WASHINGTON, Jan. 12— What should the United States do to stop what's going on in Freedonia?Asked that question, a number of House freshmen, clearly not fans of the Marx Brothers, offered answers that included "take action" and "it's a different situation than the Middle East."
Not one got the joke.
The joker was Spy magazine, whose staff revived the sovereign but fictitious nation of Freedonia from "Duck Soup," the 1933 Marx Brothers movie.
Posing as the host of a New York radio talk show, Spy's staff called about 20 first-term House members and, after a series of innocuous questions, asked, "Do you approve of what we're doing to stop what's going on in Freedonia?" or "Do you approve of what we're doing to stop ethnic cleansing in Freedonia?"
The responses, apparently based on the assumption that the questioner was asking about Bosnia, came readily.
Representative Corrine Brown, Democrat of Florida, said she approved of what the United States was doing in Freedonia, and added, "I think all of those situations are very, very sad, and I just think we need to take action to assist the people."
Representative Jay Inslee, Democrat of Washington, was candid. "I have to be honest with you, I'm not familiar with that proposal," he said. "But it's coming to the point now that a blind eye to it for the next 10 years is not the answer."
Representatative Steve Buyer, Republican of Indiana, said, "Yeah, it's a different situation than the Middle East."
Spy's national editor, Jamie Malanowski, characterized the responses as "completely understandable."
"In campaigning," he said of the lawmakers, "they are asked a lot of dumb questions, and they are all used to supplying answers."
Anyway. Has Trump taken credit for the Olympics in LA yet?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 11:47 (six years ago) link