If the 1st Amendment means anything, it surely means that an individual can mock the government without fear of being arrested. We are so thankful that The Onion's involvement in Novak v. Parma has brought so much attention to this important case, which pits qualified immunity against the First Amendment.
"Qualified Immunity" has no moral or constitutional basis at all. It was pulled out of the ass of some scumbag government shyster who didn't have the guts to hold uniformed thugs accountable for their crimes, and it is a disgrace upon our country that we, the people, ever put up with it instead of resorting to violent rebellion to end it.
If the police can violate the First Amendment at will without consequence, what is the point of having a Constitution that supposedly guarantees our rights? There will be no more rights, freedom, or democracy. Any judge that can't clearly see that should be immediately removed from the bench and barred from ever practicing law or holding public office again.
I recall when the Onion started complaining that it was getting hard to be satirical enough because the government kept rising to just a level of absurdity that it was becoming quite a challenge to out absurd them! Love the Onion!
Our Government has an unbeatable R&D budget for fuckery . When there is a shortage of tax revenue to fund the Infinite Idiocy , private corporations line up to sponsor our officials . It is such a beautiful system .
I always tend to point out the Daily Currant's satire of Todd Akins' "legitimate rape" claim, it was as believable as anything that has ever come out of his mouth. Cripes, so bad.
I said, "I believe in free speech. If I want to I can mock the mayor, the governor or the president." My wife said, "That's right. You're the guy who put the mock in democracy."
Oh, good job. It was so totally boring back when it was "deracy". I cracked my brains as to how it could be improved, made more significant, weighty, melodious, rhythmic; I added letters all over the word, inside & out. I even tried letters from other alphabets, but absolutely NOTHING worked. Then I woke up one day, & found the perfect adjustment had been made, and here was, at last, the most beautiful word in the language...and you transformed it just by putting "moc" into it! A real genius, you are! Chapeaux bas!
The scary part is not when Onion articles get picked up by the media, it's when you read the real news reports and immediately look for the Onion tag. Happens way too often these days.
Jailing a satirist is like beating up the guy that sent you on a snipe hunt. At the end of the day you are still admitting that you were dumb enough to believe the improbable.
Well, cops are incredibly stupid. It's literally a job requirement at many departments, so much so they actually IQ test applicants and reject those who score too high.
Expecting the Judicial Branch of the government to "get things right" is a huge mistake. Judges have the power to do and say anything they want, and there's no way to hold them accountable
The funniest Onion story I remember was "133 Dead as Delta Cancels Flight in Midair", such an obvious parody but some posted on this and were outraged thinking it was true.
"First, the obvious: The Onion’s business model was threatened. This was only the latest occasion on which the absurdity of actual events managed to eclipse what The Onion’s staff could make up." Breathtakingly brilliant!
I still remember my first onion experience. It was about a white woman who was in court, about to go to jail for a few years. Then she decided to identify as a black male, and her sentence went up to 10 years.
Yes a black male was talking to other prisoners about there sentence and they where in for serious offenses 12 years and he said his was 10 years for riding a bike with out a light but was lucky because could have got double if at night.
Unless they recycled the joke and did it more than once it was a white girl who did something so terrible that the jury was instructed to consider her as a black man.
Heck my first discovery of "the Onion" was a video, the very first thing I saw one morning half awake w/🥣 of cereal in my hand. Was what I had assumed to be a current news story about death row and some states (didn't notice which just it wasn't mine) new much more humane solution to prisoner execution. A new device that unlike other past means of execution would now be cheaper, quicker w/less pain & w/no risk of a "botched" execution attempt. It went on to show an animation & description of the new machine detailing how it worked. 😳 🤯 ! Then followed by a video clip from the press conference taking place outside of a prison with their local political Representatives who just came from an actual execution moments before hand. 😳 Where as ya looked closely (mind you I was half awake and staring at a tiny android phone) you can see that they have blood splattered on them due to the front row seats they had overseeing the event 😳😳😳🤔😳. 😳👉🤯WTF😳👉😱! The new device executed the prisoners by quickly ripping their off their bodies in a quick effective pain free way. 😳😱😱😱🤯 🤔🙄🤔 Now, wait a minute 🫤 🙄 🤔 😳 😜🤪 OMG 😂🤣 No friggin way🤣 😋👍 (story by) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ = The 🌰 !
Remeber when The Onion reported that they'd been banned from Twitter, and advised everyone to follow them on Twitter for further developments? 😂 People on Twitter were up in arms, and I was LMAO.
They even fooled a FIFA official who was under investigation by American authorities for corruption, which is rare for such an organization from one of their zany articles. John Oliver even pointed that out in his show .
I still remember reading the comments and thinking to myself... These can't be real people can they? They HAVE to be bots. NOPE.. They were REAL LIVE LIVING. BREATHING Human-ISH beings. "It's the Internet man, it fries your brain" - Van Wilder
The Onion both seriously and hilariously submitted an amicus brief to the SCOTUS while properly embodying the intent and purpose of the legal instrument called amicus curiae. Epic gold.
I just read the brief. It is absolutely glorious. It is 100% serious the whole time, even while making satirical jokes up and down it. Everything it says makes a point, and it properly cites numerous cases that actually back up their legal arguments. Whoever worked on this brief did an absolutely great job on making sure it was going to be read by the Justices' staff.
The Onion had me on this amicus from the beginning. What solidified it for me was when they referenced Jonathan Swift and then called him a hack compared to the writers at the Onion. I truly hope that the SCOTUS accepts this case.
Many many years ago I read an Onion article about the "Pacific Northwestern Tree Octopus" and I still believe that there are cephalopods living in the mountains of Washington and Oregon.
I sent this to two of my lawyer friends and they both said they almost wet themselves. Funay as it is I’m so glad they filed a writ that tons of people who would ever read a brief will do so. Plus….it’s absolutely genius 😂
While in high school, I was threatened with suspension because of a parody commercial I ran on out school radio station. The commercial parodied the school's vice principal. The VP became upset when he heard of the parody, he never heard it live. He was concerned the public might believe the commercial. The public in this case would have been anyone tuned to a station that broadcast at 1.3 watts. Anyone listening to this station would lose reception before leaving the school parking lot. When I told my physics teacher, he said he would defend me at any hearings. Everything fell apart for the VP, the person that heard the commercial and told the VP didn't hear the whole thing, no one else said that heard it, and of course, the VP had no idea what was actually said. And because of the physics teacher, we were allowed to repeat the commercial over the school's PA system. My fame for this lasted about 3 minutes and life moved on.
You know a physics teacher will have your back on that, purely on principle, but knowing the signal strength aspect gives a professional part. I read the story of a kid who made a clock as a hobby electronics project, brought it to school, showed people it as a clock, getting in trouble for bringing a bomb like device. Ethically and professionally, I'd have been raising hell in defense of that kid if I were teaching.
