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SEMI-NEWS: A Satire of Recent News

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SEMI-NEWS/SEMI-SATIRE: March 3, 2019 Edition

Biden Apologizes for Calling VP Pence "Decent"

Caving to left-wing criticism, former Vice-President Joe Biden apologized for calling current Vice-President Mike Pence "a decent guy." The criticism focused on two key complaints. First, actress and former Democratic candidate for New York governor Cynthia Nixon cited Pence's Christian objections to gay marriage, claiming that "opposition to the LBGT agenda is per se indecent."

Nixon suggested that "we also look at all the photos of Biden groping people. In almost every instance the ones he's laid his hands on are female and many are underage. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Biden is a mainstream sexual harasser and part-time pedophile."

Second, Nixon reminded Biden that "Pence is a Republican and, worse, a Trump supporter. That marks him for political extinction in the name of social justice. To think that a man who aspires to be the Democratic nominee for president in the 2020 election would have kind words for any Republican is shameful."

Biden tried to clarify his remarks by pointing out that "I was just trying to be polite and civil. Mike has never said or done anything indecent to me. I thought that since we've both had to trod similar ground as VPs there might be a common bond that goes beyond some of our differences. But I now realize that treating a political opponent as a friend undermines the narrative the Democratic Party is striving to communicate to voters. There can be no civility toward Republicans. They must be driven out of government and out of all public spaces if we are to fully implement the progressive transformation of America."

Moderate Dems Threatened

This week, 26 moderate Democrats joined Republicans in voting for an amendment to the House's bill requiring background checks for all firearms transactions—including those between family members. Since it is against the law for persons in the country illegally to possess firearms, the GOP amendment added a clause requiring gun sellers to notify ICE whenever such a purchase is attempted.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was outraged "at this betrayal of the socialist future we are trying to bring to this country. If we are going to overcome the constitutional and traditional barriers to gun confiscation in America we must have Party solidarity in Congress. In situations like this I always ask myself what would Lenin have done. Well, an example of Leninism in action can be seen in Venezuela where the rightful president is facing widespread disobedience from his citizens. Imagine how much worse it would be for him if he had not had the foresight to confiscate his people's guns. The socialism he has gifted to his country could be undermined by armed resistance. If we are to avert potential armed resistance to socialism in the United States we must be as wise as President Maduro has been."

"For now, this means every Democrat must do his or her duty to support the Party," she added. "Those who don't will face primary opposition from Democrats loyal to the cause. The Party doesn't need moderates. Moderation in pursuit of social justice is no virtue and extremism in pursuit of social justice is no vice."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) was doubly outraged. "I am the leader of the Democrats in Congress," she said. "I give the marching orders to our Party's representatives. Their obligation is to obey. This goes for the renegades who voted with the Republicans for the amendment and the upstart freshman member who tries to usurp my prerogatives."

While Pelosi wasn't as blatant as Ocasio-Cortez in her threats against those who have defied her authority, she did suggest that nonconforming Democrats should not expect to receive financial support for their reelection from the Democratic National Committee. "If these Democrats want to break ranks with me they can fund their own campaigns," the Speaker asserted. Ironically, the denial of DNC funding to the moderate Democrats will boost Ocasio-Cortez's lunatic minions' chances of success in unseating them in Democratic primaries and further augment the influence of this obstreperous upstart.

In other Ocasio-Cortez news, the Congresswoman was recently spied eating a hamburger in public. Readers may recall, that her Green New Deal calls for the elimination of farting cows. Rather than being a hypocrite, she insisted that "those of us in government have got to keep up our strength. Eating the cows is one way of getting the protein we need while simultaneously removing them from the environment one bite at a time."

Rep. Omar Says Trump Unfairly Undermining Maduro

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) defended Venezuelan President Maduro's order for troops to fire on humanitarian aid workers trying to delivery food to the nation's starving inhabitants. "This food aid has not been approved by the legitimate government authorities," Omar pointed out. "It is a totally ad hoc effort that is undermining the Maduro regime's attempts to rally his people against the Yankee imperialism that is the root cause of the crisis in Venezuela."

"Venezuela used to be able to count on oil revenue to finance the country's transition to socialism," Omar maintained. "But under Trump's radical deregulation policy the United States has now become the world's largest crude oil producer. The collapse of demand for petroleum imports to the United States has led to oil prices drastically declining over the past two years and devastated Maduro's revenues and plans."

"The argument that a free market economy would avert the starvation seeks to impose an ideology that the Venezuelan Government has steadfastly rejected as exploitative," she argued. "Maduro doesn't want his people to be motivated by greed. He wants them to fulfill their social obligations to the collective state. It is their shirking of these obligations that has led to the food shortages that Maduro is trying to use to chastise them into obedience. The so-called humanitarian aid is aimed at thwarting this chastisement. Using force to prevent the food from reaching Venezuela's disobedient citizens is within Maduro's right to rule his country as he sees fit."

