Gazette publisher Arturo DeMaunchie declined
to comment, saying he was distracted by a Blackhawk helicopter
hovering outside his window. But a spokesman said the Gazette's
vigilant commitment to fake journalistic integrity mandates
that it painstakingly fabricate every word of its explosive
investigative satire. For example, the paper pretended to
interview multiple anonymous sources before printing its
Feb. 13 expose "President may have evaded Boy Scout
service."
Condoleezza Rice said the administration's
policy of being really secretive about everything precluded
her from commenting, but in an interview with Regis Philbin
she said the Gazette is just angling to get Mel
Gibson's people to option its script for "Lethal
Weapons of Mass Destruction."
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But the fledgling media conglomerate responded
that it has a strict policy separating its journalistic
mission from its entertainment division, and sees no conflict
in pitching Hollywood screenplays for "Last
Tango in Pakistan," "Allah Doesn't Live Here Anymore"
and "Al Qaeda on the Western Front."
Critics contend the White House has
helped blur the increasingly fuzzy line between real journalism
and fake news with its disturbing record of deception and
"utter fiction." In "Operation
Iraqi Infoganda," Frank Rich of the New York Times
says the administration "has responded to the growing
national appetite for fictionalized news by producing a
steady supply of its own."
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Times columnist Paul
Krugman says the White House policy of character assassination
for high-level dissenters like former counter-terrorism
czar Richard Clarke "provides more evidence of something
rotten in the state of our government."
Meanwhile there are unconfirmed reports of
government workers being fired for reading the Humor Gazette,
harsh proof the president means business when he says, "Either
you are with us or you are with the satirists."
Imaginary reporters Karen Ryan and Alberto
Garcia, best known for their phony White House-funded "coverage"
of Medicare, contributed to this report.
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