I knew comedy and parody in particular can be a powerful tool , I never imagined it could be used in any judiciary way . This is your best work to date . To think that something so funny could be used in such a powerful way is the punchline to the greatest parody of them all . I'm surprised yet not so surprised as a parody should be in my opinion . This is your best work in a big way due to this being Onions best work and not even on their channel but judicially . There's so many layers to this it's beyond me .
A childhood friend who was a photographer for the U of M paper had her student id photo snatched in 1988 by U Madison Onion founders. It is used to this day, regularly in the publications. she loves it, being old now...
Updating this, the Supreme Court did not take the case, so the law in the US is that making a parody of a police department website is "impersonating a police officer" and police have probable cause to arrest you. This was the 6th circuit ruling and it is now the law of the land
I think this only applies to states within the 6th Circuit. Another Circuit court could get a similar case and rule it is 1st A protected speech. Once that happens and there is a clear difference of opinions between the Circuit courts, SCOTUS will probably be more open to hearing the case.
Poking fun at those in power, governmental or otherwise, is a defining feature of the American spirit and experience. This freedom is precious and must be protected. Thank you, Onion.
I think it takes a certain level of intelligence to even understand humor. I knew a gal who had 2 toddlers and a bad case of frazzled nerves - and a 4-year degree in environmental journalism. So I told her the joke about the lady who walks into her doctor's office with 6 kids under 6 hanging off her, and asks for help. The doctor prescribes her valium, and tells her to come back in a week. She shows back up with a smile on her face and 6 extremely well-behaved little kids. The doctor says the valium seems to be working, how much are you taking? She says - Me??? I thought it was for the kids! The lady with the 2 toddlers looks at me in outrage and says "You can't give valium to little kids!"
No doubt they have problems now and that will continue with fervent reporting of the case in future. I think the CCP will be silent on this one. Winnie the Pooh will have "no comment" much to the chagrin of Lele Farley.
Freedom of speech, guaranteed by the 1st Amendment is also freedom against COMPELLED speech - such as "This is a parody" or "This is satire". At least in my little non-lawyered brain.
Amusingly, as I was watching this video the following e-mail from Institute for Justice came in: The right to criticize the government without fear of retaliation is at the core of the Constitution’s First Amendment. Just last week, IJ asked the U.S. Supreme Court to enforce this principle. And as you may have seen, the popular satirical publication The Onion recently joined our fight. It makes sense why: “Ohio Police Officers Arrest, Prosecute Man Who Made Fun of Them on Facebook” sounds like it was ripped right from a parody site. But that’s exactly what happened to Anthony Novak. Anthony Novak is an aspiring comedy writer. One day while waiting at a bus stop in 2016, he created a parody of the Parma, Ohio, Police Department’s Facebook page-with obviously fake posts. He took it down that same day, but while the page was active, most people online thought it was funny. The local police disagreed. They arrested Anthony, seized all his electronics, and charged him with a felony for “disrupting police operations.” A jury acquitted Anthony of that charge, and he sued the city and two detectives for violating his First Amendment rights. As The Onion notes in a hilarious friend of the court brief in support of Anthony and IJ, drastic retaliation against parody “threatens to disembowel a form of rhetoric that has existed for millennia [and] that is particularly potent in the realm of political debate.” Thank you for your support. With you by our side, IJ will show that the Constitution doesn’t depend on whether the government has a sense of humor. Many thanks, Scott
I think a lot of Steve's readers have gotten that email since donations to the IJ put you on that list :) If only one penny of my donation went to help the onion write this amicus brief, I will be proud to have made history!
Whats disrupting police operations? Upsetting their scheduled time at the donut shop or railroading citizens with made up bs, like shown in alot of auditor videos on here
It's totally funny as long as it's off enough that it wouldn't be mistaken for their actual site, because that could divert legitimate requests for service.
In Canada here, on our government funded radio station, the CBC, there was a show called This Is That. On it, they would run parody news broadcasts so real sounding that at the end of the show, they would play voice recordings callers left complaining about issues with the previous episodes facts or topics, because so many people never clued into that it was fake. They never broke or admitted on the show that it was fake, but the stories were so outrageous anyone with some sense knew it. One episode talked of the issue of the government of Canada advertising for tourists in the UK by insulting the UK and its citizens. One said how if they wanted to see what real teeth should look like, they should book a trip to Canada now. Another episode talked about strict new driving laws coming into effect in one province that including new drivers being forced to wear a bulky helmet that attaches to a swivel mounted to the ceiling of the vehicle. That way, they can only face the window line and can't be distracted by changing the radio station or their phone. Obviously it's fake if anyone takes 2 seconds to think about it as such a device would create way more hazards that it prevents, but people still called in and vented on the show like it was a real story. It's ridiculousness like this that's the reason why most of the greatest comedians in the states come from Canada. Yours get smacked on the stage or thrown in prison. Keep it up Canada enjoys its leadership role in North American comedy.
Steve, this is the most powerful video you've ever done! It is very deep, thought provoking and absolutely hilarious! Thank you very much and eternal gratitude from the people to The Onion!
I remember the Supreme Court had a funny discussion about the plausibility of a hot dog stand in the ocean in a case about beach front property rights.
For some reason, a whole generation or 2 of parents just assumed that common sense just… appears? Obviously you have to TEACH your kids common knowledge. The past couple generations have failed greatly at that
We've seen the Common Sense premise used to excuse sensationalist news before on the grounds no 'Reasonable Person' would believe it. Seems fitting the Onion could use similar justification to defend their satire which has... ironically shown just how few Reasonable People with Common Sense exist.
I am so sad my father is not around to see this... he would have had an absolute blast. What an absolute brilliantly written piece of legal parody! Rest is peace ol' man! Thanks for the great video!
Truly. Although this is counter to your format of a single individual expressing opinions, I think this would be the perfect occasion to briefly deviate to a host/guest format.
I think we should all take a moment to recognize history when its made. This is one of the greatest literary peices ever composed not just to our government, but written for the benefit of all mankind. I believe this will be taught in schools for future generations, and should be taught around the world. Everyone take a moment and clap, The Onion, please.... take a very, very most deserved bow!
Taught in schools? Have you noticed what is actually "taught" in schools these days? Kids these days can't even tell time, know any countries, even their own, or know how many moons the earth has.
@@daviddeane3163 -- I was curious about that -- the claim that they cannot tell time -- so at different times, I asked my two nieces to read a particular clock to me. It is an old clock with Roman numerals on it, and it doesn't work. Both correctly told me what time was displayed on the clock. The eldest (9 years old now, but she was 8 when I asked her) said she learned it in school. The youngest told me she heard me ask her cousin. Don't believe everything you hear about modern schools. Some district somewhere -- or maybe even one teacher -- might have skipped those lessons, but that doesn't mean kids generally can't tell time.
