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OK, So Lieberman Doesn't Want Me To Get Sued Based On You Guys. But He's Keeping Drone Strikes On The Table.

Apr 2, 2012
By .
Fun

Yes, yesterday's post about how Senator Lieberman was introducing a bill to undermine Section 230 was an April Fool's joke cunningly crafted by Eric Turkewitz. It was the third Turkewitz jape in which we have participated.

For the record, though I was supposed to be poised to delete "hey this is a joke" comments until midnight on the 1st, I was feeling too lousy to pay attention and Nyquilled myself into oblivion; yet only one person called "prank." Maybe the rest of you were playing along. A rough review of comments at the various places where this popped up led to similar results. This might be about how credible the prank was, how skillfully Turkewitz planned it (the sleeper blog was genius), or about how we think now.

As usual, though the surface message was part of the joke — Senator Lieberman really is a scary cheerleader for government censorship — there's also the meta-joke, which is about how we receive and evaluate and trust information in the modern age, and about how news propagates. Conduct yourselves accordingly, as they say.

Last 5 posts by Ken White

17 Comments
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17 Comments

  1. David  •  Apr 2, 2012 @7:53 am

    I will transmit this information to Vladimir.

  2. anarchic teapot  •  Apr 2, 2012 @7:53 am

    I think the problem was that it rang disturbingly true. The UK Internet snooping threat that surfaced yesterday wasn't a joke, sadly.

  3. Hal 10000 (@Hal_RTFLC)  •  Apr 2, 2012 @8:25 am

    I was pulled in because the joke was so credible. While I admitted my gullibility, I decided not to flush my post down the memory hole, since it will give people a chance to bash Lieberman as Nanny State Ninny and that's always a good thing.

  4. Turk  •  Apr 2, 2012 @8:41 am

    I think the problem was that it rang disturbingly true.

    You call it a problem. I call it the hook.

  5. Wilhelm Arcturus  •  Apr 2, 2012 @9:12 am

    I was already composing a letter to my congress critter and the one non-senile senator representing my state. (I find it mildly disturbing that one of my senators is old enough to have met a veteran of the Civil War.)

    Fortunately, laziness kicked in and I took my daughter to the movies instead, thinking that such email efforts are close enough to work that I ought to do them at work.

  6. JRM  •  Apr 2, 2012 @10:40 am

    I think there were two who called it here: Jack B. and myself. (I got moderated on the other site I commented on after I commented here.)

    That's still an awfully good ratio for this sort of thing. I'm guessing few clicked through to the originating sit. Congrats on a fine prank.

  7. Scott Jacobs  •  Apr 2, 2012 @11:04 am

    For your part in the, Ken, I will be granting your youngest child access to various tools, which she can use to render your home unlivable. :)

  8. Jack B.  •  Apr 2, 2012 @11:14 am

    Turkewitz's deconstruction is a must-read (especially by those who are all butthurt about the prank).

    The only thing that upsets me is that Mr. Turkewitz says he's retiring from the April Fool's Day pranks.

  9. Turk  •  Apr 2, 2012 @11:14 am

    If memory serves correctly, Mr. Jacobs, weren't you also punked last year? Let's take a look…

    http://www.popehat.com/2011/04/01/all-the-news-thats-fit-to-oh-no-not-again/

    Why yes, that does appear to be you with your pants down. An especially gullible type, are you?

    Would you like to make an offer on the easily drainable swampland that I have for sale, or do you prefer the bridge? You can put a toll on it you know. Easy money.

  10. Scott Jacobs  •  Apr 2, 2012 @12:55 pm

    Shut yer dick-holster, Turk.

  11. Dead Lenny  •  Apr 2, 2012 @1:05 pm

    Yeah, I bit the hook. Given that Lieberman was the supposed source, the lack of any visible hyperbole, and the announcement coming in the shadow of SOPA/PIPA, it came off as perfectly credible. That's what I get for not following links.

  12. Dead Lenny  •  Apr 2, 2012 @1:05 pm

    Yeah, I bit the hook. Given that Lieberman was the supposed source, the lack of any visible hyperbole, and the announcement coming in the shadow of SOPA/PIPA, it came off as perfectly credible. That's what I get for not following links.

  13. Meghan  •  Apr 2, 2012 @2:24 pm

    I admit, I didn't get it was a joke. I still think Senator Lieberman is a disgrace, though.

  14. Chris Berez  •  Apr 2, 2012 @2:29 pm

    I fell for it completely. Very well done.

  15. Seerak  •  Apr 2, 2012 @5:39 pm

    <a heef="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Poe's_Law"Poe's Law strikes again.

    That phenomenon may be the death of good political April Fool's gags yet (if it isn't already).

  16. C@GM  •  Apr 3, 2012 @2:00 pm

    Quite possibly a textbook example of Poe's Law in action.

  17. Noble  •  Apr 5, 2012 @11:19 am

    Be careful with your April Fools jokes or you might end up on TV Tropes again.