The appearance of a Chinese surveillance balloon over North American airspace last week inspired about a thousand hand-wringing discussions about spying and safety. And, predictably, racist jokes.
Case in point, this tweet from Joel R. Carter Jr., a state senator from Mississippi who immediately went to the tired and shitty place for this comic gem to take a jab at the Biden Administration. Carter posted an edited image of the balloon with the words "Weather Barroon (Totary NOT for spying)."
Some classic shit, Joel. You really got 'em good.
Biden Administration currently. pic.twitter.com/HTlo7tJ6ne
— Senator Joel R. Carter, Jr. (@JoelCarterMS) February 4, 2023
This is fairly emblematic of most of these jokey far-right reactions to the balloon. Mixed up Rs and Chinese food delivery jabs. This wasn't even funny whenever the fuck people started making this joke, but it is the year twenty goddamn twenty-three. And we have Asians getting stabbed in the street for no damn reason, fueled by anti-Asian invective and "jokes" from elected officials. So yeah, maybe cool it with this shit.