HOW TO LIE LIKE A RIGHT-WINGER

The death of Bill Sparkman -- found hanged in a Kentucky cemetery with "Fed" written on his chest and his Census Bureau ID taped to his body -- is making right-wingers nervous, and, not wanting to wait for possible confirmation that the killing was a political assassination, they're lashing out preemptively. You may have seen the post in which wingnut blogger Dan Riehl speculated that Sparkman was a pedophile, based on no evidence whatsoever; now we have this from Roger Hedgecock at World Net Daily:

Dead Census worker: Victim of open borders?

... Now it looks more like Sparkman was yet another victim of illegal drug operations on national forest land, and possibly also a victim of our still open border with Mexico.

... According to the Wall Street Journal, Mexican drug gangs operate marijuana plantations in 61 national forests in 16 states, up from three forests in one state (California) 15 years ago....

Um, no. That's not what the Journal article says. Here's what it says (emphasis added):

Marijuana growers, many believed to be affiliated with Mexican drug cartels, are aggressively expanding their illegal farming operations in the U.S., clearing land to plant pot in dozens of national forests from coast to coast.

... Authorities have discovered pot farms in 61 national forests across 16 states this year, up from 49 forests in 10 states last year. New territories include public land in Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Alabama and Virginia.

Nearly half the farms were tended by foreign nationals, and investigators say they believe some of the big operations are controlled by Mexican drug-trafficking rings....

All... nearly half ... some ... hey, what's the diff, right?

I'd say this was just a reading comprehension problem if the massaging of the facts didn't push the story oh-so-conveniently in the desired direction. That's what I call truth creep. Now half the wingnuts in America think this is a verified fact.