourself from the Fox et al bubble and have a look at the real world every now and then. trump makes shocking comments about trusting Putin over US ‘intelligence lowlifes’ "As said, even if I buy your position that Biden is the one who heightened the security (WHICH I DOUBT) He is unquestionably the one who let the balloon go undeterred for 8 days as it crossed thousands of kilometers both in the USA and Canada." Biden wanted to shoot the balloon down days before it actually happened but since the President is intelligent and a leader (refreshing change!) he listened to expert advice and the balloon was brought down in an area where it couldn't hurt anyone and the chances of retrieving the intelligence equipment were the highest. "If you believe that is prioritizing the importance of vigilance I can sure understand why you are a Biden backer. Your logic makes about as much sense as one of his speeches." Huh??

trump is literally in the name of the thread!

Yes, expect trade with Tonga to recoup much of the losses created by the Brexit disaster!

Really??

If the Chinese had had any sense of humor they would have sent this balloon. It's useless and full of hot air so just like the person it resembles. Imagine the satisfaction of firing a Sidewinder into that one!

......he says confidently without having the full picture of what took place and probably never will.

It wasn't an attempt to refute your post but to reveal what, I think for most of us, is new info about additional maneuverability capabilities of this type of balloons. Obviously, having propulsion that , in addition to lateral movement, also allows for horizontal movement greatly adds to the options the controller of the balloon has wrt positioning it.