By John Breneman

A recent Humor Gazette/XYZ poll revealed 59% of registered Democrats believe President Bush's blatantly political anti-gay marriage amendment constitutes nothing short of attempted same-sex assault against the U.S. Constitution.

The same poll indicated 82% of Republican voters believe John Kerry is waffling on whether continuing to waffle is a sound political strategy, based on the latest polls.

This is valuable information. Trouble is, Americans are becoming increasingly annoyed with telephone surveys. This according to an annoying telephone survey just released by U.S. pollster Polls R Us.

"We called 950 U.S. citizens from all walks of life -- most of them just as they were sitting down to dinner -- and 94% of them made it strikingly clear that they are extremely annoyed by telephone surveys," said company spokesman Richard Click.

The number of respondents who politely declined to participate has dropped sharply; and 63% of those contacted invoked at least one expletive before slamming the receiver down, up from 44% in a similar poll conducted last month.

The range of expletives also has expanded, according to Click, who noted that one particularly creative curser unleashed a barrage of invective featuring multiple ethnic slurs and five crude anatomical references, one involving a genetically engineered donkey.

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"Our research shows that Americans truly hate unsolicited telephone calls," said Click, whose firm is on target to initiate 4.2 million unsolicited calls in the first quarter of 2004.

Among the 6% of respondents who said they don't mind participating in telephone polls, nearly half reported that they approve of President Bush's efforts to avoid a worldwide nuclear war but would feel safer if he could pronounce the word "nuclear."

Two-thirds of those surveyed said the media is far too infatuated with polls, which really have no value other than to produce meaningless date upon which pundits can pundificate.

The latest Polls R Us poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 143%, also revealed the following:

2% of respondents claimed they were much smarter and better looking than the other 98%.

106% of those surveyed said Americans must improve their math skills to better compete in the global economy.

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Annual report: What People Earn

George W. Bush, war president, $7 trillion national debt / Courtney Love, crack ho, $600,000 / Donald Trump, mogul, $100 million / J. Christ, savior, $0 / Marty Kurdkiller, genocidal maniac, assets frozen / Hugh Murgazet, web satirist, minus $20,000

John Smith, cave explorer, $10 million / Macauley Culkin, child star, $4,500 / Janet Jackson's breasts, entertainers, $3.6M (right) and $1.2M (left) / George W. Steinbrenner, baseball antichrist, $212 million / Darwin Charles, simian rights attorney, $180,000 / Dennis Kozlowski, corporate party animal, $600 million

Rush Limbaugh, right-wing stooge, $2.5 million / Martha Stewart, license plate maker, $500 / Mo Cudhoffey, airport security, $18,000 / Reid Page, Fox News anchor, $200,000 / Rosie, exotic dancer, $24 million / Howard Dean, former presidential candidate, minus $1.2 million

Cracking down on the boob tube

Michael Powell of the Federal Censorship Commission urged Congress to declare war on the F-word, the C-word and the First Amendment..

By John Breneman

The House of Representatives has voted to come down hard on obscenity, punishing purveyors of naughty words and "wardrobe malfunctions" with stiff penal action.

Following prolonged oral intercourse on the controversial topic, the House voted 391-22 to raise to $500,000 the maximum fine for any entertainer who says (bleep), exposes his/her (bleep) or otherwise misbehaves on the airwaves.

The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004 (H.R. 3717) imposes harsh fines for using words like zoinks, yowzah and fiddlesticks; poopshoot, egad and Jesus H. Chrysler. Also on the FCC shhhhit list: shiitake mushrooms, fudge and fizzuck.

The bill further mandates that anyone who says a bad word on radio or television must have their mouth washed out with soap. And any entertainer who grabs his crotch -- or someone else's -- must film a public service announcement warning young viewers about the dangers of crotch grabbing.

"Our children have been traumatized by the horror of Janet Jackson's mammary gland. Enough is enough," said Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Penn.), interviewed between soundbites of President Bush calling a New York Times reporter an "@$$(bleep)" and trying to sexually assault the U.S. Constitution.

Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Censorship Commission (FCC), urged Congress to declare war on the F-word, the S-word, the C-word, the N-word, the P-word and the First Amendment.

Studies show the average American youth watches 3 hours and 43 minutes of television each day, during which time they witness countless murders, drive-bys, gang-bangs and mind-numbing morons pretending to deliver "news."

This is OK.

But critics say the epidemic of bad language and bad flesh on TV has been proven to cause moral decline, impudence and potty mouth among viewers under age 15.

Prolonged exposure to televised indecency also impairs children's ability to distinguish between shows that promote wholesome family values and those deemed vulgar by some pandering, adulterous politician.

By John Breneman

John Kerry has refused to apologize for calling the Bush Administration "the most crooked … lying group I've ever seen." Kerry did clarify his remarks, however, saying he was not referring to the president himself, but rather "his posse of attack-machine thugs and corrupt, economy-pillaging advisers."

Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot called Kerry's conduct "unbecoming of a candidate for the presidency," then added, "Just because the president accidentally fibbed about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq doesn't mean it's OK to go around calling him a lying sack of Shiite."

President Bush issued a statement saying he would not resort to name-calling and vowed to remain focused on the most important issue, "my opponent's record as a flip-flopping, Botox-faced, French-educated, tax-and-spend Massachusetts liberal."

Privately, Bush polled advisers on whether he could take military action against the "Democratic madman." The president reportedly is convinced that Kerry possesses a stockpile of fancy Dijon mustard gas. But CIA Director George Tenet warned Bush not to go public with phony documents indicating that Kerry tried to purchase uranium "yellow cake" from Niger.

Meanwhile the Bush team released a new campaign ad, this time compassionately not using the image of a dead firefighter to help win re-election. The theme is that we live in a terrifying world filled with terror and terrorists. The message is a warning: The "war president" who ducked the war in Vietnam and bungled us into the one in Iraq will protect us; the actual war hero will get us all blown up.

In another ad, the president is depicted serving apple pie to schoolchildren while they recite the Pledge of Allegiance and pray for his re-election. Then, with his female wife by his side, Bush shares his "vision" for keeping America safe from regular terrorists, liberal terrorists and gay terrorists who threaten the sanctity of marriage.

Martha Stewart to be spared death penalty

By John Breneman

Now that she's finished taping the pilot of her new TV series "Martha Stewart Living in the Big House," the infamous domestic diva is busy filming an episode on jailhouse culinary tips like 101 recipes for bread and water and how to bake a decadent Chocolate Hacksaw Layer Cake.

An upcoming "Arms & Crafts" segment will feature tips for polishing those tarnished brass knuckles, 101 uses for a broken razor blade, and the highlight: Stewart showing how to disable a bull-dyke prison guard with a crude but elegant diamond-studded shiv. Also: how to turn a frilly pillow case into a deadly weapon by filling it with soda cans and savagely whipping it about like Sean Penn in "Bad Boys."

Convicted Friday on one count of fibbing to the feds and three counts of being an obscenely rich bitch, Stewart, will likely escape the death penalty, according to most of the "legal analysts" called upon to dish out zesty TV soundbites.

She is expected to do time, however, and the consensus is this will send a message that people have no sympathy for pretentious one-woman media conglomerates with a mean streak.

Other legal insights gained from the trial: It doesn't pay to parade into court flaunting a handbag that costs more than what most jurors earn in a year. And, the government is not afraid to spend millions to try someone for a $50,000 stock swindle if the defendant is famous enough to advance the careers of all those involved.

Though critics have suggested the case against Stewart was motivated by her celebrity status, prosecutors are deflecting all such questions, including those involving book or movie deals, to their agents.

The jury is still out on whether the verdict will harm her career as a product pitch-woman, but Kmart today introduced a new Martha Stewart line of stylish but affordable orange jumpsuits.

Steroids infiltrating Washington, Wall St.

By John Breneman

Recent reports of a steroid epidemic in Major League Baseball have spurred shocking allegations about widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs among stock brokers, politicians and TV news reporters.

"Half the brokers on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange are juiced," claimed Andrew Stenedione, a retired Merrill Lynch financial analyst.

"Those guys are animals. Once I was about to buy 5,000 shares of Bristol Myers Squibb and this 6-foot-7, 320-pound broker just slammed me to the floor to block my deal," he said.

"Another time I was trying to sell 10,000 shares of MuscleTech at 40 1/8 and one of Salomon Smith Barney's goon -- eyes bulging, veins popping out of his head -- screamed, 'Gimme those shares at 20 3/4 or I'll rip your friggin' spine out!'"

Meanwhile, calls for mandatory testing are being heard from Wall Street to Washington amid reports of ripped politicians and bulked-up TV news anchors buying new wardrobes because they can no longer fit into their tailored three-piece suits.

Violent filibusters and legislative "smackdowns" are all the rage in Washington, where once-flabby lawmakers are returning from recess looking like Hulk Hogan. And Congressional watchdogs say there is alarming evidence that some lawmakers are turning to Human Growth Hormone to enhance their legislative performance.

"One well-known Democrat went from sponsoring 12 pieces of legislation in the 2000 legislative session to 147 bills in 2001. You don't get that kind of production from diet and exercise," said an anonymous Republican strategist. "God help us if Teddy Kennedy gets a hold of this stuff."

Baseball notes: All eyes are on Giants slugger Barry Bonds this spring as closes in on the all-time record for baseball's largest head. … Jason Giambi, chisel-chest first baseman of the N.Y. Yankees, raised suspicions when he reported for spring training a scrawny shadow of his former he-man self. But the shrinkage had nothing to do with quitting steroids now that the heat is on; Giambi explained that he lost the weight by laying off those fattening peanut butter and Human Growth Hormone sandwiches. … Just in case Giambi loses power, the Yanks signed the Incredible Hulk to come of the bench and play DH. … And finally, Jose Canseco, the original poster boy for anabolic goodies, was cut by the Dodgers because he flat-out stinks.

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