Dark Brandon obliterates Beijing’s big balloon ahead of his State of the Union address. And outgoing Chief of Staff Ron Klain stops by to talk about Biden’s speech, US-China relations, and his tenure in the White House.

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Show Notes

• BBC: Chinese balloon: What investigators might learn from the debris
• FT: China’s military keeps rivals on edge with balloon strategy
• Bloomberg: Three Chinese Balloons Flew Over US During Trump Presidency
• Fox News: China spy balloon fiasco exposed Biden’s astonishing weakness and Xi will drive a truck through it
• Politico: Biden, the balloon, and the age of anti-China one-upmanship
• CBSNews: Computer chip ban signals new era as Biden, Xi meet
• WaPo: Opinion  The inside story of how the U.S. shot down the Chinese balloon CNNAnalysis: Why the Chinese balloon crisis could be a defining moment in the new Cold War
• Playbook: The SOTU stakes for Biden
• Playbook: China deflates Biden’s SOTU swagger
• Punchbowl: The State of our Union
• WaPo: Americans not feeling impact of Biden agenda, Post-ABC poll finds
• AP: Biden 2024? Most Democrats say no thank you: AP-NORC poll
• MSNBC: GOP leaders left literally speechless by Biden-era job growth
• The Hill: Roughly 4 in 10 say state of union is strong ahead of Biden address: survey
• Politico: Flexing his wins and eyeing a 2nd term, Biden will lay out contrasts with GOP in State of the Union
• WaPo: Biden’s 2022 State of the Union proposals: What flopped and what succeeded
• NYT: For Biden, a Chance for a Fresh Start in a New Era of Divided Government
• Axios: China crashes Biden’s State of the Union speech
• New Yorker: How Should an Older President Think About a Second Term?