Associated Press
These are being used in the Middle East, not the Midwest.
A couple of weeks ago, "The Daily Show" had a fun segment noting Fox News' allegations that the Obama administration is using drones to spy on Midwestern farmers. Megyn Kelly told viewers the EPA "has been using aerial spy drones for years to spy on cattle ranchers.... These are the same drones we use to track down al-Qaeda terrorists, flying over Nebraska and Iowa."
Stewart mocked the foolish Fox News reporting, explaining, "Those aren't the same drones!"
As it turns out, they aren't drones at all -- the whole story is a far-right urban legend gone awry.
It was a blood-boiler of a story, a menacing tale of government gone too far: The Environmental Protection Agency was spying on Midwestern farmers with the same aerial "drones" used to kill terrorists overseas.
This month, the idea has been repeated in TV segments, on multiple blogs and by at least four congressmen. The only trouble is, it isn't true.
It was never true. The EPA isn't using drone aircraft -- in the Midwest or anywhere else.
Apparently, the EPA has used airplanes -- the kind with people in them -- to inspect farmlands and ensure the protection of nearby water supplies. It's perfectly legal, and it's cheaper than having EPA officials do on-the-ground inspections.
But conservative activists and Fox News took a leap, changing planes to drones, to spread a bogus meme about the Obama administration targeting Nebraska cattle farmers with the same technology used to target al Qaeda in Pakistan.
The Washington Post traced the original lie to pjmedia.com on June 1, and from there, it spread quickly, despite being wrong.
The claim, naturally, reached Capitol Hill, where Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), among others, falsely condemned the Obama administration's use of "air drones to spy on American citizens." Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) recorded a radio address released weekly by the House Agriculture Committee to accuse the EPA of "using military-style drone planes to secretly observe livestock operations."
Fortunately, some of those responsible for spreading the claim have walked this back, though it's unclear how many of those who were told the original lie will learn about the corrections.
There is, to be sure, a legitimate debate to be had over the proper use of drones as a key part of the nation's military arsenal, but the debate needs to be grounded in reality -- we're using this technology in the Middle East, not the Midwest.
A lie really does get halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Update: Fox News issued a clarification on its coverage on this on Monday, and apologized for the error.
Leave a Comment:
Hey right wingers--why do you elect idiots who buy into conspiracy theories when they are supposed to be in the know?
At least hard right wing fantasies are becoming a little bit more plausible than those stories about being abducted and raped by liberal space aliens.
Republicans ... putting your tax dollars to work in the most creative ways since 1776.
Damn and that bug eyed freak said I was the only one. Two timing twit.
Uh actually far too many people from all walks of life have seen UFOs for me to laugh it off. Though intrigued by the evidence so far presented I mainly accept the idea of alien life visiting here because our government so vehemently denies it and has dumped money into trying to explain it away.
Once people start realizing that Fox is just for entertainment purposes and they are substituting fact for fiction the ratings will drop. If you turn on the TV and expect news and you get Entertainment Tonight, most people will shut it off. The lies will only increase as long as they're getting away with it. and are encouraged by their own staff to do it. Terrible reporting.
The GOP is just recycling the old "keep them afraid of libruls" technique, after all it worked well when GHWB used it for Willy Horton, and years later it kept GWB in office for a second term even after he lied US into another war! As long as people's fears can be manipulated the GOP will use this tactic with impunity.
Why so shocked that conservatives and a blindingly enraged Tea Party would go so far as to fabricate false stories out of thin air to allow them to smear the president -- it's their favorite hobby! What's going to be next? That the Obama administration has contacted alien life forms to come down and vaporize all of the God-fearing people of this planet? The nonsense has gone too far. From making racially charged accusations about Barack Obama's citizenship to literally creating the latest scandal" to grind the presses among the conservative media, the GOP has become a toxic stew of mindless hate and partisan rage. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
When you can't beat your opponent on his views and legislative goals, you make stuff up. Classic politics, but it just gets amplified and blown out of proportion with social media and the regular media. Journalism is a dying breed, and propaganda is alive and well.
I'm sold on the alien idea! Can they explode out of their chests too?!
<Insert evil, maniacal laughter> - "We are getting rid of the EPA and the Obama Administration. We must make them both look foolish!" <Insert evil, maniacal laughter a second time, for emphasis>
<Insert Darth Vader breathing, slight wave of hand> - "The plane is a drone to spy on the people." <Insert Darth Vader breathing>
... it's unclear how many of those who were told the original lie will learn about the corrections.
