You really can’t make this stuff up. If I wrote this in a fiction book, you would throw it in the trash because it sounds too stupid to be real. But here we are, staring down the barrel of peak **government incompetence**. The **United States military**—the most expensive, bloated, and supposedly advanced fighting force in the history of the human race—just used a **high-powered directed energy weapon** to shoot down a drone.

Was it a spy drone? No. Was it a drone carrying something dangerous? No. It was a surveillance asset owned by **U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)**. That’s right. One arm of the government just used a sci-fi death ray to blast another arm of the government out of the sky in a shocking display of **military friendly fire**.

Let’s sit with that for a second. We aren’t talking about a misunderstanding with a radio. We aren’t talking about a paperwork error. We are talking about a literal laser beam. Members of Congress are reportedly stunned, but they shouldn't be. This is exactly how the system works. It is a giant, loud, expensive machine that is so big and so dumb that it has started eating itself.

Think about the money. Just think about your paycheck for a minute. You work hard. You wake up early, you deal with traffic, you deal with your annoying boss, and you see that chunk of cash missing from your stub every week. That is your tax money fueling this **waste of taxpayer funds**.

Where did it go? Well, some of it went to buy a very fancy drone for the Border Patrol. These things aren’t cheap. They are packed with cameras and sensors and all sorts of tech to watch the desert. That was your money flying around in the sky.

And where did the rest of your money go? It went to the military to develop a **laser weapon**. That sounds cool, right? Like something from a movie. But instead of using it to stop a threat, they pointed it at the drone you also paid for and turned it into a pile of melted plastic and scrap metal. You paid for the target, and you paid for the bullet. You effectively paid the government to destroy its own property. It is the ultimate grift.

The **Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)** had to step in immediately. They initiated an **airspace shutdown** near El Paso, Texas. Why? Because the military is playing video games in real life and they don't want to accidentally zap a passenger plane. Imagine explaining that to your family when your flight is delayed. "Sorry honey, we can't take off yet, the Army is busy melting the Border Patrol's toys."

This is why I don't pick sides. The Right will tell you we need a stronger military and a tighter border. Well, here is your strong military destroying your border security assets. The Left will tell you the government needs more funding to manage these agencies. For what? So they can have more expensive accidents?

Nobody is in charge. That is the scary truth. There isn't a shadowy group of guys in a smoky room running the world. It’s just a bunch of bureaucrats running around with unlimited credit cards and no communication skills. The Border Patrol didn't know? The military didn't care? It doesn't matter. The result is the same.

This happens in El Paso, a real place with real people. But to the government, it’s just a playground. It’s a testing zone. They treat the border like a sandbox. One group builds a castle, and the other group kicks it over.

And look at the technology. We are obsessed with the next big thing. Lasers. Drones. AI. We love the gadgets. But we are too stupid to use them properly. We have caveman brains and nuclear weapons. We have the emotional maturity of toddlers and the budget of a superpower.

It’s almost funny if you stop caring about the waste. It is a perfect symbol for modern America. We are so powerful that we have run out of enemies to fight, so we just start fighting ourselves. We have to create our own drama. We have to shoot down our own planes just to see if the laser works.

Don’t expect anyone to get fired. That’s not how this works. If you broke a piece of equipment worth millions of dollars at your job, you would be on the street. In the government? You probably get a promotion. They will call it a "valuable training exercise." They will write a report. They will ask for more money next year to replace the drone and upgrade the laser.

The cycle continues. The money burns. The lasers fire. And you just keep going to work to pay for it all. Welcome to the future. It’s bright, loud, and incredibly stupid.

***

### References & Fact-Check * **Event Confirmation**: As reported by NBC News, the U.S. military engaged and intercepted a Customs and Border Protection drone using a laser system. | [Source: NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/us-military-used-laser-take-border-protection-drone-lawmakers-say-rcna260887) * **Location**: The incident occurred in the airspace near El Paso, Texas, leading to intervention by aviation authorities. * **Technology Involved**: The incident involved directed energy weapons (lasers) being tested against unmanned aerial systems (UAS).