The strangest thing about the Post piece is some attempt to discern "fairness" in foreign policy, as if the fact that "everybody spies" means we should not punish or hinder their spying when we can reasonably do so. We are on our side.
As to whether we should shoot it down, that depends on how we want "airspace" to be defined. If we want it to mean "as high up as the air goes" then we should announce as much, give them a little time to comply, and if they don't we should get out our dart gun.
And why is no one talking about the U2. If the Russians were within their rights to shoot down Gary Powers--as we essentially conceded at the time, then surely our popping a balloon should surprise no one.
From Wikipedia: "There is no international agreement on the vertical extent of sovereign airspace,[citation needed] with suggestions ranging from about 30 km (19 mi)—the extent of the highest aircraft and balloons—to about 160 km (100 mi)—thought to be the lowest extent of short-term stable orbits, disproved by the satellite Lixing-1 having a stable orbit with an apogee of 140 km (87 mi) for three days.[6] The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale has established the Kármán line—at an altitude of 100 km (62 mi)—as the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space,[citation needed] while the United States considers anyone who has flown above 80 kilometres (50 mi) to be an astronaut."
Not to make a string our of this, but taking a pass on the balloon is exactly the sort of inversion of rational policy we tend to make. We taunt the Chinese on Taiwan, which can only make that situation--otherwise stable for almost 50 years--worse; we castrate Huawei on obviously false charges of espionage, one of the most blatant examples of US government slander I have ever witnessed; we undermine our own semiconductor industry in a futile attempt to hinder theirs; but we don't defend--or define--our airspace. Just about everything US Gov does on China--or the GOP advocates we do--is wrong and counterproductive. This all stems from the refusal of the China Hawks to recognize the key reality that there are two Chinas, capitalist and communist, and we should be taking sides in that conflict. Hmmm. Maybe I should start my own Substack.
Now this I just really enjoyed reading. I always thought it was “shuck and jive” as opposed to “shake and jive”, but maybe that’s a regional thing like “kitty-corner” vs “katty-corner”
The strangest thing about the Post piece is some attempt to discern "fairness" in foreign policy, as if the fact that "everybody spies" means we should not punish or hinder their spying when we can reasonably do so. We are on our side.
As to whether we should shoot it down, that depends on how we want "airspace" to be defined. If we want it to mean "as high up as the air goes" then we should announce as much, give them a little time to comply, and if they don't we should get out our dart gun.
And why is no one talking about the U2. If the Russians were within their rights to shoot down Gary Powers--as we essentially conceded at the time, then surely our popping a balloon should surprise no one.
From Wikipedia: "There is no international agreement on the vertical extent of sovereign airspace,[citation needed] with suggestions ranging from about 30 km (19 mi)—the extent of the highest aircraft and balloons—to about 160 km (100 mi)—thought to be the lowest extent of short-term stable orbits, disproved by the satellite Lixing-1 having a stable orbit with an apogee of 140 km (87 mi) for three days.[6] The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale has established the Kármán line—at an altitude of 100 km (62 mi)—as the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space,[citation needed] while the United States considers anyone who has flown above 80 kilometres (50 mi) to be an astronaut."
Not to make a string our of this, but taking a pass on the balloon is exactly the sort of inversion of rational policy we tend to make. We taunt the Chinese on Taiwan, which can only make that situation--otherwise stable for almost 50 years--worse; we castrate Huawei on obviously false charges of espionage, one of the most blatant examples of US government slander I have ever witnessed; we undermine our own semiconductor industry in a futile attempt to hinder theirs; but we don't defend--or define--our airspace. Just about everything US Gov does on China--or the GOP advocates we do--is wrong and counterproductive. This all stems from the refusal of the China Hawks to recognize the key reality that there are two Chinas, capitalist and communist, and we should be taking sides in that conflict. Hmmm. Maybe I should start my own Substack.
There a lot of really fascinating insights in this interview of Matt Gaetz that I think you guys would find interesting: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0q2dgVuS2QY
Now this I just really enjoyed reading. I always thought it was “shuck and jive” as opposed to “shake and jive”, but maybe that’s a regional thing like “kitty-corner” vs “katty-corner”