Ooh! I know this one!
None.
Haha, I have to say this made me laugh. They say the truth hurts, but after you stop caring... ;D
These people are so easily punked that it's getting boring. A grade schooler could do more research than these clowns. They act like they've never heard of The Google, but then, laziness is a virtue to them.
This just proves that people will believe anything that plays into the fantasy world they have going on in their heads. People are grasping at straws to make Obama look bad, and this is just the latest example of a lie being forced into the mainstream simply because it is just too perfect an example of the fictional character that has been created by the right wing media: the socialist president who everyone should fear and hate because he is ruining our country and attacking the rights of [insert your favorite right wing group here].
Even better some ranchers pay for weather satellites to give them pictures of their pastures. Then cattle can be moved to the best grass--helps the prairie conservation, fatten cattle and conserve resources such as top soil. This has been going on for years under bothe Republican and Democratic presidents. Do the Republicans want to deny the ranchers information that could help productivity? That is what it sounds like to me.
Just to add fuel to the fire...
64 drone bases throughout US.
http://www.inquisitr.com/257179/64-drone-bases-now-located-throughout-united-states/#BGKxqZAKpXhE4gc3.99
Not to mention the previous FAA bill authorizing private companies to fly drones with little-to-no oversight since nobody bothered writing up regulations past what was written in the 80s.
It's funny how so close, without even trying and falling on a nontroversey, Faux got to an actual case that would cause an outcry among their viewers. Then again, Faux's owners probably wanted deregulated airspace to fly their own drones so this is probably about as close as we're gonna see Faux tackle the drones-over-native-soil problem.
Yo Shooter: You prefer that the military outsource training bases to third world countries where the trainees can be shot at?
It takes 64 bases to train operators? I certainly hope not.
Hey, on this one, I can understand people believing it. After all, how forthcoming was the Government over the past years about drone use overseas?
And now we've got drones on our border: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drone-bust-20120429,0,7576987.story
So the only outlandish thing about this is people being paranoid about the EPA.
So, it came from Pajamas Media. How unsurprising. Roger Simon is an even less-talented political provocateur than he is a screenwriter.
It's funny, when I think drones I think teabagging morons..
Ok, I had to stop laughing hysterically before I could type a response:
Have these right-wing drone conspiracy nuts actually been to a Midwestern farm town? If the EPA or the right-wing media wants to know what the farmers are doing, right or wrong, all you have to do is walk in to any joint in the town that serves coffee at 5am. Farmers gossip worse than Hollywood paparazzi.
You can find out everything: who's over-watering, under-watering, using natural fertilizer, who wants to bring back DDT, who's corn is about to rot, who has too much shadowcane in their milo field...the list is endless.
The idea of using drones to obtain information that any 10-year old could glean from eavesdropping in a McDonald's is so ludicrous to me, I was in fear for my keyboard being destroyed by a spit-take.
*shattercane, not shadow. I apparently have the world's weirdest auto-correct.
East, West, what's the difference? Just as long as it's in the Middle.
OK, go ahead and make fun of the "teabagging morons" for believing this one. Is the EPA using drones to check out farmers in Iowa? Don't know. Do know this: if they wanted to use them I'm sure they would be available. Also, drones are NOW in use at both the south and north borders. If you think the next step is not using drones anywhere in the country for any purpose the government chooses, you are kidding yourself. Remember, Obama has the power to arrest anyone, anywhere in the world and hold them without due process or trial. What's going to stop him from using drones to check up on any of us to make certain we aren't doing something terrorist like? In the years to come we will look back at this and say, "How could we have been so blind?".
You forgot to mention that he's coming for our guns too.
Keep on believing, Trollop. And don't forget that "hopey" part too. You would be screaming your head off if it was Bush doing this stuff to us, and rightfully so. How is it OK for Obama to do it? I live near the border and see on a daily basis what is being done in the name of "defending" us.
Drones? We don't need no steekin' drones! We keep track of you people with your own damn cellphones!
Tiny little quibble...shoes, the truth is still putting on its shoes.
Darn! Here I was hoping that the second part to The Daily Show's segment Game of Drones was going to be true. I just could see thousands of Kittycopters in the skies of the Midwest spying on farmers. ;-)