This past week was one more example of political interference in our lives, and how party ‘angles’ or ‘spin’ is used with most everything that happens to divide us.
I’m talking about the Chinese balloon flying high above the US. It became THE topic for the week once it was discovered by American civilians, curious about that white dot way up high in the sky. Commercial aviators saw it and reported it. Oh – It’s not the first one. From what I have read, there have been spy balloons identified over our country a few times already, and they flew in the sky during both the Trump and Biden leadership time. The past ones just did not get the media and civilian attention.
Satellites circle the earth constantly taking pictures, and looking for ways to get some secret locations, or movements, from adverse countries. The US is big in satellite surveillance.. But the balloon technology allows this surveillance to be closer, and slower, and it can go undetected at times. It’s like a drone way up high, instantly sending back pictures, all the way around the world.
I got a bit of an education about the spy technique this past week once the Chinese balloon was discovered and was made known to the public. We all did. All of the news outlets led their nightly programs with pictures of it, maps of it’s path, and guesses about what it was doing. All of the ‘talking heads’ on opinion shows had a field day speculating about the balloon.
As a person who lives on the coast of South Carolina I was able to go outside and look into the sky and see it, and I also saw US military planes flying below it. Monitoring it. And, not a half hour of seeing it over my head, it was shot down into the ocean right off of where I live. Because it happened so near to me it made it seem ‘more personal.’
There was talk all week from conservatives and the news networks that they want to shoot it down immediately! They were upset that our leadership decided to let it float along. This group said our president was weak, and not showing how bad ass America can be when it comes to foreign relations. People who never ever thought about spy systems before talked like experts and exclaimed disappointment in Pres. Biden. Keep in mind – they could. Because they did not have to make the decisions about it. And, it was the ‘other’ side.
That ‘other side,’ our president and the party in power, took time to calculate the options, to consider where debris from the balloon might fall, and maybe most important to think about how China might re-act to a harsh action. US – China relations are not good already. Every move means something. So – caution is key. Well thought out response was needed. Pres. Biden even admitted he told the military to shoot it down, but the experts in the technology and in foreign affairs, said ‘wait’ – and Biden listened to them.
Okay, maybe waiting til the balloon went over the ocean was too long to wait. I sure don’t know. In fact, we may never know. Maybe China got some pictures that will help them know more about our missile silos, and our military bases, but it’s doubtful much was discovered that they don’t already know. Maybe our experts said the balloon was not getting any more info than what Google Earth can show these days.
So – one political side had the ‘luxury’ to cry wolf loudly, and to get upset that we didn’t blow the balloon out of the sky immediately. They could easily blame the president and the other party. They had nothing to lose in being loud and saying THEY would have handled it differently.
I believe that somewhere in the middle is the truth.
I believe that this spy balloon was not immediately dangerous, and that we Americans were not in dire trouble. If we were, I have enough trust to know our military would have done what had to be done quickly. I also trust the hundreds of American civil servants, who are not political, who work their whole careers (during both Rep and Dem power reigns) to do whatever they can to keep us all safe. I know many have much more knowledge than you or I on spying, and I know they weigh all the possibilities to make a good decision. They are not concerned about winning elections, or putting a majority in Congress. They work free of all of that. They work for us.
But, you know what? That’s not exciting. Thinking, waiting, watching – it’s not attention grabbing. And, it’s so much more fun to point fingers and to throw around blame for the other side. It’s so much better in keeping some people mad, and divided.
Because, being in the middle – might really get us the best answer – the most truth. But it’s not political.
Marla’s Musings 