DRONING ON

      Every Winter, it seems lately, Americans have to go through some kind of National Panic Attack. In 2020 and 2021, we had the Scamdemic's beginning and resurgence. The next year, we had the whole Stand With Ukraine hysteria. In 2023, we had Chinese spy-balloons. At the beginning of this year, we had election dramatics, trying to keep Trump off the ballot and 'immigrant invasion' hysteria. As we go into 2025, the new panic centers on drones being sighted over the New Jersey Meadowlands.

     Drones are fairly common these days. Governments have them, businesses use them, and there is a lot of popularity with them among the public. However, like seasonal flu outbreaks, foreign conflicts, weather balloons, and immigrants sneaking across the border, somebody suddenly noticed them and a media firestorm broke out. 

    All of these Panic Attacks follow a predictable pattern. The public has a meltdown, and the Political Class grabs the chance to grab more publicity---and with it, more power. The Republicans are screaming that these drones "need to be shot out of the sky"  and are blaming them on Iran, while the Democrats are demanding further Government regulation to deal with the problem. This, in spite of the fact that both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security state that "None of the reported UAV sightings have so far been corroborated with electronic detection. The reviews of available footage and photos have established that many of the reported drones were in fact manned aircraft, being operated legally."

     Naturally, though, when something generates both media and political capital, the default reaction is Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste. That is especially true when the 'crisis' is a wholly manufactured one. It's also unfortunately not a very difficult feat to accomplish in a culture where drugs have conditioned the public mind to be afraid of their own shadows and poor diets have impaired reasoning powers. 

   Mass-Paranoia is also a useful tool to distract the public when too much discussion starts about real issues. The recent shooting of the United Health Care CEO (in the same general vicinity of the drone sightings) had too many people complaining about our untouchable Overlords. The Police State has reacted there too: locking up a few potential criminals as examples against those who might have inappropriate thoughts against the Majesty of the Managerial Class. That too should be a topic of discussion, but since we have the Republicans largely to thank for these types of police over-reactions, our rulers would prefer us to panic over drones.