It’s like a twisted version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, except the balloons out there are floating over our heads and spying on the Americas for the Chinese.

As was revealed earlier, a Chinese spy balloon was spotted floating over Montana on Thursday. The Biden administration’s response was essentially a shoulder shrug, because apparently popping a balloon would be a problem on the ground.

Two Air Force F-22 fighters scrambled from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to Montana, where the balloon was observed, before the administration decided not to shoot it down.”

The U.S. maintains an arsenal of 150 nuclear-armed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. A senior defense official said the U.S. government was taking steps to shield sensitive sites, but added that the reconnaissance systems on the balloon were presumed to have “limited additive value” beyond what the Chinese could gather from their low-earth-orbit satellites.”

President Biden was briefed on Wednesday and asked the military to present options, a senior administration official said. The balloon was large enough for its debris to cause damage, and the senior administration official said Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and other senior military leaders recommended the military not “take kinetic action” because of the risk to people on the ground. Mr. Biden heeded that recommendation, the official said.”

The Pentagon said the balloon was operating well above the height of commercial air traffic, typically no higher than 40,000 feet, and didn’t pose a threat to people on the ground.”

Just how much stuff is attached to this balloon that popping that sucker would be a problem for people on the ground? Presumably, our fighter jets got a look at the balloon and what it was carrying. And we’re just going to let it float away and keep doing whatever it’s doing?

The Pentagon’s briefing on Friday was.. not reassuring.

REPORTER: "Does the public not have the right to know…?"

PENTAGON: "The public certainly has the ability to look up in the sky and see where the balloon is." pic.twitter.com/3mLU3BQTRQ

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 3, 2023

Wow. Top men, everyone. Top. Men. Meanwhile, the balloon kept bobbing along.

Our Fox colleague @madisonscarpino has sighted the alleged Chinese spy balloon over Cape Girardeu, Missouri. We are receiving a live feed of the spy balloon which is expected to exit the East Cost of the US in the next 60 hours based on current models. https://t.co/HQKyKoOyza

— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) February 3, 2023

China’s excuse? “Oh, sorry, it’s a weather balloon that got off course.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Friday the balloon is a “civilian airship” being used for meteorological purposes and deviated from its planned course.”

“The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes,” the spokesperson said. “Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.”

As a result, both Republicans and Democrats would like answers from the administration as to what the hell is going on here, and why the spy balloon wasn’t brought down.

Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), chairman of the Senate’s Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, announced that he would hold a hearing to get answers to questions about the balloon spotted over his home state Friday. The announcement follows similar outrage from multiple Republican senators from states over the balloon’s current flight path.”

“Montanans value their freedom and privacy and I’ll always fight to defend both,” Tester said Friday. “China’s actions are a clear threat to those values and to America’s national security, and I’m demanding answers from the Biden Administration. I will be pulling people before my committee to get real answers on how this happened, and how we can prevent it from ever happening again.”

Earlier in the day, Tester issued a statement blasting the news of the balloon and calling for answers. “This provocation is completely unacceptable, and I am in close contact with Department of Defense and Intelligence officials. We are still waiting for real answers on how this happened and what steps the Administration took to protect our country, and I will hold everyone accountable until I get them. I will always defend Montana and our national security from hostile adversaries like China.”

And late on Friday, the Pentagon confirmed that there is indeed a SECOND spy balloon in the air, now over Latin America. So much for that “weather balloon” excuse, hmmm?

China’s excuse for balloon #1, per @NatashaBertrand, was “It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes … the airship deviated far from its planned course.”

Looking forward to China’s excuse for balloon #2. They need a Baghdad Bob.

— Will Saletan (@saletan) February 4, 2023

But by this time, Secretary of State Antony Blinken had canceled his trip to China, where he was supposed to meet with Xi Jinping. The Chinese immediately tried to save face by saying that the meeting with Xi was not ACKSHUALLY going to happen.

Blinken, who had been due to depart Washington for Beijing late Friday, said he had told senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in a phone call that sending the balloon over the U.S. was “an irresponsible act and that (China’s) decision to take this action on the eve of my visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions that we were prepared to have.”

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Saturday morning: “In actuality, the U.S. and China have never announced any visit. The U.S. making any such announcement is their own business, and we respect that.”

According to Beijing, Wang said China “has always strictly followed international law, we do not accept any groundless speculation and hype. Faced with unexpected situations, both parties need to keep calm, communicate in a timely manner, avoid misjudgments and manage differences.”

That’s nice. Like Will Saletan, I would like to hear the explanation for the second balloon over Latin America. How many “airships” does China need to send out for “meteorological purposes,” hmmm? And I’m sure China would be totally FINE if we sent our own “weather airship” over, oh, Xinjiang, perhaps.

And then I would like some explanations from the administration. I can understand the public not being notified when the spy balloon was discovered. What I don’t understand is the timidity of the Pentagon in SHOOTING IT DOWN. We have the ability to do so, and the excuse of it being risky for people on the ground is a joke, especially when the balloon was over Montana. Montana isn’t exactly known for its dense population, and given the altitude of the balloon, it’s not like it was going to immediately drop like a rock. The Chinese admitted that it can steer itself, albeit in a limited way. What else is attached to it that is giving it ballast? It’s in our airspace – take it down and let’s see what kind of technology the balloon is carrying. There is no excuse for not doing so, especially with the confirmation of a second balloon over Latin America. This is a big deal, and the Biden administration can’t seem to decide how big a deal to make out of it. The Pentagon is definitely shying away from doing anything at all, which is such a weak position that I am hoping Senator Tester of Montana does “pull people in front of his committee” for answers.

Ultimately, the buck stops with Joe Biden. And he had no desire to answer questions.

Biden ignores questions about the Chinese spy balloon. pic.twitter.com/VqKG9l9eDK

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 3, 2023

Well, that would be the media’s own fault for letting him get away with avoiding the hard questions. Biden is desperate to avoid any type of confrontation with China, at least until he’s asked about Taiwan and then that is a whole different issue. We have some big geopolitical issues at play, and a president who is ducking out to avoid being held accountable. We are not in a good spot right now.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click