• A Chinese airship entered U.S. airspace on January 28 and was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4.
• Republicans have responded to the balloon with exaggerated claims that Biden has been weak on China or even working for China.
• In fact, U.S. standing in the world has strengthened considerably since Biden took office, and the balloon is just one more piece of a larger story about the changing relationship between China and the U.S.
• Biden has rejected the trickle-down economics of the Republicans and has revived the older idea that investing in ordinary Americans and infrastructure creates widespread prosperity.
• A poll conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News shows that 62% of Americans think Biden has not accomplished much in his two years in office, but his administration ranks as one of the most consequential since the New Deal in the 1930s.
• Neo-Nazi leader Brandon Russell and Sarah Clendaniel were charged with plotting to bring down the electric power grid in Maryland.
• Thousands are dead from the 7.8 magnitude earthquake and its strong aftershocks in Turkey and Syria last night, and Biden has pledged to support our NATO ally.
Published February 7, 2023
Visit Letters from an American to read Heather Cox Richardson’s original post February 6, 2023
