(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Holy Orson Welles, Batman! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-06 Full of GOP Hot Air The average range of a rifle shot is about ten thousand feet. The Chinese balloon that flew over the United States for three days was at an average altitude of 66,000 feet. Yet still, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wanted to strap on her anti-Jewish laser Batman utility belt and shoot it down along with the thousands of Americans she encouraged to do the same thing. “It would be great if an average Joe shot it down because China Joe won’t. Regular Americans can do everything better than the government and actually care about our country,” tweeted Greene. For years Republicans criticized former President Obama and his then-Vice President Joe Biden for not listening to the Generals. When Mr. Obama withdrew troops from Iraq and planned the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Mitt Romney said, “I stand with the commanders.” A few years later, in 2015, the conservative Washington Times wrote Mr. Obama is keeping 5,500 troops in Afghanistan beyond his presidency, about half the strength recommended by his top general in-country. It marks the sixth time he has rejected the advice of a ground commander on the force size in the long Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Military experts call that streak unprecedented for a commander-in-chief. President Biden reportedly ordered the shootdown of the Chinese balloon last Wednesday. The Pentagon advised waiting until it was over open water to protect people on the ground. So even when the Democratic President heeded the Generals’ warnings of civilian injury or death, the GOP portrayed him as hapless and helpless. Meanwhile, the Republicans ran to their conservative media corners and created an Orson Welles War of the Worlds scenario. In 1938 ranchers and farmers dragged out their shotguns, panicked children hid in the storm cellar, and mothers prayed for divine intervention, only to discover that the out-of-control panic was over a radio drama. Now, despite the sturm und drang and confused looks from Tucker Carlson, hoping to panic the Biden haters with War of the Balloons, credit must be given to the President for his wisdom and resistance to undue alarm. As with almost everything—GOP, racism, and hypocrisy are a part of the narrative. The House Oversight Committee Chairman, James Comer (R-KY), speculated the Chinese were dropping a bioweapon from Wuhan, an apparent reference to the GOP’s Covid-19 xenophobic hysteria, “My concern is that the federal government doesn’t know what’s in that balloon,” he asserted. “Is that bioweapons in that balloon? Did that balloon take off from Wuhan?” said Comer. Holy Dirigible Batman! Amid the GOP freakout, it was revealed that on at least three occasions, the Chinese floated spy balloons over U.S. territory during the Trump administration. Not only did the Trump administration not shoot down the Riddler, the Penguin, or Cat woman’s balloon, the joker in the White House was reportedly unaware of their existence. Not only was President Biden aware of the latest Chinese incursion into United States airspace, but his administration also discovered three comparable incidents during the Trump presidency. One has to ask themselves what was more dangerous, a president fully aware and making the lives of Americans his top priority or a president in the dark about American assets being spied upon and American lives put in jeopardy as a result? Continue to Vote for Change [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/6/2151409/-Holy-Orson-Welles-Batman Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/