* * * * *
                                        
                     A satirical look at satire. Or is it?
                                        
While at the grocery store, I mentioned to Wlofie [1] that the Week ly World
News was closing down [2] (you know, the “newspaper” that reported about Bat
Boy [3]). We then got into a conversation about other satirical newspapers
that were having problems these days, but is it any wonder why?

> Do you know Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison?
> 
> If you do, don't approach them. Call 911 and order up a SWAT (Special
> Weapons And Tactics) team. They're believed to be in the vicinity of
> McMinnville, Ore., where they're a clear and present danger to the
> community. Mashburn and Cornelison were recently charged with five counts
> of felony sexual abuse, and District Attorney Bradley Berry has pledged to
> have them registered for life as sex offenders.
> 
> Oh, by the way, the defendants are in the seventh grade.
> 

“Swat somebody's butt, and yours belongs to the the D.A. [4]”

Where can satire go after that?

I ask you? Is this satire? Or real?

> What is a nerd? Mary Bucholtz, a linguist at the University of California,
> Santa Barbara, has been working on the question for the last 12 years. She
> has gone to high schools and colleges, mainly in California, and asked
> students from different crowds to think about the idea of nerdiness and who
> among their peers should be considered a nerd; students have also
> “reported” themselves. Nerdiness, she has concluded, is largely a matter of
> racially tinged behavior. People who are considered nerds tend to act in
> ways that are, as she puts it, “hyperwhite.”
> 

And what about this?

> During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the
> severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens
> that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in
> the next four years.
> 
> “You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point
> during my administration,” said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in
> military spending. “Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting
> soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having
> a military?”
> 

I hate to say this, but the second quote, written in January of 2001, is
supposedly satire (Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity
Is Finally Over’) [5] while the first quote, written yesterday, is supposedly
not (Who's a Nerd, Anyway?) [6].

How can The Onion [7] compete with 12-year long studies on nerdom?

Okay, one more example, this time, about the Sultan of Brunei's [8] private
airplane [9]:

> What happened to his private, luxurious A-340 or B-777 (all decked out with
> gold poopers and seating for ten people)?
> 
> It's in the shop being remodeled. The poopers are now being replaced with
> swiveling models that can be turned to face away from Mecca when the plane
> is on certain routes. Until now the plane often had to change course during
> pooping, which led to trouble with the aviation authorities.
> 

True, or false?

A few years ago, I would have said that's just plain silly. But now? What
with Canad ians complaining about their health care system [10] and English
kids looking up to Hitler [11], reality is giving satire a really good run
for its money.

And given how Muslims are touchy about their religion [12], I can easily see
the Sultan installing swiveling toilets in his plane. But in reality, it's
not clear if it's true or not [13].

Which, I guess, is the best that satire can do these days.

[1] http://wlofie.dyndns.org/
[2] http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSN7O23037320070724
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_Boy
[4] http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/butt-one-mashburn-1789340-counts-
[5] http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28784
[6] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/magazine/29wwln-idealab-
[7] http://www.theonion.com/
[8] http://www.brunei.gov.bn/government/index.htm
[9] http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/AWA1/501-
[10] http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=270338135202343
[11] http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2007/07/oh_you_mean_that_hitler.htm
[12] http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/010009.php
[13] http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2007/07/mecca-avoidant-

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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