I suspect many remember the 1983 hit single "99 Luftballons" or 99 Red Balloons by the German band Nena. The lyrics of the original German version tell a story: 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs causing  pilots to investigate. Finding nothing but balloons, the pilots put on a large show of fire power. The display of force worries the nations along the borders and each side encourages conflict to grab power.  In the end, a cataclysmic war results from the otherwise harmless flight of balloons and causes devastation on all sides without a victor.

Well, our recent encounter with a People's Republic of China (PRC) “civilian” weather balloon had quite the opposite effect.

Rather than causing a conflict among the world’s superpowers, it demonstrated once again how impotent the current administration has become when faced with a challenge on the world stage.

From our disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan which precipitated the current conflict in Ukraine to this latest demonstration of our timidity, rather than face a challenge head on, our policy continues to be appeasement and denial.

We are entering dangerous times, and unfortunately it appears that a conflict with the PRC over the defense of Taiwan is almost inevitable, yet we continue  to appease the very nation that threatens our national security and sovereignty by continuing to kowtow and equivocate. We recently celebrated the birthday of Ronald Reagan.  Somehow, I cannot imagine him letting this balloon drift for days over the nation’s heartland gathering intelligence on many of our vital military facilities that would be used to defend ourselves in a conflict with the PRC.

So, 99 red balloons to demonstrate our lack of resolve and ineptitude, no it took just one. On Sept. 10, 1813, after defeating the British fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie, Oliver Hazard Perry, commander of the American fleet stated "We have met the enemy, and they are us." Perhaps some things never change …

Image: Screen shot from Nena video, via YouTube