@@TheRealScooterGuy wow... you took that way to seriously my guy. You'd be heaps of fun at parties. I have heard that many kids jump off bridges because their friends do. Please don't throw your nieces off a bridge to test the theory. Jezus!
Sounds like time for a few FOIA requests. When The Onion was in print, I made sure to pick up a copy as soon as it came out. Now, I tend to forget it exists, because I have to go out of my way to look at it. If the Supreme Court fails to take this up, I hate to think what direction our country is going to go. It's a slippery slope. If that police department gets away with this, there's little doubt that others will soon follow in their footsteps.
As an old disabled cop, who rose through the ranks of the department from rookie to Chief of Police, who was forced by Workers Comp to sit through hour after hour of lectures from attorneys who were doing their best to produce a working legal assistant out of an old cop who made good arrests and had an unblemished record over 24 years of law enforcement duties, I have to say, this was one of the best videos delving into the idiocy that has become today's United States of America and the way the former youth of yesterday are trying to change her. Thank you for the review, it was great, first time I had a good belly laugh for years!
Hello Steve, If you had lived in Cleveland in the early sixties you would think this story about "PARMA" is much more hilarious. Kudos to Ernie Anderson the great Ghoulardi (local Cleveland TV host in the early 60s) who would ridicule Parma relentlessly for its behavior. He would later become the voice of ABC famous for the Love Boat intros.
The next time I write a letter to the editor I will need to start with the disclaimer. I paid a visit to the local sheriff about the speeders on my road and was told about how many miles of road he has to patrol and just doesn’t have the resources and when I walked out of his office there stood all of the day shift eating their carry out breakfast. I couldn’t let it rest. My parody started out “Welcome to the west side races” I guess I’ll need to be more blunt the next time. I won’t be able to start out with “ gas stations really don’t want to sell gas” or “Banks really don’t want your business “ I loved the Onion story. It hit home😂❤
The first time I read the Onion back in the fall of 1989 on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, it took me a couple minutes to figure out what the hell was going on. Looked forward to it eagerly after that!
Lol it was the first 'paper' I really read in high school in the 90's, same confusion-then-love story. To a teen that was some hardcore satire, now the world is so crazy that past stuff won't phase anyone today.
Life has become such a parody that The Onion is all too often indistinguishable from real life, I don't envy the job of trying to write parody these days.
We know we're in real trouble when an Onion headline reads, "Neighbors work out property dispute without lawyers or gunfire." or "All politicians in Washington D.C. caught voting according to their pre-election promises."
Indeed. I came here to challenge your assertion that "everyone" should be able to recognize parody when it is presented. Steve and many (dare I say, most?) of his readers are well-educated enough to appreciate the legal dissection, discussion and debate of legal issues; that skews the audience dramatically. It doesn't follow that the American public at large shares the mental acuity necessary to recognize such sublime humor as parody. This is the public that these very courts have decided need to be told that coffee is hot, knives are sharp, and ladders can be fallen from, to name a few of egregious examples. There are still people who believe that 9/11 was an inside job, and that we never landed on the moon. And those people have access to social media, too. No longer are we critical viewers who could hear Walter Cronkite report a story, and then form our own opinions on what it meant to us - we have become a nation of people who choose to listen to only those voices that reinforce our own prejudices and echo the songs we already hear in our own heads . We also have the ability, once reserved for the trusted few, to communicate our views to anyone inclined to listen - and which social media has pre-selected to be most receptive of our own views. This will only get worse.
There is a danger in speech which the reasonable reader handles fine but which for the unreasonable few is inflammatory to violence (a.k.a stochastic terrorism) with the list of mass murdering extremists who were influenced by The Turner Diaries being a prime example. But there isn't a reliable way to police that line without inviting tyranny that would be far more damaging to our people and culture than an occasional bombing or mass shooting.
😂 you're starting to begin your videos with this might be the longest video, but I'm in because I love hearing you ramble! Your videos are always interesting, you have a great voice, and I love learning.
Wow, their brief is from top to bottom excellent. They constantly cite precedential cases, at one point 4 in a row directly contradicting the 6th circuits unconstitutional ruling on this case. In fact, it's probably in the top 10 briefs I've read since I started reading them in 2020.
One of your best posts yet. When you ask if people really need to be told the content is a parody, well, there are a lot of intellectually stymied people amongst us, so in their case, no, they should not be told, because that provides additional humor for us!
You or the brief said something like “common people already know it’s not real.” The failing here is that the police department believed this page aligned closely enough with their activities and their mindset, that they additionally believed it intentionally misrepresented them. In effect, they expected this Facebook page to be commonly believable to the average reader.
Seriously hilarious 🤣. At seven minutes in I was compelled to download and read the entire brief, rendering this the most time I've ever spent viewing one of your videos. Kudos to you sir!
The Onion filing such a brief reminds me of when Dee Snider (lead vocalist for Twisted Sister) testified before the Senate. Another instance where someone with a real mind had to open the eyes of government officials.
My favorite was one of their early ones from years ago about boy scouts going door to door giving women mammograms / free breast examinations for cancer awareness month. LMAO
They used to have marriage articles with pictures of the bride and groom. One of the articles had a picture of a Subaru, labeled as the 'Perfect Marriage of Form and Function'
Steve, I just got done watching your "Onion Breif" story and then checked my email. I found that the Institute for Justice had sent me a email expounding on what the Onion did just 1 hours after your vid. Wow!
"Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky", ? Don't forget us lil' ol' Volunteers! Tennessee, the Volunteer State, is in the 6th Circuit as well. (For better or worse.)
Steve, Check out the History of The Harvard Lampoon! Since Before 1877 AD they have Excelled in The Art And Practice of Parody😊These Are The Folks who Brought Us Radio Programs, Print Media, And Animal House, and Eventually Saturday Night Live😊, Often Featuring The Same Performers/Actors, Writers, And Producers/Directors, Many of Whom Have Passed Away😢 R.I.P.
I've often remarked The Onion's humor to be nothing short of genius. And the lengths The Onion will go to borders on absurdity. So imagine my delight when I hear The Onion keeps it real even in Scotus xD
This may well be the first legal brief to win a Pulitzer. It should definitely win the Thurber Prize fo American Humor. This is a literary masterpiece!
