Laughing ourselves to death. . . .

Setting the Record Straight
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Wednesday 19 April 2006

I hear the voices. And I read the front page. And I know the speculation. But I'm the decider and I decide what is best.

- George W. Bush, 18 April 2006

Bill Simmons, an excellent sportswriter for ESPN, uses a yardstick he calls the Unintentional Comedy Rating to measure the humor of events that were not designed to be funny. For example, level 86 on a scale of 100 is achieved by "any Wimbledon interview where Bud Collins tried to say something foreign to a non-American champion like 'danke shein.'"

A recent perusal of the White House web site unearthed a page that, I think, scores a perfect 100 on the Simmons scale. The page is titled Setting the Record Straight, and is intended to carry forth the administration's argument that it did nothing wrong in pushing for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Note the rough-edged graphic at the top, meant to display the gritty reality of truth according to Bush and the boys. It isn't funny, not at all, and yet ... it is unintentional comedy of the purest ray serene, a perfect 100 no matter what the East German judges have to say. It is almost, dare I say, sublime.

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Thanks Edwin ♥