4 ms·

All of a sudden. After admin drops the ball in a really obviously way. I don't buy it. This is theater.

retrac 4y ago
There's absolutely some theatre going on. The only reason we know about the ones over Alaska and Yukon is that they told us. As several articles are noting, the US has recorded ~10 such balloons over the last year. None of which we heard about. Were they shot down without us knowing? Were they allowed to fly over without issue? Either way, why the change with the public statements now being made? (Did they drop the ball with all those ones we never heard about? What about in previous years? How long has this been happening?) The best hypothesis I can come up with is that when Americans on the ground saw the first balloon, the administration felt political pressure to act. Now that the American public, and the international community, is broadly supportive of the USA shooting them down, the US feels empowered to make a public statement, with China's leaders as the intended primary recipient, but also playing to a domestic audience to some degree.
seanw444 4y ago
How do the realistic, obvious takes end up getting downvoted to grey? It's a consistent pattern on HN.
- PM_me_your_math 4y ago
  Because realistic viewpoints are generally disliked, regardless of platform. The whole upvote/downvote/hidden/shadow-ban mechanic is the death knell of discourse. Despite all of our technological advances, humanity has devolved back into tribalism in a big way. You can't even have a decent conversation anymore without some kind of metering, soft-censorship, shadow-action, or reprimand. It is enough to make you want to pour concrete for living, and have nothing to do with any technology short of what it takes to do your job. In fact, I'm not even sure I can make this post because of the dreaded "You're posting too fast."
  - seanw444 4y ago
    > The industrial revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. I find it more and more agreeable every day.
- ecf 4y ago
  Because it’s a bunch of bullshit and people are falling for the spin. Previous admin did nothing about the balloons, yet all of a sudden it’s a problem and a failure of the current executive branch that calls for impeachment. It’s tiresome.
  - seanw444 4y ago
    Do we know for sure that the last admin did nothing? Last I heard, that was a made-up blame-shifter.
  - PM_me_your_math 4y ago
    Previous admin was not aware of any balloons. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/05/politics/chinese-spy-balloons-trump-administration/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/05/politics/chinese-spy-balloons...
ecf 4y ago
> After admin drops the ball in a really obvious way You’re falling for the spin. Only reason this is even news is because a bunch of GOP politicians want the president impeached while simultaneously ignoring how the previous admin did nothing. Biden would be praised for actually doing SOMETHING if the GOP wasn’t the party of projection.

There's absolutely some theatre going on. The only reason we know about the ones over Alaska and Yukon is that they told us. As several articles are noting, the US has recorded ~10 such balloons over the last year. None of which we heard about. Were they shot down without us knowing? Were they allowed to fly over without issue? Either way, why the change with the public statements now being made? (Did they drop the ball with all those ones we never heard about? What about in previous years? How long has this been happening?) The best hypothesis I can come up with is that when Americans on the ground saw the first balloon, the administration felt political pressure to act. Now that the American public, and the international community, is broadly supportive of the USA shooting them down, the US feels empowered to make a public statement, with China's leaders as the intended primary recipient, but also playing to a domestic audience to some degree.

seanw444 4y ago

How do the realistic, obvious takes end up getting downvoted to grey? It's a consistent pattern on HN.

PM_me_your_math 4y ago
Because realistic viewpoints are generally disliked, regardless of platform. The whole upvote/downvote/hidden/shadow-ban mechanic is the death knell of discourse. Despite all of our technological advances, humanity has devolved back into tribalism in a big way. You can't even have a decent conversation anymore without some kind of metering, soft-censorship, shadow-action, or reprimand. It is enough to make you want to pour concrete for living, and have nothing to do with any technology short of what it takes to do your job. In fact, I'm not even sure I can make this post because of the dreaded "You're posting too fast."
- seanw444 4y ago
  > The industrial revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. I find it more and more agreeable every day.
ecf 4y ago
Because it’s a bunch of bullshit and people are falling for the spin. Previous admin did nothing about the balloons, yet all of a sudden it’s a problem and a failure of the current executive branch that calls for impeachment. It’s tiresome.
- seanw444 4y ago
  Do we know for sure that the last admin did nothing? Last I heard, that was a made-up blame-shifter.
- PM_me_your_math 4y ago
  Previous admin was not aware of any balloons. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/05/politics/chinese-spy-balloons-trump-administration/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/05/politics/chinese-spy-balloons...

ecf 4y ago

> After admin drops the ball in a really obvious way You’re falling for the spin. Only reason this is even news is because a bunch of GOP politicians want the president impeached while simultaneously ignoring how the previous admin did nothing. Biden would be praised for actually doing SOMETHING if the GOP wasn’t the party of projection.