Spectator

Wall Street Journal’s parody paranoia proves that truth is stranger (and funnier) than fiction

Posted on April 14, 2008 by Douglas Bell


image for Wall Street Journal’s parody paranoia proves that truth is stranger (and funnier) than fiction

Here’s a reason to get up this morning. A who’s who of New York satire—including Richard Belzer, Andy Borowitz, Tony Hendra, Joe Queenan and writers from The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live and The Onion—has, of late, created My Wall Street Journal, a parody of its sober namesake. The front-page headline? “Bush Abolishes Death, Taxes; Move Will Benefit McCain.”

And truth being stranger (and funnier) than fiction, The New York Times reports with considerable glee this morning:

It was not supposed to go on sale until this week, but some newsstands began selling it early. Last Thursday, Alexander Laurence was working at one such stand in Los Angeles, chatting with a customer, David Metz, when, both of them say, a man in a shirt with a Journal logo asked if anyone had seen a paper that looked sort of like the Journal.

“This guy comes by all the time to bring promotional stuff for The Wall Street Journal—bags, coin trays, stickers,” Mr. Laurence said.

Sure enough, they found what he was looking for. “He grabbed them all, said, ‘I need to buy all of these,’” Mr. Laurence said. “He had been going around to different stands, buying them.”

The man paid with a corporate American Express card. “At first he’s saying they have to make a correction or it’s not supposed to be out yet,” Mr. Metz said. “But then he said these are not published by The Wall Street Journal.”

A spokesman for the Journal, Robert H. Christie, declined to comment.

It’s a cliché, I know, but you couldn’t make it up.

• My Wall Street Journal [New York Press]
• A Funnier-Than-Usual Journal Gets Snapped Up Early [New York Times]

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Barbara_in_BC April 14, 2008 at 1:50 p.m.

Love it! Satire is king.

PCLG April 14, 2008 at 1:59 p.m.

I agree, satire/parody is king. Here's a great source of it:

http://www.whitehouse.org/

leaf April 14, 2008 at 3:30 p.m.

if only fickton knew the difference between satire and his own amateur worthless repetitive drivel...

don't hold your breath.

PCLG April 14, 2008 at 3:46 p.m.

Get help, leaf. Call a mental health helpline rather than a phone that seems to be oscillating in and out of life. LOL

leaf April 14, 2008 at 4:10 p.m.

like i said: worthless repetitive drivel...

yawn

Barbara_in_BC April 14, 2008 at 4:49 p.m.

What would cause leaf to come back over and over to this site, merely to yawn? Seems weird.

Casey April 14, 2008 at 5:05 p.m.

Barbara_in_BC April 14, 2008 at 4:49 p.m.

" What would cause leaf to come back over and over to this site, merely to yawn? Seems weird. "

I agree, IF one is dealing with a normal human being.

Casey April 14, 2008 at 5:24 p.m.

Seems our resident stalker and twisted mental case has quite a backround, we are just beginning to learn now that we have his / her identity and location...

leaf April 14, 2008 at 5:37 p.m.

blondie has never heard of metaphors. She can’t tell the difference between former and latter. Or between an accident and an act bearing responsibility. Why, she confuses apples and oranges.

A lot of things appear “weird” to the blond and she is satisfied with her interpretation: what she doesn’t understand is “weird”.

“its weird” is a coward way of saying “I don’t understand”

leaf April 14, 2008 at 5:42 p.m.

how many letters in my surname, casey?

Casey April 14, 2008 at 6:16 p.m.

leaf April 14, 2008 at 5:42 p.m.
" how many letters in my surname, casey? "

Would someone here please tell the resident stalker that he / she can try, a million different ways, to
wrestle from us his / her personal info but we are not falling for this childish tactic. We have already advised leaf that he / she will never know what info about him /her we currently possess and it seems that this needs to be retold again - we have finally achieved an " edge " and there is no way we will be cajoled or bluffed into giving away what we know. You can speculate all you want about whether we are or are not bluffing but the bottom line is that all you can do is speculate.
This is what happens when a stalker and harrasser goes a little too far....it boomerangs....Just remember that we can afford and have hired internet security experts to locate you and we will act on info by 1) calling in law enforcement 2) notifying your isp when the time is right, if you continue to stalk, harrass, threaten harm, abuse.

leaf April 14, 2008 at 6:27 p.m.

casey/donna/yabadabadoo

you have nothing. zero - nada - zilch

and you never will so shut up about it already!
you are redundant and boring.

Casey April 14, 2008 at 6:46 p.m.

" you have nothing. zero - nada - zilch " - leaf April 14, 2008 at 6:27 p.m.

Leaf hopes...but the fact is, he / she has no idea what info we have successfully amassed and shall act on when it becomes necessary....leaf's bluster is simply that - childish, sick and perverted wishful thinking but if he /she knows anything about internet security and tracking / locating, he / she already knows that what we have achieved is not only possible but is a fait accomplis. Being able to afford to hire experts has served us well.
Have a nice day / evening people.... ciao.

GravityLevity2 April 14, 2008 at 8:32 p.m.

my guess is 6 in first name, seven in last

leaf April 14, 2008 at 9:01 p.m.

thanks for your participation GL2.
not a bad guess...

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