Sometimes in America, satire that takes us further than fact. We live in a world where comedians sometimes have a better reputation for news analysis than the talking heads in the media.

The Onion is not to be mistaken for “real news”. But, sometimes things are funny because they have this ring of truth to them. We stop for just a moment to wonder if they just might be true after all.

One lawmaker even went so far as to post a story on his Facebook wall from The Onion about Planned Parenthood building an “AbortionPlex”. He riled up Facebook friends and had a righteous old time until someone pointed out that the whole thing was a fabrication.

This particular story is about Facebook. What if…? What if it turned out that Facebook was a CIA program? What if we were all posting stuff about ourselves voluntarily that we would never allow someone to take from us otherwise? What if the joke is on us?

After years of secretly monitoring the public, we were astounded so many people would willingly publicize where they live, their religious and political views, alphabetized lists of all their friends, personal email addresses, phone numbers, hundreds of photos of themselves, even status updates about what they were doing moment to moment. It is a dream come true for the CIA.

Indeed, Facebook is such a treasure trove of information on people that it is even lusted after by employers who want to know what they’re hirelings are up to. Jailbirds planning to break out announce it on Facebook. And, families air their dirty laundry for millions of people to see.

What if…?

CIA’s ‘Facebook’ Program Dramatically Cut Agency’s Costs