I wouldn't have been surprised if this was an Onion article headline. I hope Kim Jong Un also comes out voicing his support for PRISM/drones, and the circle will be complete.
It's quite sad actually, I can't even enjoy the Onion anymore because it's gotten to a point where their absurdist humor and the world we live in are not all that different. It's gone from being funny satire to a leading indicator of where we're heading as a society. Pretty scary and disturbing if you think about it...
> It's gone from being funny satire to a leading indicator of where we're heading as a society.
Back in 2005 or so I was given one of the _Onion_ collections. I was flipping through it for the first time, and it fell open at a January 2001 piece they had written on the inauguration of George W. Bush where the headline was the quote "Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is over" ( http://www.theonion.com/articles/bush-our-long-national-nigh... ). I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
From the parent's Onion article link from Jan 2001:
> During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.
"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. "Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"
On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts, which would lead to a recession, which would necessitate a tax hike, which would lead to a drop in consumer spending, which would lead to layoffs, which would deepen the recession even further.
I don't know if this Onion article was prophetic or if wars and recessions are just cyclic and inevitable, but either way I am spooked right now.
It's quite sad actually, I can't even enjoy the Onion anymore because it's gotten to a point where their absurdist humor and the world we live in are not all that different. It's gone from being funny satire to a leading indicator of where we're heading as a society. Pretty scary and disturbing if you think about it...