ESPN outdoors writer Robert Montgomery wrote a piece last week in which he insinuated the Obama Administration was secretly planning to ban recreational fishing to satisfy the interests of radical environmentalists.Such a plan would be consistent with the narrative put forward that Barack Obama is a Socialist dictator, hell-bent on restricting the rights of blue-blooded Americans. But it wasn’t consistent with the facts.The piece materially misrepresented the stated purpose of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, with the mission to better coordinate the conservation and management of the nation’s water resources. The group could ultimately make decisions about fishing — to the detriment of unsustainable commercial fishing practices — but the administration has made it clear it has no intention of banning sports fishing.The piece was predictably picked up and passed along to extremist Web sites and commentators, making the run through Web sites like The Drudge Report, Glenn Beck’s show and the place where lunatic conspiracy theories go to fester — TheFoxNation.com (their headline: “Obama to ban sport fishing?”).The ESPN writer’s editor ended up writing an apology, explaining that the man’s piece was actually commentary and a poor one at that — lacking alternative points of view.The editor’s apology was aimed at controlling the “firestorm” created by the reckless piece. But anyone who read this drival should have had enough sense to question the writer.Not only was the article clearly slanted, but the basic assertion the Obama administration wants to ban recreational fishing should have been enough to cause pause. Not only would such a policy be illogical, it would be political suicide.The assertion is instead little more than a rumor fueled by opportunistic spin doctors and, undoubtedly, worried commercial fishing operations whose interests are opposed to recreational fishers.One such opportunistic spin doctor is our esteemed senator.Sen. David Vitter sent out an e-mail last week to supporters propagating the same misleading information, citing the deceptive ESPN article and planting the seeds of conspiracy.”This week I wrote President Obama a letter expressing my sincere concerns with his administration’s efforts to unilaterally exclude fishing in waters off Louisiana’s Coast,” Vitter wrote. “This task force is working on a secret zoning plan that would give it a say over what activities get to happen on public lands and waters, and they would make these decisions without any public input.” Vitter’s job is to go to Washington and fight for the interests of the people of our state and nation. But based on the communications his office sends out, he seems more concerned with maintaining power — at whatever costs — by intentionally misleading people and instigating distrust of fellow Americans.I wouldn’t normally address the ESPN article because it clearly comes from the fringe. Politicos bring up these sorts of things. They are red herrings — pardon the pun — meant to distract public policy discussions for political gain.But it becomes an issue which must be addressed when an elected official puts forward such blatant propaganda. Vitter’s actions are a disservice to the people of our state and frankly despicable. He should use his position to contribute positively to the pressing issues of the day — not playing to the fears of his constituency.These sorts of things can usually just be written off. The problem is that a large portion of people will never know the true story because they get their news in snippets from conversations at the tackle store, casual viewing of cable news and — unfortunately — their senator’s mailing list.Mark Macmurdo is a 23-year-old history and economics senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter@TDR_mmacmurdo.—-Contact Mark Macmurdo at [email protected].