IPFS John Semmens

SEMI-NEWS: A Satire of Recent News

More About: Humor

SEMI-NEWS/SEMI-SATIRE: February 19, 2017 Edition

Dems Plan to Block Trump's Immigration Policy

In a move likely to prove even more futile than the repeated GOP Congress' attempts to repeal Obamacare while Obama was president, Senate Democrats have introduced legislation that would negate Trump's executive order to toughen up enforcement against those in the country illegally.

The bill's sponsors, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev), Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill) and Sen. Mazie Hironio (Hawaii), characterized the proposed law as a measure "to keep immigrant families intact." Speaking for the trio, Sen. Cortez Masto complained that "the assumption that a deportation program focused on removing those with criminal records is something no one could object to ignores the role that these individuals play in supporting their families. To Trump and the racists who support him, a man who steals is a 'bad hombre.' To the family he would leave behind if he is deported he is 'Daddy.' His absence will have devastating financial and emotional impacts on his woman and her children."

Sen. Durban voiced his anger that "Trump's action would impose a high cost on a country that can ill afford it. Mexico already has a higher crime rate than we do. For us to deport criminals into their country is, for lack of a better word, criminal. Compared to Mexico, the United States has a shortage of crime. Social justice argues for redistributing some of their surplus to America. We can more easily bear the burden."

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly called the proposed legislation "contrary the our nation's health and safety. It's not that we don't have sympathy for the poor Mexicans, but the President has made it clear that our first duty is to American citizens. The notion that we should spare criminals from being deported because their crimes are necessary to support their families or because we have a relative 'shortage' of crime is, to my way of thinking, insane. These Senators ought to have their heads examined."

In related bad news for these Democrats, a poll conducted by Secure America Now found that Trump's deportation of illegal immigrants is supported by 59% of Hispanic voters and 53% of voters who cast ballots for Hillary Clinton last November. Durbin dismissed these findings as "obviously rigged. I'm willing to bet that none of the two million non-citizens who are registered to vote were included in the poll."

PolitiFact Debunks Trump's Uranium Claim

At his press conference this week President Donald Trump asserted that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "gave 20% of our uranium to Russia." The self-described fact checking website PolitiFact quickly pronounced Trump's statement as "mostly false."

"First of all, Secretary Clinton did not act alone," PolitiFact spokesman Nicholas Pecker pointed out. "She had the full backing of President Obama. Second, the deal was for 20% of the United States' uranium production capacity. That's a totally different thing. Finally, the uranium wasn't given to Russia. Former President Bill Clinton got a $500,000 speaking fee and the Clinton Foundation got more than $100 million in donations."

"The only thing Trump got right was the word 'uranium,'" Pecker added. "His repeated assaults on the truth constitute a serious betrayal of the trust voters placed in his hands. This, alone, in my opinion, makes a pretty strong case for impeachment. When we add the other particulars—his blatant denigration of the news media, his unconstitutional attempt to ban Muslim terrorists from entering the country, and his dangerous deviation from policies put in place by his predecessor—I think it's only a matter of time before Congress will be forced to take him down. That is, if the CIA doesn't assassinate him first."

In related news, fact-checkers at the Washington Post awarded former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani "two Pinocchios" for correctly pointing out that 93% of Black murder victims were killed by Black assailants. "For Giuliani to just throw out this one fact without also mentioning that 84% of White victims had White assailants is unconscionable," the Post wrote. "And the fact that a Black child is far more likely to be killed by a Black gangster than a White police officer doesn't ease the pain of that gangster's parents when he is shot by the police. In our judgment, Giuliani's true, but insensitive, statement warrants 'two Pinocchios.'"

CNN Chief Boasts Daily "Two-Minute Hate" of Trump Boosts Morale

CNN president Jeff Zucker admitted that "having the President of the United States impugn our integrity at every opportunity has battered the psyches of many of our network's employees. We are the ones who determine the facts. We are the ones who impugn the integrity of those who don't advance the progressive agenda. Trump's rejection of our traditional role is a reversal that has hit us hard."

"Our morale since that black day in November has been in the dumpster," Zucker observed. "But we are turning it around. Thanks to a suggestion emailed to us by a viewer, we have instituted a daily 'two-minute hate' of Trump that has seemed to revive flagging spirits around the network. Wolf and Jake tell me it that it's like a hit of crack that has helped restore their focus and given them the energy to persevere in our mission."

"I don't like to think of myself as someone who can hate another person," CNN reporter Jake Tapper said. "It's not a feeling I came close to experiencing in eight years of covering the Obama Administration. Not even the Republicans inspired such an intense animosity. They were powerless and cowed by the fear that a bad report from us could destroy their reputations. There was no need to hate them, but Trump, obviously, is different. The daily hate is energizing. My biggest regret is that we didn't think of doing this before this monster was elected."

In related news, veteran White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks April Ryan's accusation that Trump adviser Omarosa Manigault intimidated her was quashed after Manigault revealed that "interactions with reporters are routinely recorded." Ryan called the recording "an unfair tactic intended to abridge freedom of the press. It's unconstitutional and freaking Nixonian. If this doesn't persuade Congress to impeach the man I don't know what will."

US Economic Freedom Declined During Obama Presidency

The rank of the United States on the Heritage Foundation's latest annual Index of Economic Freedom fell from 6th to 17th over the duration of the Obama Presidency. In 17th place, the US is behind Lithuania, Luxembourg, Georgia, Taiwan, Chile, and the United Arab Emirates, among others.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) said the decline "is embarrassing. We like to think of America as the land of the free, but when we see that we've dropped out of the top ten and are actually doing worse than some countries not normally considered havens for freedom, it's clear that remedial action is required."

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn) disagreed, "I don't find it embarrassing in the least. For too long the United States has been mired in a surfeit of damaging economic freedom. This has enabled the US to hog resources and wealth that rightfully should be shared equally with all the people of the world. That we are on our way down from our previously lofty perch is something I find comforting. Ideally, we ought to be right in the middle with every other country. If we can reach an equilibrium where no one has more than he needs, the economic causes of strife and conflict will be eliminated. No one saw this more clearly than the Prophet Muhammed who gave us the prescription for world peace through submission to the will of Allah."

In related news, David Duke, former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, endorsed Ellison for Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. "Keith Ellison, Sally Boynton Brown or Jehmu Greene would all be excellent choices—I really like Keith though, he knows the danger Jews represent and could be counted on to oppose their evil schemes against decent, God-fearing people."

Home Grown Food