California Dem's Bill Would Outlaw High School Animal Dissections

California Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) has introduced a bill that would ban high school biology classes from dissecting animals as part of their learning about anatomy. Kalra says that "the current law allowing students with moral objections to opt out of the dissection lesson is unsatisfactory. For one, it still allows the callous exploitation of animals to go forward. Second, it allows students without moral scruples to receive a more complete education than their morally superior peers."

"The whole premise of these dissections is founded on an unwarranted notion that humans are more important than other creatures," Kalra observed. "Well, to me that's immoral. If the knowledge gained from dissecting frogs is what it takes to educate better doctors or scientists I say it's time we ditch our elitist pretensions. If we're objective about it we'll admit that human lives aren't really any more valuable than those of frogs. Would the 60 million abortions performed in this country since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision have taken place if we thought human life was somehow special? In contrast, there are no known cases of frogs aborting their offspring."

The Assemblyman said he would be willing to allow dissections of aborted human fetuses instead of animals. "The aborted human specimen can be used without affronting logical thinking," he contended. "It is rejected biological tissue. It is also more a more appropriate specimen for students aspiring to go into medicine. So rather than continue to violate the rights of innocent animals why not make use of cast off human remains as the foundation of our high school biology instruction?"

Senator Says Lining up to Buy Food a "Good Thing"

Sen. Bernie Sanders (S-Vt) boldly countered assertions that socialism would lead to food shortages, rationing, and long lines for those trying to get food by contending that "contrary to capitalist propaganda, making people stand in line to buy food is a good thing. Let's examine the facts."

"Can anyone rationally dispute the reality that in the United States a distressingly large proportion of the population is morbidly obese?" Sanders asked. "The ease with which food can be obtained is the main reason for this health crisis. If food were scarcer and more expensive people wouldn't be able to get fat. The amount of money each person would have under socialism would be low enough to force him or her to be more selective. The time-consuming procedure of requiring food seekers to wait in line would also tend to work against obesity. There just wouldn't be enough time in the day to stand in all the various lines for bread, meat, etc. for anyone to get all the food he or she wants even if they could afford it."

"The ancillary benefits of the queuing process would also contribute to a healthier population," the Senator added. "Standing is healthier than sitting. And since the majority of those in line would be outdoors they'd get more fresh air and sunshine. There' would also be more opportunities to chat with fellow citizens while waiting in line. This would combat the loneliness that currently plagues America where isolated individuals can drive to pick up fast food, take it home and watch TV alone. So, when we seriously look into the dynamics I think we can all agree that the food lines that have characterized socialist societies around the world are, on balance, a net plus for the human condition."

In related news, the presidential contender announced that he would be releasing his tax returns "at some point," but doubted people would find them very interesting. "I myself have no idea what's in those documents. I'm a complete putz when it comes to numbers. Between the deductions on the three homes, the incomprehensible-to-me revenues from various well-wishers, and the opaque IRS instructions I'm lost. Luckily my wife handles all our finances. So, if there are any mistakes it's not my fault."

Anti-Infanticide Bill Fails in Senate

This week, the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act was blocked in the US Senate. While a 53-44 majority voted for the measure, the bill failed to garner the 60 votes required by Senate rules and did not advance to an actual vote. If enacted, the measure would require that doctors render aid to any baby that survives an abortion procedure and impose penalties for failure to provide life-saving assistance.

All the Democratic senators who have already announced their intention to run for their Party's 2020 presidential nomination—Bernie Sanders (Vt), Kamala Harris (Calif), Cory Booker (NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Amy Klobuchar (Minn), and Elizabeth Warren (Mass)--voted against providing aid to abortion survivors.

Sen. Harris explained that "the mother's decision to have an abortion is her inalienable right. Inasmuch as late term abortions typically are achieved either by tearing the fetus apart limb-by-limb or burning it to death with acidic chemicals, a child who survives that is clearly a medical error. We cannot, in good conscience, allow such an error to trample a woman's inalienable right to dispose of her unwanted offspring."

A curious Sen. Booker wanted to know "why are Republicans so hung up on an artificial distinction between before and after birth? If it's okay to kill the entity before it comes out of the womb, why wouldn't it be okay to complete the termination afterward? Besides, I think they're getting all worked up over an extremely rare event. More Americans die after being shot than die after surviving an attempt to end their existence via an abortion. Why isn't this greater carnage moving the GOP to support gun control?"

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) reminded Sen. Booker that "nowhere near 60 million people have been shot to death since Roe v. Wade. If my fellow legislator wants to measure the blood that's been spilled, how can he overlook the fact that abortion has killed more Americans than all our wars combined. This is the greater carnage that the Pro-Life Caucus is trying to end."

The blame for the failure to make this small dent in the wave of murder that is massacring a million babies a year does not all belong to the Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ken) dedication to preserving the Senate's "elegant tradition of unlimited debate" allowed the minority opposed to the legislation to block a vote on the measure, which likely would have passed. Historically, McConnell's "elegant tradition" has mostly been used to block legislation that would have repealed Jim Crow laws that have discriminated against Blacks in some parts of the country. Why maintaining this tradition should be more important than saving the lives of abortion survivors remains a mystery.

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