Mitch McConnell falls for parody news report about Guantanamo Bay prisoners being eligible

[cajuncocoa]

A fake news story claiming that Guantanamo Bay prisoners can apply for GI Bill benefits found a credulous victim in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Mitch+McConnell), who posed a serious query to the Pentagon about the unbelievable report.

Wired reported (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/mcconnell-duffel-blog/) that McConnell fell for a far-fetched story on The Duffel Blog (http://www.duffelblog.com/), a parody news site with fake reports about the military.

One sample headline on the faux-news site: “Infantry battalions commanded by females more likely to stop for directions, arrive late.”

Another example: “Pope Benedict resignation tied to Paula Broadwell affair.”

The October story joked that the Defense Department had approved a “controversial move” letting prisoners apply for Post 9/11 GI bill benefit, in part to “completely crush their souls with bureaucracy.”

But when a constituent passed along the fake news report, McConnell’s office didn’t get the joke.

Wired obtained (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/mcconnell-duffel-blog/) a Nov. 14 letter written by Mitch McConnell to Pentagon’s congressional liaison that appeared to take the joke story seriously.

“I am writing on behalf of a constituent who has contacted me regarding Guantanamo Bay prisoners receiving Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits,” McConnell’s letter read. “I would appreciate your review and response to my constituent’s concerns.”

“The very idea that the U.S. government would extend GI Bill benefits to enemy detainees is a patent absurdity,” says Army Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, a Pentagon spokesman, told Wired.

McConnell spokesman Michael Brumas defended his office’s question about the fake news.

“The senator’s office had a request from a constituent asking us to inquire about an issue,” Brumas told the technology news site. “Our office forwarded the constituent’s question to the Defense Department.”


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/mitch-mcconnell-falls-parody-news-report-article-1.1268667#ixzz2LUxejX9t

[PatriotOne]

“The very idea that the U.S. government would extend GI Bill benefits to enemy detainees is a patent absurdity,” says Army Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, a Pentagon spokesman, told Wired.

And since the government seems to have the patent on legislating absurdity, it's no wonder the report was taken seriously by some.

[Aratus]

D.C. is D.C. i see

[thoughtomator]

I forgive McConnell on this one. With the way the US gov operates these days, it's perfectly reasonable to assume they were giving benefits to the prisoners at Guantanamo. After all, prisoners in other prisons here have been collecting unemployment and other welfare benefits for a long time now.

[anaconda]

I wonder who leaked the letter?

[Occam's Banana]

Back in the 90s, John Dvorak wrote one of his regular columns for PC Magazine about a bill in the Senate whose purpose was to prevent & punish "drunk driving" on the "Information Superhighway" (i.e., the Internet). He had (fake) quotes from Senators and everything. (I don't remember if he used the names of real Senators or not).

The column appeared in the April issue - and Dvorak even signed the column "Lirpa Loof". It was all just an April Fool's joke.

In the next issue, PC Magazine published a letter they received from a reader who had taken the column seriously and who had actually written to his Senator in outrage at the stupidity of such a law. When he was informed that there was no such bill, and that the whole thing was just a joke, he was furious at PC Magazine for making him look like a fool. That's what his letter was about.

What really struck me about this (and why I have remembered it after all this time) was that it never occurred to the guy that he actually ought to have been outraged at the government (and not at PC Magazine). After all, the fact that he found it so easy to believe that there were Congressmen so profoundly ignorant and foolish that they would actually propose and try to pass such an idotic law ought to have indicated something to the guy ... but apparently, this point just went right over his head.