Follow
Robert Mann (https://post.news/robertmann)
@RTMannJr
LSU prof; political historian; fmr Russell Long, John Breaux, Kathleen Blanco flunky. I don’t speak for LSU. Coming June '23: KINGFISH U: HUEY LONG AND LSU.
Robert Mann (https://post.news/robertmann)’s Tweets
The U.S. political and media response to this balloon is not a particularly good sign for rational decision making on China in the years to come.
97
331
2,714
So, they were undetected during the Trump administration? Biden admin offers to brief Trump officials on past Chinese spy balloon incursions - POLITICO
58
332
1,095
The impeccably-sourced David Ignatius: “The Pentagon official said Saturday night that five Chinese balloons have circumnavigated the globe, and China has conducted 20 to 30 balloon missions globally over the past decade.”
9
166
400
Scary footage of the earthquake in #Turkey.
Several hundred people feared dead, 20 confirmed
Turkey appeals for #InternationalAid after major earthquake-Agencies
Is God angry? Lightning, #Earthquake and #Devastation.
#DEPREMOLDU #deprem
0:37
11.8K views
8
46
76
Robert Reich: The [real] moral crisis of our age…
2
57
100
A whole family under the rubble after #earthquake hits NW of Syria #WhiteHelmets teams in responding to help people
0:08
3.1K views
5
39
47
I am retweeting this for your information and without comment.
Quote Tweet
I’m the target of Donald Trump’s new tantrum. None of his lies about me today bothered him when he asked me to prep him for every general election debate or offered me 3 different cabinet posts. He’s the only man to lose to Biden outside Delaware. That loss to Joe still stings.
52
140
806
Sounds terrible. This is a region already devastated by war. Many in makeshift structures already. They will need urgent help as well, and under difficult international and national conditions given the conflict.
Quote Tweet
Many reports of building collapses, deaths & injuries in northern Syria, especially in Idlib, as a result of earthquake.
Rescue workers now searching in rubble in difficult conditions (rain, sleet, wind)
A nightmare scenario for those living in buildings pummeled by war.
2
48
157
Show this thread
I've been to Turkey many times. A gorgeous country filled with kind, generous folks. Baton Rouge & New Orleans have many Turkish residents w/ family and friends back home who they're worried about tonight. Praying for these people & hoping the world rallies to their aid.
Quote Tweet
Given the timing and magnitude of this earthquake in Turkey, I’d anticipate the death toll to be high.
Many buildings have simply collapsed.
#TurkeyEarthquake
Show this thread
0:19
207.2K views
3
3
29
Big earthquake in Southeast Turkey, populated area and at night—people will be caught asleep at home. Preliminary reports are M 7.8.
Early photos already showed pancaked bulletin. #DEPREMOLDU is the hashtag. (Or #deprem). Almost certainly needs global rescue team mobilization.
Quote Tweet
Major M7.8, shallow, lateral slip #earthquake on S Anatolian Fault of European-Arabian convergence zone. Significant surface shaking with major surface and societal impact in densely populated area.
#Turkey. twitter.com/USGS_Quakes/st…
Show this thread
40
593
726
Show this thread
Entire buildings collapsed in S. #Turkey the epicenter of 7.8 magnitude earthquake in last hour, that also sent shockwaves to Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Cyprus. We don’t know death toll yet:
0:22
662.9K views
From
Mahsun.021
76
1,386
1,417
Show this thread
I'm confused, Fox News. The Fox News exclusive about a balloon crossing part of the USA during the Trump administration came just minutes before a Fox News story on Trump folks denying it.
41
30
86
I will never comprehend Clay Higgins.
Quote Tweet
This Chris Christie guy is quite an ugly woman.
rPOTUS Trump has tried to be kind, but some people just can’t take a hint.
Ms. Christie, America doesn’t like you. We change the channel when you’re on TV. You look like a man and you have an attitude.
1
4
5
Trump makes a good point. If we had captured the pilot of the balloon instead of killing him we could’ve negotiated a much better deal with China.
562
505
7,815
This kind of worship of any single American seems un-American to me. (If someone wrote this kind of nonsense about Biden, I’d find it equally ridiculous.)
67
66
716
Show this thread
A party that cannot figure out how to beat a guy who is currently scheming to force parents to submit to a government database on the menstrual cycles of their children should just hang it up.
