Posted on 06/13/2002 10:42:07 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Communists have a problem with humor - they don't know it when they see it.
Lacking any kind of a funny bone, the Beijing Evening News is now blaming its report that the U.S. Capitol is about to be moved on The Onion - a satirical Web site which publishes outlandish parodies most 7-year-olds in the West would instantly recognize as a spoof.
Not so the grim-faced communists who run Beijing's state-run million-circulation daily - they fell for the satire hook, line and sinker and now they are blaming The Onion for doing what The Onion does.
The News at first refused to run a retraction of the story but finally gave in, but the retraction shifted the blame for its publishing the story as the Gospel truth on The Onion and not on its reporter for boldly plagiarizing The Onion story without ever citing the source.
As reported last week on NewsMax.com, the Beijing paper reported The Onion spoof that members of Congress want a brand-new Capitol, complete with a retractable dome and luxury boxes, in order "to stay competitive," as a genuine news story.
In its retraction, the News noted that after "our reporter in Washington checked out [the story], he discovered that some of its contents were identical to the Onion's joke article," the Beijing tabloid said Tuesday, according to Los Angeles Times reporter Henry Chu.
The paper acknowledged that the story was a fake, and admitted that the alleged quote from Speaker of the House Dennis J. Hastert, R-Ill., saying that the Capitol was past its prime was also phony.
The News went on to add a quote from an unnamed source on Capitol Hill that "The U.S. Capitol has 200 years of history and is a precious part of America's cultural heritage. It's impossible that it should be torn down on a whim."
Still unaware that spoofing the news is The Onion's stock in trade, the News ripped into the online publication:
"Some small American newspapers frequently fabricate offbeat news to trick people into noticing them, with the aim of making money," the paper said. "This is what the Onion does.
"According to congressional workers, the Onion is a publication that never ceases making up false reports," the Evening News said.
Ah so - it's all about capitalist greed - and in Beijing there's nothing funny about that.
LOL! .. and some Chinese newspapers plagiarize with the aim of making money... their point?
Thank you Registered!
Wanna give them a swirly next?
Note to PRC: When you're caught with your pants down, smile sheepishly, pull 'em back up, and move on with your life, 'kay?
HAW! HAW!
Why would the taxpayer put up with this extravagancy? You say there will be corporate hospitality suites? Nevermind.
Retractable roof? Who decides when it's too hot to keep it open. Men can just take off their shirts but should a femminist try this, it's off to jail!
Just now figured that out, huh?
You can't make stuff like this up. ~shakes head.
Psst, China! Check out the Weekly World News if you want the TRUE facts of the story.
a.cricket
Beijing: The Onion Tricked Us
Is that their way of saying "we were too stupid to double-check our source." Instead, they blame their own negligence on others.
Hola amigos! Speaking of Chinese newspapers, I was chowing down on some chinese food just the other night. I always get a hankering for some chinese food when I smoke a lot of weed. Anyhow, I was listening to an old Bachman Turner Overdrive album and decided to play it backwards. Wouldn't you know, they was talking about how the Chinese were going to take over the U.S. and move into Washington. So the Chinese must have been bumming when they thought the Capitol building might be moved without their permission. That album came out, like 20 years ago, so they have evidently been planning this for a long time. Anyway, that explains all the chinese restaurants opening up in my area. They are getting ready to move here and they just want to make sure there are plenty of places for them to eat. Anyway, it don't really matter much to me, just so long as I have a decent set of wheels to tool around in and plenty of weed. Party on dudes!
Things that make you go hmmmmm.
If you people are lost try www.theonion.com
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