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Sara S
04-14-2011, 06:07 PM
from borowitzreport.com:

April 14, 2011

Exporting Democracy Has Led to Shortages of it in U.S., Experts Say

Wisconsin, Florida Hardest Hit

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – The U.S. policy of exporting democracy abroad has meant that there is very little of it left at home.

That is the grim assessment of a new study commissioned by the University of Minnesota, which predicts that if the U.S. continues to export democracy at its current pace it may completely run out of it at home by the year 2015.

“We have been exporting democracy to Afghanistan and Iraq while there are severe shortages of it in Wisconsin and Florida,” said Professor Davis Logsdon, who supervised the study. “This is madness.”

Citing the study, Speaker of the House John Boehner said today, “It has been clear to me for some time that we must explore alternative forms of government, such as oligarchy or plutocracy.”

Noting that democracy originated in Greece, Mr. Boehner added, “We must reduce our dependence on foreign sources of government.”

The University of Minnesota study contains several proposals, such as outsourcing the U.S. government to the world’s largest democracy, India.

“The work done by Congress could be accomplished much more efficiently by a series of electronic phone prompts,” the study recommends.

But Mr. Boehner warned that eliminating Congress entirely would have disastrous effects: “That would destroy entire sectors of our economy, especially the prostitution industry.”

Speaking from one of the states hardest hit by the democracy shortage, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker downplayed the seriousness of the problem, calling democracy “overrated.”

“Teachers may teach our children that democracy is important,” he said, “but the solution is to get rid of the teachers.”

phloem
04-15-2011, 10:57 PM
from borowitzreport.com:

April 14, 2011

Exporting Democracy Has Led to Shortages of it in U.S., Experts Say

Wisconsin, Florida Hardest Hit

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – The U.S. policy of exporting democracy abroad has meant that there is very little of it left at home.......

I think the presumption that the U. S. ever exported democracy is completely erroneous; "democracy" was only what was written on the outside of the packages, even those sent domestically to American citizens, and for a long, long time (just ask the Blackfeet, the Sioux, or the Cherokee what was in the welcome basket). Looking inside any of those packages, what was really sent was lies, exploitation, repression, murder, and terrorism. The likes of Boehner and Walker are easy to spot as fraudulent campaigners for totalitarian fascism, but slick ad-men like Clinton and Obama get their product out with barely an eyebrow raised in suspicion. That Ivy League sure does know how to turn out the sharpest businessmen!

phloem
04-15-2011, 10:59 PM
from borowitzreport.com:

April 14, 2011

Exporting Democracy Has Led to Shortages of it in U.S., Experts Say

Wisconsin, Florida Hardest Hit

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – The U.S. policy of exporting democracy abroad has meant that there is very little of it left at home.

That is the grim assessment of a new study commissioned by the University of Minnesota, which predicts that if the U.S. continues to export democracy at its current pace it may completely run out of it at home by the year 2015.

“We have been exporting democracy to Afghanistan and Iraq while there are severe shortages of it in Wisconsin and Florida,” said Professor Davis Logsdon, who supervised the study. “This is madness.”

Citing the study, Speaker of the House John Boehner said today, “It has been clear to me for some time that we must explore alternative forms of government, such as oligarchy or plutocracy.”

Noting that democracy originated in Greece, Mr. Boehner added, “We must reduce our dependence on foreign sources of government.”

The University of Minnesota study contains several proposals, such as outsourcing the U.S. government to the world’s largest democracy, India.

“The work done by Congress could be accomplished much more efficiently by a series of electronic phone prompts,” the study recommends.

But Mr. Boehner warned that eliminating Congress entirely would have disastrous effects: “That would destroy entire sectors of our economy, especially the prostitution industry.”

Speaking from one of the states hardest hit by the democracy shortage, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker downplayed the seriousness of the problem, calling democracy “overrated.”

“Teachers may teach our children that democracy is important,” he said, “but the solution is to get rid of the teachers.”

I think the presumption that the U. S. ever exported democracy is completely erroneous; "democracy" was only what was written on the outside of the packages, even those sent domestically to American citizens, and for a long, long time (just ask the Blackfeet, the Sioux, or the Cherokee what was in the welcome basket). Looking inside any of those packages, what was really sent were lies, exploitation, repression, murder, and terrorism. The likes of Boehner and Walker are easy to spot as fraudulent campaigners for totalitarian fascism, but slick ad-men like Clinton and Obama get their product out with barely an eyebrow raised in suspicion. That Ivy League sure does know how to turn out the sharpest businessmen!

podfish
04-18-2011, 08:58 AM
Maybe it’s my twisted mind, but I think the Borowitz publication about the report of the study “commissioned by the University of Minnesota” was actually penned by the ghost of J. Swift. Don’t you? What “experts say” notwithstanding?/mhqc/ if you're implying that it's a satiric rather than a 'serious' article, of course you're right. If you're implying that our wacco commentators missed that, you're not giving enough credit to the sophistication of this crowd! They're perfectly capable of commenting, not on the author's article, but on the underlying subject matter.

Sara S
04-18-2011, 10:29 AM
I guess I should have posted the Borowitz piece under "Censored" since there's no other category for humor; it got some really good responses, though...