U.S. military shoots down suspected Chinese surveillance balloon
I am so tired of China being used to stoke American jingoism, of politicians making a contest of who is really &#x27;tough on China&#x27; and, most horrifyingly, of seeing other USians online practically salivate as they fantasize about a war with China.<p>It&#x27;s some cold war boogieman horseshit. And it&#x27;s depressing to watch here on Hacker News, too, any comments that question the beating of those war drums go dead.<p>Yesterday I heard someone bemoan the supposed lack of patriotism today, and wish we could be &#x27;united&#x27; like we were after 9&#x2F;11. You know, that time we rushed headlong into two useless forever wars that ended hundreds of thousands of human lives and brutally disrupted millions more. The time we saw Sikhs assaulted in the streets for daring to sort of look like Muslims in the eyes of uncultured hicks. And when the entire media apparatus, &#x27;left&#x27; and &#x27;right&#x27; rallied to pump out war propaganda for years and years.<p>Disgusting and depressing. And it&#x27;s where I fear we&#x27;re headed every time I see China in US headlines anymore.