Quote Tweet
NEW: Democrats are worried about running against DeSantis in 2024, given his age (44 vs. Biden's 80) + his experience running a big, diverse state. They know the playbook of how to win against Trump but are trying to figure out how to thwart Fla. governor: bloomberg.com/news/articles/
90
1,354
7,604
Show this thread
Anyone who retains vestigial faith in 's reliability as a journalist should read this piece.
1
5
5
Trump denial = confirmation in reality.
1
2
5
If you ever wondered how people could freak out and believe aliens were attacking the Earth in 1938 as they listened to an Orson Welles radio drama, I give you Fox News, the GOP, and a Chinese balloon.
168
1,823
10.2K
A remarkable graphic
Frontover fatalities (where drivers accidentally run over small children) have increased 3,800% in the last 30 years in the US
Whatever could be causing this?
160
2,897
10.3K
As Republicans melt down over Biden’s waiting too long to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon, the DoD casually announces that 3 Chinese spy balloons came into the country during Trump’s presidency and he did nothing
2,176
10.6K
42.6K
That's the greatest irony of these days is that the very Evangelicals who've spent that last 50 years in this country demonizing those who reject Jesus—are now the single most compelling reason for them to do so.
#SundayMorning
16
81
304
If you live in a state where books are being banned, the Brooklyn Public Library offers a free eCard nationwide to those aged 13 to 21 to access their entire digital catalog for one year in an effort to combat this terrible act. Link here:
bklynlibrary.org/media/press/br
832
9,713
21.3K
Staffer for George Santos files an ethic complain against him alleging Santos sexually harassed and inappropriately touched him on his 2nd day of work last week.
759
4,059
15.9K
If the AP is correct that the same sort of spy balloon event happened under Trump and it was kept low key if not secret, that raises a whole bunch of questions about why it's a circus this time and who benefits from that.
167
1,909
13.7K
Show this thread
Last month in Berlin I tried to assure Germans and Ukrainians there were sane Republicans who could be counted on in foreign policy, and mentioned House chairs McCaul and Rogers. I’m disappointed by their silly, partisan comments today on the Biden Administration and the balloon.
310
466
2,863
Trump apparently allowed this three times. Truth matters, but not to you
Quote Tweet
Trump would’ve done it personally. With a Christian space laser. They aren’t quite as effective as the Jewish ones, but it was just a balloon.
Show this thread
7
22
Pentagon says Chinese surveillance balloons crossed through US airspace at least three times under President Trump, who opted to take no action … (like a dog).
592
4,143
21.6K
Show this thread
When Harriet Tubman was born, Thomas Jefferson was alive.
When Harriet Tubman died, Ronald Reagan was alive.
We are not as far removed from history as some would lead us to believe.
674
10.8K
59.7K
This will be good when the questions get to the two balloons that flew over the US when Trump was president.
Quote Tweet
New: House Foreign Affairs appears to be gearing up to investigate Biden’s response to the Chinese balloon. GOP Chair @RepMcCaul: “I will be demanding answers and will hold the admin accountable for this embarrassing display of weakness.”
12
78
294
How many did Trump shoot down?
83
293
909
The new standard of toughness in the GOP: posing with a gun and boasting about how you personally would shoot down a balloon.
67
219
1,273
Show this thread
Imagine sending a spy balloon over another country but you're so far behind technologically that they deem the biggest threat it poses is that it might fall on someone's head so they just let it float over the ocean before shooting it down.
9
14
251
Show this thread
Replying to
Soon start the calls from Hill Republicans to disclose what was found on the satellite, then the spinning of conspiracies of what Biden is "hiding".
2
3
14
The last thing the Chinese spy balloon saw before getting shot down.
4
50
343
Biden just confirmed he told SECDEF on WEDNESDAY to shoot the balloon down when it was safe to do so.
So while all the GOP were cosplaying with their guns and bashing Biden on Twitter, he was busy leading the country. As usual.
Quote Tweet
So anyway. The plan for the last several days was to take the balloon down when it was safe to do so.
McCarthy was almost certainly briefed on that, and he still decided to be an asshole on Twitter.
210
2,322
10.4K
FYI Marjorie: The song 99 Red Balloons is about children releasing balloons in the air and countries overreacting and starting a nuclear war that destroys the world.
714
3,389
34.5K