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Tom DeLay's Parody Problem

By stcynic on May 25, 2006.

Now this is really funny. There's a new documentary out, The Big Buy: Tom DeLay's Stolen Congress, by Robert Greenwald. It apparently is an expose on DeLay's corruption, and the DeLay folks are busy trying to spin the claims in it. They sent out a mass email about it that included a one-page fact sheet that declared:

Hollywood Pulls Michael Moore Antics on Tom DeLay
Colbert Cracks the Story on Real Motivations Behind the Movie

That's right, they're using a Stephen Colbert interview, where he asked such questions as, "Who hates American more, you or Michael Moore?", as evidence to disprove the claims in Greenwald's movie. The email actually claims that Greenwald "crashed and burned" under Colbert's tough questioning. That line between reality and parody just seems to escape some people.

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Politics

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It's obvious those people--like the ones who signed up Colbert for the Press Corps dinner--have no sense of humor, irony, sarcasm, etc. Such fine distinctions are beyond their literalist minds; they only understand moral indignation and self-righteous persecution.

By Will Error (not verified) on 25 May 2006 #permalink

Could be a gag, could be a misunderstanding.

But, then, I once got an e-mail forwarded to me be a Christian conservative acquaintence that was a scaremongering bit about Harry Potter encouraging devil worship - which was from the Onion. So I guess I wouldn't be totally suprised if someone just didn't get that they were being made fun of.

(You'd think that after the whole Press Corps dinner thing they'd be clued in - but maybe not.)

I had a coworker once who came in one day talking about a documentary about a British rock band he had seen on TV the night before. He said they made it seem like the band had been famous at one time, but he had never heard of them. The name of the band was, of course, Spinal Tap.

Delay has the Colbert clip on his Defend Delay web site.

This is Spinal Tap: brilliant movie.

Sort of reminds me of the time my brother-in-law (in his defense it was around '89 and he was like ten) drug me to his room to let me hear this great new music he had discovered in a box of stuff in the barn. When he dropped the needle on the LP, I heard

"On a dark desert highway,
Cool wind in my hair..."

Ya gotta love kids