http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20110101/cm_uc_crabox/op_4716464

Made me giggle pretty hard.

It's satire, of course, but sadly enough... I would not be surprised at all if it were true. Either way, it was a good laugh.

Niki, I hesitate to show my ignorance, but what about the quotes suggest satire? Isn't Robertson in the "moral majority?"

I chuckled, in offense at such a notion, at the sentence which follows the portion of quotes you posted:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20110101/cm_uc_crabox/op_4716464

hehe, this is brilliant. I like the boring people/weather column too.

Whew it was satire. I didn't think Pat Robertson was THAT stupid.

he comes close......

I posted this link on FB and about six people jumped in thinking this was serious. I guess Pat IS that stupid. heh.

I may be in the minority here, but I think websites should do a better job of making it clear when information posted is fake. Especially when it's on a news site.

There was something I read on Boston.com recently which seemed to be real - it was presented as news - but you had to dig to realize it was fake. I don't think people should have to dig, on a news site, to be able to see that something is a made up story.

I somewhat agree Lisa... but that's the point of satire I would think. Just the fact that so many people can read it and not be at all surprised that it could be true says volumes in itself. Satire needs to be believable in order to fulfill the conventions of the genre, does it not?

Jilly, I did the same thing and got the same reaction. Classic.

I didn't post it on FB, but I did have the reaction to it like it was real. Seemed real, for sure. Now that I think about it I do agree with Niki that the skits on Saturday Night Live, and the Tonight show, and many others nowadays are created to look like the real thing, but are satire. And satire definitely make statements.

Lisa, I agree with you. There should be a warning that the following is satire.

I guess we're not as gullible to believe that a program we hear on radio about the invasion of our world by aliens is real (as we once were). But some are. At least some claimed to believe that they really had won the American Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, and some claimed that they really didn't understand that a hot cup of coffee from the drive-through at a burger place would be hot enough to scald one.

To go around the corner on this matter of satire being taken for real, how about when rumor, innuendo, and outright provocative lies get passed along on boards as fact/truth? Bad enough on boards, but nowadays, in my opinion, news outlets are becoming somewhat guilty of doing this - or at least shading the truth by choosing a particular slant.

I appreciated his wit enough to google the writer and track down his other satire columns after Niki made her post. He's pretty funny. Reminds me of The Onion in style.

I do think the Boring People Talk About Weather part gives away the gig.

Speaking of the Onion, my mom once sent a "news story" from there to my sister and me claiming it was real. We had to explain to her that the entire site was full of made up stories

I adore Dave Barry and love satire in general. I do still think it's fair that it is known we're reading a satire piece and not an authentic news story. Especially with, as Carl pointed out, some news organizations being known for stretching the truth as it is.

The War of the Worlds is a great example. What if CNN ran a full newscast about a plague that had just broken out and all the precautions we should take and so on - can you imagine the panic that would ensue?