Shooting Down Balloons Is Easy, Reining In China is Hard

America’s political class emitted more than its usual quota of hot air in response to a spy balloon that the administration allowed to float leisurely across the United States allowing Peeping Toms in Beijing to have a good look at military installations. It cost an already stretched U.S. military $500,000 to shoot down the balloon, and an equal amount to eliminate each of the three bits of lower-flying floating stuff that it turns out were no threat. One group of pals is mourning the loss of its $12 hobby balloon.