LIZ PEEK: Biden's drone stonewalling finally fulfills president's campaign promise
Joe Biden has finally delivered on one of his central 2020 campaign promises: he has united the country.
Everyone – Republicans, Democrats, mayors, governors, average Joes – everyone is furious that the Biden White House is stonewalling us about the many drones swarming over New Jersey, New York and several other states.
It is the perfect coda to the Biden presidency: a White House that is dishonest, scared and inept.
John Kirby, White House spokesperson, has blithely parroted nonsense about people confusing what are quite evidently highly sophisticated surveillance machines with "manned aircraft" and "inaccurate sightings." "We have not been able to, and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings" said Kirby in a recent briefing.
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That is total bunk. Local law enforcement in New Jersey and New York have detailed eyewitness reports, accompanied by revealing videos of the unknown crafts. They are real, and they are not normal.
When later pressed by anchor Martha McCallum on Fox News, Kirby repeated that the government simply doesn’t know what these objects are. Sorry, that isn’t credible.
Also not credible is Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas, who told Wolf Blitzer on CNN Friday night, "We know of no threat. We believe that there are cases of mistaken identity where "drones" are actually small aircraft — that people are misidentifying them."
One small problem: drones were so thick in the airspace around New York’s Stuart Airfield last Friday that the runways were shut down. Stuart is both a commercial and military airfield; FAA or military personnel making that decision can probably tell a drone from an airplane.
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The Homeland Security chief, best known for telling the American people repeatedly that our border was secure even as thousands crossed illegally every day, more recently admitted that, "Some of those drone sightings are, in fact, drones." But he added that the drones, described by eyewitnesses as the size of small SUVs, might be "commercially available. One can go into a convenience store and buy a small drone." Sure.
In November, drones were spotted over U.S. airbases in the U.K., spurring extensive military and police activity. US Air Force investigators were dispatched to the area and Air Force pilots switched to using encrypted methods of communicating, suggesting that our military saw the drones as a threat. The BBC reported that a "state actor" was reportedly responsible for the "incursions."
That would appear to be the most likely answer, given the scale and reach of the swarms. It is not comforting, especially as these machines often hover over sensitive locations like military bases and are presumably hoovering up valuable information; they are probably not benign.
Mayorkas has assured audiences, "we know of no threat or nefarious activity"; he should have added "yet." Instead, he reverted to the old Biden playbook of blaming Congress, saying, "We have also asked [Congress] for more authority to give to the state and local officials, under our supervision…."
Weeks, months have passed since the drones were first spotted. The Wall Street Journal reported on sightings in October. If our government is truly still clueless about the source or nature of these huge drones, it is an unforgiveable failure of intelligence.
And, not believable. As an incredulous MacCallum told John Kirby, we spend over $800 billion dollars on defense. It is impossible that our vast military is incapable of figuring out what these drones are up to and where they come from. If they seriously have no answers, we are in big trouble, and those failed audits of the Department of Defense raise even more red flags.
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It is not helpful that the Biden administration has burned through the public’s trust. The White House lied about the open border, about inflation, about the Chinese spy balloon and about Joe’s failing mental capabilities. They lie, and then blame Congress and pass the buck.
Kirby said, "While there is no known malicious activity occurring, the reported sightings there do, however, highlight a gap in authorities, and so we urge Congress to pass important legislation that will extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities so that we are better prepared to identify and mitigate any potential threats to airports or other critical infrastructure."
This is preposterous. President-elect Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: "Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!"
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Does anyone think that Trump would wait for Congress’ approval before downing one of these drones? Not likely. As to the possible damage a falling BMW-sized machine could cause, surely there is a lake or golf course or another vacant stretch of land immune to falling debris.
One wonders, what if North Korea were to launch a long-range missile towards the U.S.? Would the Biden White House brief the public by blaming Congress for not having the foresight to pass an anti-North Korea missile bill? This buck-passing is infuriating and offensive.
In the absence of information, rumor and speculation run wild. Over the weekend, people on X were theorizing that the drones were being flown by our military to search for a "dirty bomb" that had somehow entered the country. There was speculation, fostered and then retracted by New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, that the drones were Iran-based and being launched from a "mother ship" offshore.
Republican New Jersey state Sen. Jon Bramnick told an interviewer that the government "can’t tell us because they’re so fearful of what the public’s gonna do when they hear what the drones are doing."
Our enemies are watching this display of idiocy with glee. If Iran, China or some other state actor is behind these incursions, they now know how utterly incapable this government is. Thankfully, there are only 34 more days until Biden is gone.