Dissecting a joke is like dissecting an animal. You learn something about the animal or joke but it dies in the process. By answering in a joke the brilliance is we learn something of value without the death and new life is breathed into an otherwise dying process. I can think of no better brief for which to submit
Mr. Lehto. Never miss your posts. I am a retired special forces intell guy who grew up in the Detroit area in the 1960s - to late 1970s. Have a few hobbies U.S. and Inter national Law or at least reading it, is one of my pastimes that keep me interested. We live in NC now and I do so much miss Michigan and the smart and thoughful folks up there. your video on this issue is an A++. We need more smart Lawyers like your self teaching the public about the law. Great work.
I generally do not find the Onion very entertaining. This is not only absolute genius but, tremendously well written prose and probably the funniest thing I have ever read from the Onion. Well played.
This is a master class in parody writing for those interested in joke craft. You don't need an online pay course. This one is free from Steve, and courtesy of The Onion.
This has to be at least the third or fourth time that this video has popped up in my feed, and it never gets old! 19:05... The police department passes laws? Yes. All day. every day, every time they interact with a private citizen, they pass a new law. Anyway, you had me at "The Onion"!
If the 1st Amendment means anything, it surely means that an individual can mock the government without fear of being arrested. We are so thankful that The Onion's involvement in Novak v. Parma has brought so much attention to this important case, which pits qualified immunity against the First Amendment.
Keep up the good work IJ
"Qualified Immunity" has no moral or constitutional basis at all. It was pulled out of the ass of some scumbag government shyster who didn't have the guts to hold uniformed thugs accountable for their crimes, and it is a disgrace upon our country that we, the people, ever put up with it instead of resorting to violent rebellion to end it.
We appreciate your work on this!
The literal point of it
If the police can violate the First Amendment at will without consequence, what is the point of having a Constitution that supposedly guarantees our rights? There will be no more rights, freedom, or democracy. Any judge that can't clearly see that should be immediately removed from the bench and barred from ever practicing law or holding public office again.
I recall when the Onion started complaining that it was getting hard to be satirical enough because the government kept rising to just a level of absurdity that it was becoming quite a challenge to out absurd them! Love the Onion!
Our Government has an unbeatable R&D budget for fuckery .
When there is a shortage of tax revenue to fund the Infinite Idiocy , private corporations line up to sponsor our officials .
It is such a beautiful system .
I remember that. Something like: Onion on verge of collapse as reality become more bizarre than anything our writers can think up.
I always tend to point out the Daily Currant's satire of Todd Akins' "legitimate rape" claim, it was as believable as anything that has ever come out of his mouth. Cripes, so bad.
You may be thinking of the Babylon Bee.
Given how insane reality has been for the past few years, I can totally believe someone took a parody to be real.
I said, "I believe in free speech. If I want to I can mock the mayor, the governor or the president." My wife said, "That's right. You're the guy who put the mock in democracy."
Oh, good job. It was so totally boring back when it was "deracy". I cracked my brains as to how it could be improved, made more significant, weighty, melodious, rhythmic; I added letters all over the word, inside & out. I even tried letters from other alphabets, but absolutely NOTHING worked. Then I woke up one day, & found the perfect adjustment had been made, and here was, at last, the most beautiful word in the language...and you transformed it just by putting "moc" into it! A real genius, you are! Chapeaux bas!
I'm drunk and I nearly pissed myself when I heard "CIA has been using black highlighters"
I think Steve also covered a story about a city council that wrote a law that you couldn't mock them and had someone arrested for it.
Surprise, Arizona, if I recall
The scary part is not when Onion articles get picked up by the media, it's when you read the real news reports and immediately look for the Onion tag. Happens way too often these days.
Sure enough 😅
You've made a great statement.
Agree, I've had to do that on several ocasions.
Oh, yes! I have read many news stories out of the US, absolutely convinced they had to be Onion style satire. But no, unfortunately not.
It happens a lot, to the point there are specific 'not-the-onion' channels on social media.
From the Onion... Palace Staff Decides Not To Pack Up Funeral Stuff Just Yet After Seeing King Charles Up Close
Buh.....rilliant.
I was reading through the comments but had to stop and get up off the floor after reading this one.
Yer killin' me Smalls!!!!!
@@denmikseb Same 😂
Jailing a satirist is like beating up the guy that sent you on a snipe hunt. At the end of the day you are still admitting that you were dumb enough to believe the improbable.
Hey man I've hunted snipes. They taste delicious
Well, cops are incredibly stupid. It's literally a job requirement at many departments, so much so they actually IQ test applicants and reject those who score too high.
Hold up! You telling me I wasn't supposed to kick Doug's ass for messin' with me when I was all drunk???
Obviously not famous for snipe hunting, but snipes are an actual bird, known for their long slender bill and camouflage.
@@Unsensitive The treetop woodland snipe is the tastiest, known for it's exceedingly excellent camouflage.
Feb 21 2023 Petition DENIED.
The Surpeme Court is failing us.
Expecting the Judicial Branch of the government to "get things right" is a huge mistake. Judges have the power to do and say anything they want, and there's no way to hold them accountable
@@kepp81 Not quite...
This conversation reads differently after the ruling on presidential immunity.
@@jefftitterington7600 SCOTUS was already well beyond accountability.
Our Supreme Court is looking more and more like the Russian Courts!
The funniest Onion story I remember was "133 Dead as Delta Cancels Flight in Midair", such an obvious parody but some posted on this and were outraged thinking it was true.
It was true. I was on the flight. Thank God that I always have a parachute as my carry-on, for such occurrences.
But at least Delta "did the right thing" by giving the estates of the deceased free vouchers for future air travel.
@@justinmarko80 Unfortunately, not everyone stays as prepared as you, Mr. Cooper...
@@KenLieck SHHHSSSSS ! 👀
That’s right up there with the Onion story “President Clinton Signs the Americans With No Abilities Act”.
"First, the obvious: The Onion’s business model was threatened. This was only the latest occasion on which the absurdity of actual events managed to eclipse what The Onion’s staff could make up." Breathtakingly brilliant!
The Onion does work that is more important than most folks will ever realize.
"Archaeologist uncovered race of skeleton people." Had me rolling.
That was quite clever
Spooky
I remember Steve reading/saying that, but it's not in the brief. ???
@@bobengelhardt856 , Steve was giving examples of previous headlines by The Onion. It wasn’t in the brief.
God damned skelington people! IT'S OUR LAND NOW, GO BACK TO HELL!!
Necromancy goes against the laws of Nature AND the United States!
I still remember my first onion experience. It was about a white woman who was in court, about to go to jail for a few years. Then she decided to identify as a black male, and her sentence went up to 10 years.
This is still funny!
Yes a black male was talking to other prisoners about there sentence and they where in for serious offenses 12 years and he said his was 10 years for riding a bike with out a light but was lucky because could have got double if at night.
Reality check: if it was a white male it'd be 11 years.
Unless they recycled the joke and did it more than once it was a white girl who did something so terrible that the jury was instructed to consider her as a black man.
