Hot Air

 I have written here on occasion about the daring exploits of those master thieves who pick elementary schools as their target. Not a lot of risk for not a very big reward. Break a window or two and get away with a couple of electric pencil sharpeners and a mostly inflated basketball. Then evade the lackluster response from the local gendarmes and you've got something that you can try to live down for the rest of your career as a criminal. 

I am wondering if the pilots involved in the pursuit and elimination of the Chinese Balloon feel any of that same sort of mild embarrassment. To be fair, these folks from the ground crew and support team to the fighter jocks in the cockpits were acting under presidential orders, so they have that to put on their collective mantel. Which is nice. 

But running two F-22 Raptors as well as support from a number of F-15 Eagles along with a number of inflight refueling tankers and the presence of the destroyer USS Oscar Austin, the cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the USS Carter Hall, an amphibious landing ship ensured success at all levels. The threat identified as Chinese in origin was eliminated. This was the first combat "kill" for an American F-22 in combat. One Sidewinder missile was all it took to win the day. 

That Sidewinder missile cost $381,069.74. Retail. Plus tax and license. 

Again, on the plus side it gave the folks at NORAD something to do while they wait for their next opportunity to track Santa's Sleight. 

Meanwhile, there are plenty of other threats out there, but Marjorie Taylor Greene took it on herself and a great many other gun-toting imbeciles to make the balloon target number one, setting aside Jewish Space Lasers and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as her primary bulls-eye. "Why doesn't President Biden shoot the balloon down?" Her potential running mate Donald Trump "never would have tolerated this," she insisted. 

Except he did. Three times, according to reports. Which ultimately may make more sense than spending the millions of dollars an exercise like this cost the nation's taxpayers. I suppose you have to legitimize a defense budget of just under eight billion dollars a year somehow, but it is unfortunate that it seems as though Joe Biden was goaded into taking an F-22 to a balloon fight. 

I hope we can all sleep better knowing that those nasty balloons won't be back soon. Just try not to think about the global satellite network that China maintains. We got that balloon. That's what matters.