Binoy is right in concluding Biden wants to paint himself as a "Tough on China" president, with a view to his Nov 2024 Presidential Re-Election.

The balloon being permitted to fly 1,000s kms across the continental US prolonged the confected balloon so-called "Crisis" - for Biden's benefit.

It also served as a justification for the US military-industrial complex spending US$100 millions per F-22 balloon popper.

A much cheaper Patriot SAM could have shot down the balloon the first day it entered US airspace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIM-104_Patriot

down the balloon the first day it entered US airspace

Maverick,
Maybe the Woke Democrats & the Rainbow Generals were waiting for a meteorite to hit it to avoid making decisions ?

Shoot them all down ASAP and forget the BS coming out of a technology stealing China. Who knows what they'll try next. The spread of anthrax via an airship that (So solly) "wandered off course"?
Alan B.

Yes, there are elements of absurdity about this odd tale, and it’s hard to see the balloon as much of a threat in this era of satellite and electronic surveillance.

But no country could ignore such a brazen and public infringement of its sovereign territory by a hostile foreign power for malign purposes. And the fact that Chinese authorities cheerfully spout patent lies about the balloon’s function and provenance show yet again its Orwellian commitment to doublethink. What is particularly disappointing is that Binoy appears to give some credence to the claim it was a weather balloon.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy7ngv/spy-balloon-china-shot-down

So a 60m high balloon, weighing almost a ton is hard to detect? I find that hard to believe? Also, Alaska and Canada are prime monitoring posts for potential incoming ICBM's from Russia and have been for decades. You would thing a large balloon would be easily detected at it's high'ish altitude then investigated and prosecuted? I also find it a bit rich of the USA outrage seeing they have been overflying sovereign nations for years with U2's and previously SR71's.

China is now seen as threat & a problem but for a long time it came in handy for cheap products & manufacturing for an insatiable West !
Whatever is happening now it's the western greed's doing !
The real scary part is that our tattooed & drugged to the eyeballs lot will be a burden rather than a help in an upcoming crisis !