The Monday Memo

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Here are some topics that recently caught my attention…

  • That Damned Balloon
  • Washington Post-ABC News Poll
  • 60 Minutes
  • One More Thing

THAT DAMNED BALLOON:

From U.S. Senator Steve Daines to U.S. Representatives Matt Rosendale and Ryan Zinke, to Governor Greg Gianforte, to right-wing talk radio hosts, to Great Falls city commissioner Rick Tryon, they all had at least a couple things in common this weekend – they are all Republicans and they all condemned President Joe Biden for his handling of the Chinese Balloon.

They were all playing politics. It was disgraceful. Those with any military experience know better.

Now that the facts are out, we find that the President told the Department of Defense to shoot it down as soon as possible and National Security Officials decided the best time to down the balloon was when it was over water.

Here is part of the statement from Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III:

“On Wednesday, President Biden gave his authorization to take down the surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to American lives under the balloon’s path. After careful analysis, U.S. military commanders had determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload. In accordance with the President’s direction, the Department of Defense developed options to take down the balloon safely over our territorial waters, while closely monitoring its path and intelligence collection activities.” (Source)

The same Montana dimwits mentioned above would have condemned Biden if he shot it down over land and the debris hit a daycare or school or shopping center and injured people.

Reports say that the debris field from it being shot down was “at least seven miles spread out.” (Source)

The balloon did fly over Canada, and they did not shoot it down:

“It entered the Alaska Joint Operating Area on January 28th, having entered the U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone north of the Aleutian Islands, and therefore passing into sovereign U.S. airspace. It then entered into Canadian airspace on January 30th, and re-entered U.S. airspace over northern Idaho on January 31st.” (Source)

Canada did not shoot it down when it was over their country.

The DoD also stated that People’s Republic of China (PRC) government surveillance balloons transited the continental United States briefly at least three times during the prior administration and once that we know of at the beginning of this administration, but never for this duration of time. (Source)

I wonder how the Republicans feel about their man, Donald Trump, not shooting those balloons down?

The whole situation was marred by people playing political games and not seeing the big picture. I’m ashamed of the people mentioned at the beginning of this section – they all acted like partisan asses. Be better.

WASHINGTON POST-ABC NEWS POLL:

A new poll shows that 62 percent of Americans think President Joe Biden has accomplished “not very much” or “little or nothing” during his presidency, while 36 percent say he has accomplished “a great deal” or “a good amount.”

In my humble opinion, the most important thing that Biden accomplished is beating Donald Trump. Let me repeat that: In my humble opinion, the most important thing that Biden accomplished is beating Donald Trump.

In case you forgot, Biden received 306 electoral votes and Trump received 232. If you don’t believe in that outcome, then you are part of the problem. You are un-American.

I’ve said often that Biden and Trump are too old to be President.

See the poll results HERE.

60 MINUTES:

In case you missed it last night on 60 Minutes, Bill Whitaker spoke with the former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who was investigating former president Donald Trump’s business dealings.

Check it out HERE.

ONE MORE THING:

I happened to hear the last caller on Friday who called into “Montana Talks with Aaron Flint” during the 9: 00 hour.

Here is part of what “Jason in Bozeman” had to say:

“I doubt the fighter jets have x-ray vision to be able to see what is hiding behind the balloon, and on top of that we may not know until everyone starts getting sick in the next few days that they just dropped a pathogen on the entire Montana state.”

Be careful, Montana!

## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##

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7 thoughts on “The Monday Memo”

  1. These home schooled MAGAs have gone beyond the limits of absurdity. And they seem to be gaining ground. Is Montana destined to become a MAGA wasteland? Between their anti-science bills and their obscenity bills, these porn again christofascists need to go. I see that Lola even has a bill to keep porn off i phones. What reality does she live in?

    https://dailymontanan.com/2023/02/06/montana-students-teachers-blast-bill-that-would-limit-science-education-to-scientific-fact/

  3. Stinky Zinke volunteered to be the one to “shoot it down.” The surveillance balloon was at 60,000 feet! That’s over 10 miles up! Now, given that he can’t even tell the front from the rear of a western hat, you have to wonder what sort of firearms he possesses that he thinks have that sort of range. My suggestion would have been to let him shoot, as long as he was directly under it, firing straight up.

  4. I’ve had F troops’ “ It is balloon,” episode stuck in my head recently. I imagine that’s the way Zinke/Tryon imagines it.

  5. My favorite outraged statement about the balloon from any outraged Montana politician came from Junkyard Dog Zinke:

    “Shoot. It. Down. The Chinese spy balloon is clear provocation. In Montana we do not bow. We shoot it down. Take the shot,” Rep. Zinke said.

    And yet, in Montana, we did NOT shoot it down. Go figure. Makes it look like we bowed. And for this embarrassing local loss of face I blame Rep. Zinke himself, for selfishly failing to unleash that SAM battery in his back yard. Why did he not take the shot?

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