Heck my first discovery of "the Onion" was a video, the very first thing I saw one morning half awake w/🥣 of cereal in my hand. Was what I had assumed to be a current news story about death row and some states (didn't notice which just it wasn't mine) new much more humane solution to prisoner execution. A new device that unlike other past means of execution would now be cheaper, quicker w/less pain & w/no risk of a "botched" execution attempt. It went on to show an animation & description of the new machine detailing how it worked. 😳 🤯 ! Then followed by a video clip from the press conference taking place outside of a prison with their local political Representatives who just came from an actual execution moments before hand. 😳 Where as ya looked closely (mind you I was half awake and staring at a tiny android phone) you can see that they have blood splattered on them due to the front row seats they had overseeing the event 😳😳😳🤔😳.
😳👉🤯WTF😳👉😱!
The new device executed the prisoners by quickly ripping their off their bodies in a quick effective pain free way. 😳😱😱😱🤯
🤔🙄🤔 Now, wait a minute 🫤 🙄 🤔 😳 😜🤪 OMG 😂🤣 No friggin way🤣 😋👍
(story by)
⭐⭐⭐⭐ = The 🌰 !
CIA realise they have been using black highlighters 😂😂😂
That was my favourite 🤣
i got a good laugh out of that one
One of many lines that nearly caused me to spew coffee.
Not parody
I know! I completely lost it when he mentiined that headline 😂😂😂
Remeber when The Onion reported that they'd been banned from Twitter, and advised everyone to follow them on Twitter for further developments? 😂 People on Twitter were up in arms, and I was LMAO.
They even fooled a FIFA official who was under investigation by American authorities for corruption, which is rare for such an organization from one of their zany articles. John Oliver even pointed that out in his show .
I still remember reading the comments and thinking to myself... These can't be real people can they? They HAVE to be bots. NOPE.. They were REAL LIVE LIVING. BREATHING Human-ISH beings.
"It's the Internet man, it fries your brain" - Van Wilder
😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆
Twitter Suspended Babylon Bee.
@@LTTUSA Sorry, I missed that one. Who is Babylon Bee? And when did this happen? Just now, under Elon Musk?
The Onion both seriously and hilariously submitted an amicus brief to the SCOTUS while properly embodying the intent and purpose of the legal instrument called amicus curiae. Epic gold.
I just read the brief. It is absolutely glorious. It is 100% serious the whole time, even while making satirical jokes up and down it. Everything it says makes a point, and it properly cites numerous cases that actually back up their legal arguments. Whoever worked on this brief did an absolutely great job on making sure it was going to be read by the Justices' staff.
Let’s just hope somebody in the Scotus office other than one of those avocado eating purple hair freaks find this humorous.
@@jamesweir2943 Aah, weren't we told that SCOTUS judges don't discuss politics with their spouses?
I can’t believe the onion put out something other than woke rage bait! They haven’t done Funny in over a decade.
@@mlconley You should move out from under that rock that you live under.
The Onion is so good at reporting news, it reports it BEFORE it happens
Almost as good as the Simpson's.
@@mr.robinson1982 I like the one about the simpsons where they showed an empty wallet.. and here I am broke
Babylon Bee too
Including going to jail for satire
_"Despite billions spent in research every year, death maintains its position as the nation's number one killer..."_
According to overwhelming evidence, scientists cause cancer in laboratory animals!
The Onion, of all the publications you've read, This is one of them!!
The Onion had me on this amicus from the beginning. What solidified it for me was when they referenced Jonathan Swift and then called him a hack compared to the writers at the Onion. I truly hope that the SCOTUS accepts this case.
@Roger Thanks!
I think them accepting it would at least show that they are human. I believe the country would love it.
I'm surprised The Onion didn't insist on calling it an amicus curiae boxer instead of brief.
GOOD ONE!
😂
Noice...
If the supreme court does not take up this case, they will be sending a message that it is ok for cops to police free speech and to retaliate at will.
How could they not be taken seriously? Their reader base is more than 30x the number of people that have ever existed
Many many years ago I read an Onion article about the "Pacific Northwestern Tree Octopus" and I still believe that there are cephalopods living in the mountains of Washington and Oregon.
They are including the people from the future.
@@nolongeramused8135 They're including the aliens.
@@DoubleYouDotTrump and rightly so! however, those cephalopods' habitats are in danger from deforestation.
I sent this to two of my lawyer friends and they both said they almost wet themselves. Funay as it is I’m so glad they filed a writ that tons of people who would ever read a brief will do so. Plus….it’s absolutely genius 😂
The problem with The Onion's argument is that they expect people to be reasonable.
"Often satire" Sometimes their articles become more trustworthy than others. Scary.
similar to Babylon Bee
Like us giving missiles to the Saudis to appease them.
@@M167A1 Poe's law in motion my friend. Also a sign of the crazy timeline we live in at the moment.
@@M167A1 I'll criticize the Bee if you don't mind. It's an unfunny, christian-simping rag.
They’ve predicted a lot of stuff by accident, so I guess it’s also foreshadowing
While in high school, I was threatened with suspension because of a parody commercial I ran on out school radio station. The commercial parodied the school's vice principal. The VP became upset when he heard of the parody, he never heard it live. He was concerned the public might believe the commercial. The public in this case would have been anyone tuned to a station that broadcast at 1.3 watts. Anyone listening to this station would lose reception before leaving the school parking lot. When I told my physics teacher, he said he would defend me at any hearings. Everything fell apart for the VP, the person that heard the commercial and told the VP didn't hear the whole thing, no one else said that heard it, and of course, the VP had no idea what was actually said. And because of the physics teacher, we were allowed to repeat the commercial over the school's PA system. My fame for this lasted about 3 minutes and life moved on.
That’s awesome. Sounds like it was the Streisand effect.
Bravo 🎉
That's great scandal in the school office. Lol
So you've 12 minutes of fame left!
You know a physics teacher will have your back on that, purely on principle, but knowing the signal strength aspect gives a professional part.
I read the story of a kid who made a clock as a hobby electronics project, brought it to school, showed people it as a clock, getting in trouble for bringing a bomb like device. Ethically and professionally, I'd have been raising hell in defense of that kid if I were teaching.
Cable news where tabloid news has become real. Where truth is debatable.
I knew comedy and parody in particular can be a powerful tool , I never imagined it could be used in any judiciary way . This is your best work to date . To think that something so funny could be used in such a powerful way is the punchline to the greatest parody of them all . I'm surprised yet not so surprised as a parody should be in my opinion . This is your best work in a big way due to this being Onions best work and not even on their channel but judicially . There's so many layers to this it's beyond me .
As someone who read The Onion printed paper and its precursor in Madison, Wisconsin in the 1980's, this warms me to my core.
A childhood friend who was a photographer for the U of M paper had her student id photo snatched in 1988 by U Madison Onion founders. It is used to this day, regularly in the publications. she loves it, being old now...
Yep. Same here
"Parodists can not be punished for telling a joke with a straight face". That may be the entire case in a nutsack!
"Do you need to be told that's a joke?"
For most people, unfortunately, the answer is yes.
But is it a commentary on most people or on the object of the joke?
“Drugs win drug war”, is no joke. That’s reality
The majority of people laughed a little and moved on. It's not good to confuse the loud people for the common people.
Obviously a parody is above law enforcements iq requirements to be able get the joke
Are you serious?
Updating this, the Supreme Court did not take the case, so the law in the US is that making a parody of a police department website is "impersonating a police officer" and police have probable cause to arrest you. This was the 6th circuit ruling and it is now the law of the land
I think this only applies to states within the 6th Circuit. Another Circuit court could get a similar case and rule it is 1st A protected speech. Once that happens and there is a clear difference of opinions between the Circuit courts, SCOTUS will probably be more open to hearing the case.
It takes a group of folks who are Definitely NOT ‘ stultus ‘ to write this brilliantly !! Mad mag would be proud of you 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Poking fun at those in power, governmental or otherwise, is a defining feature of the American spirit and experience. This freedom is precious and must be protected. Thank you, Onion.
Funny, i thought it was british.
@@waroftheworlds2008 It's all over the world.
Like Primetime 99 Alex Stein is doing. Hilarious!
I think it takes a certain level of intelligence to even understand humor. I knew a gal who had 2 toddlers and a bad case of frazzled nerves - and a 4-year degree in environmental journalism. So I told her the joke about the lady who walks into her doctor's office with 6 kids under 6 hanging off her, and asks for help. The doctor prescribes her valium, and tells her to come back in a week. She shows back up with a smile on her face and 6 extremely well-behaved little kids. The doctor says the valium seems to be working, how much are you taking? She says - Me??? I thought it was for the kids! The lady with the 2 toddlers looks at me in outrage and says "You can't give valium to little kids!"
"'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens"
If the people were actually calling the police to see if all of that was real, then maybe those cops have more problems than we know about...
Lmao right?
No doubt they have problems now and that will continue with fervent reporting of the case in future.
I think the CCP will be silent on this one. Winnie the Pooh will have "no comment" much to the chagrin of Lele Farley.
Exactly!
That’s the problem with parody anymore, reality has become a parody!
They should put the locks on all the schools that those people went to who called the police department.
There should be a law that you MUST make fun of politicians and bad laws.
Money hasn't proved a sufficient motive?
Freedom of speech, guaranteed by the 1st Amendment is also freedom against COMPELLED speech - such as "This is a parody" or "This is satire". At least in my little non-lawyered brain.
I read the brief. As an attorney, it may very well be the best brief i have ever read. Seriously
Seriously? C'mon man, lighten up, it's a joke.
@@pplusbthrust Ever heard "there is much truth in jest"?
@@bigal1863 C'mon man, lighten up, it's a joke.
@@pplusbthrust So you never heard the expression then.
I love that the page 15 wall of Latin devolves into a series of logical fallacies.
Amusingly, as I was watching this video the following e-mail from Institute for Justice came in:
The right to criticize the government without fear of retaliation is at the core of the Constitution’s First Amendment. Just last week, IJ asked the U.S. Supreme Court to enforce this principle.
And as you may have seen, the popular satirical publication The Onion recently joined our fight.
It makes sense why: “Ohio Police Officers Arrest, Prosecute Man Who Made Fun of Them on Facebook” sounds like it was ripped right from a parody site. But that’s exactly what happened to Anthony Novak.
Anthony Novak is an aspiring comedy writer. One day while waiting at a bus stop in 2016, he created a parody of the Parma, Ohio, Police Department’s Facebook page-with obviously fake posts. He took it down that same day, but while the page was active, most people online thought it was funny. The local police disagreed. They arrested Anthony, seized all his electronics, and charged him with a felony for “disrupting police operations.” A jury acquitted Anthony of that charge, and he sued the city and two detectives for violating his First Amendment rights.
As The Onion notes in a hilarious friend of the court brief in support of Anthony and IJ, drastic retaliation against parody “threatens to disembowel a form of rhetoric that has existed for millennia [and] that is particularly potent in the realm of political debate.”
Thank you for your support. With you by our side, IJ will show that the Constitution doesn’t depend on whether the government has a sense of humor.
Many thanks,
Scott
I think a lot of Steve's readers have gotten that email since donations to the IJ put you on that list :) If only one penny of my donation went to help the onion write this amicus brief, I will be proud to have made history!
Thank you for including what he was charged with. I think Steve forgot to mention that
Whats disrupting police operations? Upsetting their scheduled time at the donut shop or railroading citizens with made up bs, like shown in alot of auditor videos on here
It's totally funny as long as it's off enough that it wouldn't be mistaken for their actual site, because that could divert legitimate requests for service.
@@evelynwaugh4053 all they do is cause problems, anyway
Page 15 should have said something like:
_"This is the fifteenth page of a convoluted legal filing, that is thirteen pages too long already..."_ 😹
In Canada here, on our government funded radio station, the CBC, there was a show called This Is That. On it, they would run parody news broadcasts so real sounding that at the end of the show, they would play voice recordings callers left complaining about issues with the previous episodes facts or topics, because so many people never clued into that it was fake. They never broke or admitted on the show that it was fake, but the stories were so outrageous anyone with some sense knew it.
One episode talked of the issue of the government of Canada advertising for tourists in the UK by insulting the UK and its citizens. One said how if they wanted to see what real teeth should look like, they should book a trip to Canada now.
Another episode talked about strict new driving laws coming into effect in one province that including new drivers being forced to wear a bulky helmet that attaches to a swivel mounted to the ceiling of the vehicle. That way, they can only face the window line and can't be distracted by changing the radio station or their phone. Obviously it's fake if anyone takes 2 seconds to think about it as such a device would create way more hazards that it prevents, but people still called in and vented on the show like it was a real story.
It's ridiculousness like this that's the reason why most of the greatest comedians in the states come from Canada. Yours get smacked on the stage or thrown in prison.
Keep it up Canada enjoys its leadership role in North American comedy.
Steve, this is the most powerful video you've ever done! It is very deep, thought provoking and absolutely hilarious! Thank you very much and eternal gratitude from the people to The Onion!
CIA discovers they have been using black high liters for decades……that was the best.
I remember the Supreme Court had a funny discussion about the plausibility of a hot dog stand in the ocean in a case about beach front property rights.
Steve, One of the saddest truths of our modern society is this "Common sense is not so common."
For some reason, a whole generation or 2 of parents just assumed that common sense just… appears? Obviously you have to TEACH your kids common knowledge. The past couple generations have failed greatly at that
@@Faroesx didn't you hear? your career is far more important than raising your kids!
Unfortunately, this statement has been true for thousands of years.
@@freedustin why raise your kids when you can just buy them a new iPhone?
We've seen the Common Sense premise used to excuse sensationalist news before on the grounds no 'Reasonable Person' would believe it.
Seems fitting the Onion could use similar justification to defend their satire which has... ironically shown just how few Reasonable People with Common Sense exist.
This post 100% made my day! Thank you for your desperately needed perspective -- keep up your crazy! I. NEED. FUNNY.!!!!!!
I am so sad my father is not around to see this... he would have had an absolute blast. What an absolute brilliantly written piece of legal parody! Rest is peace ol' man! Thanks for the great video!
You should interview those lawyers who signed the brief. That would be an interesting and hopefully funny conversation
Truly. Although this is counter to your format of a single individual expressing opinions, I think this would be the perfect occasion to briefly deviate to a host/guest format.
Seems fun but wouldn't do it if I was the lawyer. This joke is done. Nothing good has ever come from explaining a joke
Their signatures. XXX, XXX, XXX
@@georgesheffield1580 Nah, there's a name and an email as part of the document.
Seems real - but this IS The Onion....
@@Lapoch777 But they work for The Onion.
Once you peel back the layers you realize their satire brings tears to your eyes from laughter.
I see what you did there. Good one. 😉😎
You mean it wasn't the onion causing the tears ?
I think we should all take a moment to recognize history when its made. This is one of the greatest literary peices ever composed not just to our government, but written for the benefit of all mankind. I believe this will be taught in schools for future generations, and should be taught around the world. Everyone take a moment and clap, The Onion, please.... take a very, very most deserved bow!
Taught in schools? Have you noticed what is actually "taught" in schools these days? Kids these days can't even tell time, know any countries, even their own, or know how many moons the earth has.
👏👏👏
@Hattie Lankford depends on the school and mostly the parents
@@daviddeane3163 -- I was curious about that -- the claim that they cannot tell time -- so at different times, I asked my two nieces to read a particular clock to me. It is an old clock with Roman numerals on it, and it doesn't work. Both correctly told me what time was displayed on the clock. The eldest (9 years old now, but she was 8 when I asked her) said she learned it in school. The youngest told me she heard me ask her cousin. Don't believe everything you hear about modern schools. Some district somewhere -- or maybe even one teacher -- might have skipped those lessons, but that doesn't mean kids generally can't tell time.
@@TheRealScooterGuy wow... you took that way to seriously my guy. You'd be heaps of fun at parties. I have heard that many kids jump off bridges because their friends do.
Please don't throw your nieces off a bridge to test the theory. Jezus!
This video has to rank 26th in the world of all of the 3,253,782.5 Lehto's Law videos that you have posted on UA-cam in the last 37 years!
".5" in "37 years" Epic 🤣
Thank you for sharing this with us. The humor AND the education are appreciated.
Sounds like time for a few FOIA requests.
When The Onion was in print, I made sure to pick up a copy as soon as it came out. Now, I tend to forget it exists, because I have to go out of my way to look at it.
If the Supreme Court fails to take this up, I hate to think what direction our country is going to go. It's a slippery slope. If that police department gets away with this, there's little doubt that others will soon follow in their footsteps.
100%
The City of Parma and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals proudly display their new pictures of Chairman Mao to commemorate Liberty!
As an old disabled cop, who rose through the ranks of the department from rookie to Chief of Police, who was forced by Workers Comp to sit through hour after hour of lectures from attorneys who were doing their best to produce a working legal assistant out of an old cop who made good arrests and had an unblemished record over 24 years of law enforcement duties, I have to say, this was one of the best videos delving into the idiocy that has become today's United States of America and the way the former youth of yesterday are trying to change her. Thank you for the review, it was great, first time I had a good belly laugh for years!
“Former youth of yesterday” a great line, funny how we all forgot we were once kids?
Hello Steve, If you had lived in Cleveland in the early sixties you would think this story about "PARMA" is much more hilarious. Kudos to Ernie Anderson the great Ghoulardi (local Cleveland TV host in the early 60s) who would ridicule Parma relentlessly for its behavior. He would later become the voice of ABC famous for the Love Boat intros.
The next time I write a letter to the editor I will need to start with the disclaimer. I paid a visit to the local sheriff about the speeders on my road and was told about how many miles of road he has to patrol and just doesn’t have the resources and when I walked out of his office there stood all of the day shift eating their carry out breakfast. I couldn’t let it rest. My parody started out “Welcome to the west side races” I guess I’ll need to be more blunt the next time. I won’t be able to start out with “ gas stations really don’t want to sell gas” or “Banks really don’t want your business “ I loved the Onion story. It hit home😂❤
The first time I read the Onion back in the fall of 1989 on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, it took me a couple minutes to figure out what the hell was going on. Looked forward to it eagerly after that!
Lol it was the first 'paper' I really read in high school in the 90's, same confusion-then-love story. To a teen that was some hardcore satire, now the world is so crazy that past stuff won't phase anyone today.
Life has become such a parody that The Onion is all too often indistinguishable from real life, I don't envy the job of trying to write parody these days.
A lot of the stories really write themselves nowadays.
"I try to be cynical, but it's hard to keep up." --Lily Tomlin
We know we're in real trouble when an Onion headline reads, "Neighbors work out property dispute without lawyers or gunfire." or "All politicians in Washington D.C. caught voting according to their pre-election promises."
You might be giving people today too much credit in thinking they can recognize parody. I love reading the Onion. Thanks for covering this.
I used to be able to recognize parody. Then reality started upping its game.
Indeed. I came here to challenge your assertion that "everyone" should be able to recognize parody when it is presented. Steve and many (dare I say, most?) of his readers are well-educated enough to appreciate the legal dissection, discussion and debate of legal issues; that skews the audience dramatically. It doesn't follow that the American public at large shares the mental acuity necessary to recognize such sublime humor as parody. This is the public that these very courts have decided need to be told that coffee is hot, knives are sharp, and ladders can be fallen from, to name a few of egregious examples.
There are still people who believe that 9/11 was an inside job, and that we never landed on the moon. And those people have access to social media, too. No longer are we critical viewers who could hear Walter Cronkite report a story, and then form our own opinions on what it meant to us - we have become a nation of people who choose to listen to only those voices that reinforce our own prejudices and echo the songs we already hear in our own heads . We also have the ability, once reserved for the trusted few, to communicate our views to anyone inclined to listen - and which social media has pre-selected to be most receptive of our own views.
This will only get worse.
There is a danger in speech which the reasonable reader handles fine but which for the unreasonable few is inflammatory to violence (a.k.a stochastic terrorism) with the list of mass murdering extremists who were influenced by The Turner Diaries being a prime example. But there isn't a reliable way to police that line without inviting tyranny that would be far more damaging to our people and culture than an occasional bombing or mass shooting.
Yeah, I mean Trump... Clearly not quite half can tell a joke when they see it.
@@davidstone1227 Uncle Walter was the spin master. He had you leaning his way when you tuned him in.
Absolutely awesome brief. Even a nonlawyer can "get it". Thankyou for this one!
😂 you're starting to begin your videos with this might be the longest video, but I'm in because I love hearing you ramble! Your videos are always interesting, you have a great voice, and I love learning.
This is the best episode of Lehto's Law I have ever listened to. And I listen to all of them. Thanks Steve.
I've shared it to social media already -- the views should be particularly high after awhile.
Best legal entertainment/news channel
What I think is going on is that a law firm from Michigan wants to see a government in Ohio eat dirt.
Don't we all though?
@@PaulJohnson-ow1mq only when we're awake and breathing
Wow, their brief is from top to bottom excellent. They constantly cite precedential cases, at one point 4 in a row directly contradicting the 6th circuits unconstitutional ruling on this case. In fact, it's probably in the top 10 briefs I've read since I started reading them in 2020.
Too bad they probably won't take up the case =/
@@IAintScaredOfNoGhost all too often the courts hold back with cowardice.
Excellent presentation of a truly important issue, Steve. Thank you.
One of your best posts yet. When you ask if people really need to be told the content is a parody, well, there are a lot of intellectually stymied people amongst us, so in their case, no, they should not be told, because that provides additional humor for us!
Humor is often used to tell the truth. Good for the Onion!
Many a true word spoken in jest.
I could have sworn this was going to be a suit against the government for infringing upon the Onion's artistic property.
It does seem like reality is imitating art these days.
You or the brief said something like “common people already know it’s not real.” The failing here is that the police department believed this page aligned closely enough with their activities and their mindset, that they additionally believed it intentionally misrepresented them. In effect, they expected this Facebook page to be commonly believable to the average reader.
Pure brilliance Steve. Please keep us posted as to how it turns out!
The Onion was the first online news source I subscribed to, back in 1803. Still the most reliable source for news, IMHO.
*I actually sat through 29 minutes of this, cracking up the whole time.*
Why’s that funny.😉
Seriously hilarious 🤣.
At seven minutes in I was compelled to download and read the entire brief, rendering this the most time I've ever spent viewing one of your videos. Kudos to you sir!
Same 🤦♀️
The Onion filing such a brief reminds me of when Dee Snider (lead vocalist for Twisted Sister) testified before the Senate. Another instance where someone with a real mind had to open the eyes of government officials.
One of my favorites is” black man given worst job in America “ .
This headline was run when Obama was elected the first time.
That is the most amazing thing I've read in a long time. I wonder how many Justices' heads it will fly right over.
My favorite was one of their early ones from years ago about boy scouts going door to door giving women mammograms / free breast examinations for cancer awareness month. LMAO
That would save a lot of lives
They used to have marriage articles with pictures of the bride and groom. One of the articles had a picture of a Subaru, labeled as the 'Perfect Marriage of Form and Function'
Ninja parade is my favorite.
I'm sure they would do a thorough job.
My favorite was the one about the Tea party is quite, too quite. The actor in that one is great.
Steve, I just got done watching your "Onion Breif" story and then checked my email. I found that the Institute for Justice had sent me a email expounding on what the Onion did just 1 hours after your vid. Wow!
"Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky", ? Don't forget us lil' ol' Volunteers! Tennessee, the Volunteer State, is in the 6th Circuit as well. (For better or worse.)
Steve, Check out the History of
The Harvard Lampoon! Since Before 1877 AD they have Excelled in The Art And Practice of Parody😊These Are The Folks who Brought Us Radio Programs, Print Media, And Animal House, and Eventually
Saturday Night Live😊, Often
Featuring The Same
Performers/Actors, Writers, And
Producers/Directors, Many of
Whom Have Passed Away😢
R.I.P.
I've often remarked The Onion's humor to be nothing short of genius. And the lengths The Onion will go to borders on absurdity. So imagine my delight when I hear The Onion keeps it real even in Scotus xD
Another reason to like The Onion.
This may well be the first legal brief to win a Pulitzer. It should definitely win the Thurber Prize fo American Humor. This is a literary masterpiece!
Onion is best! Love your "SISU" plate, thank you for honoring your roots! 😄Best New Year's wishes from the Old Country!
Well done for the wonderful submission to the supreme court. Excellent lawyers you did extremely well.
Dissecting a joke is like dissecting an animal. You learn something about the animal or joke but it dies in the process. By answering in a joke the brilliance is we learn something of value without the death and new life is breathed into an otherwise dying process. I can think of no better brief for which to submit
This is the best breakdown of law you have ever done
Mr. Lehto. Never miss your posts. I am a retired special forces intell guy who grew up in the Detroit area in the 1960s - to late 1970s. Have a few hobbies U.S. and Inter national Law or at least reading it, is one of my pastimes that keep me interested. We live in NC now and I do so much miss Michigan and the smart and thoughful folks up there. your video on this issue is an A++. We need more smart Lawyers like your self teaching the public about the law. Great work.
smart people?
in michigan?
no... where?
nothin but thieves and cut throats here
I generally do not find the Onion very entertaining. This is not only absolute genius but, tremendously well written prose and probably the funniest thing I have ever read from the Onion. Well played.
Great episode. Such an important conversation about 1A and freedom of expression and it was a lot of fun!
This is why ‘The Onion’, is the GOAT at parody and satire. This takes trolling to an entire new realm. Oh the possibilities….
The 15th paragraph... so meta!
This is a master class in parody writing for those interested in joke craft. You don't need an online pay course. This one is free from Steve, and courtesy of The Onion.
This one is free from the Onion, and courtesy of Steve.
If SCOTUS can't fix this they don't deserve their paycheck!
Based on some recent SCOTUS rulings, I'm not sure they even deserve minimum wage.
I truly appreciate the creativity and shear cleverness of this brief.
This has to be at least the third or fourth time that this video has popped up in my feed, and it never gets old!
19:05... The police department passes laws?
Yes. All day. every day, every time they interact with a private citizen, they pass a new law.
Anyway, you had me at "The Onion"!
Headline: Alcoholic lawyer doesn’t pass the bar
Should be "can't pass the bar" Thank me later.
Both working really well
I was watching this with my dad yesterday and my sides were in orbit for a solid half hour, this is masterfully done by the Onion.