Just in time for New Years Eve, the Washington Post breathlessly reported that ZOMG!! The Russians hacked the entire…I mean the ENTIRE electrical grid across the United States. Here’s the original story title courtesy of The Daily Caller: “Russian hackers penetrated U.S. electricity grid through a utility in Vermont, officials say.”

And the media/crowd went wild.

Friday night, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) called on federal officials “to conduct a full and complete investigation of this incident and undertake remedies to ensure that this never happens again.”

-Snip

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said he was briefed on the attempts to penetrate the electric grid by Vermont State Police on Friday evening. “This is beyond hackers having electronic joy rides — this is now about trying to access utilities to potentially manipulate the grid and shut it down in the middle of winter,” Leahy said in a statement. “That is a direct threat to Vermont and we do not take it lightly.”

There’s only one problem with all of this. The attack on the entire US electric grid or a single Vermont utility… DIDN’T HAPPEN.