Who doesn't understand that Colonial Pipeline's payment of terrorist demands for $5 million dollars was driven by what must be disastrous polling by the Zhou regime? This is of a piece with the Zhou regime's similar turn-on-a-dime change of Covid policy--off come the masks, open the school doors! Clearly the Zhou regime understands that half the country--including many Dem voters--regard the current occupant of the White House as illegitimate. Their internal polling presumably matches the published polling by Rasmussen Reports. This explains their panicked responses to what has become a drumbeat of negative developments--desperate attempts to placate the public and to douse fires at whatever cost.
Presumably hostile foreign powers--both state and non-state actors (terrorists)--have taken note of this abject panic on the part of the Zhou regime and they will plan accordingly. The Zhou regime's attempts to minimize or explain away its actions, both regarding Covid as well as Colonial, have sent a signal that cannot have been missed. I'd be very surprised if we don't experience further asymmetrical attacks sooner rather than later. The attempts to pass the Colonial attack as mere blackmail of a foreign government by "hackers" may fool some of the usual fools, but no one else.
In that regard, Jonathan Turley has an excellent article at The Hill today, in which he delves into the related legal issues--which happen to be key for getting a firm grasp on this situation:
Why the White House won't define pipeline attack as terrorism
It's important to understand that Turley is not simply an alarmist with regard to terrorism. He has, in fact--consistently with his record as a leading old style civil libertarian liberal--vocally resisted the usual drive to define all criminal acts as "terror" whenever possible or conceivable. But in this case he has no doubts:
