It seems the White House is telling The Onion to stop using the presidential seal:
The newspaper regularly produces a parody of President Bush’s weekly radio address on its Web site, where it has a picture of President Bush and the official insignia.
“It has come to my attention that The Onion is using the presidential seal on its Web site,” Grant M. Dixton, associate counsel to the president, wrote to The Onion on Sept. 28. (At the time, Mr. Dixton’s office was also helping Mr. Bush find a Supreme Court nominee; days later his boss, Harriet E. Miers, was nominated.)
Citing the United States Code, Mr. Dixton wrote that the seal “is not to be used in connection with commercial ventures or products in any way that suggests presidential support or endorsement.” Exceptions may be made, he noted, but The Onion had never applied for such an exception.
Seems there’s only room for one grotesque parody of the U.S. presidency, thank you very much, and he’s currently occupying the Oval Office.
I wonder if the same letter is being sent to pro WhiteHouse sites:
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In fairness to the White House, the ostensible cause of their complaint was that The Onion is a commercial site.
In the case of that appalling anti-abortion page, I’d be amazed if it’s ever an issue. They have so much plug-in garbage going on that most browsers would probably burst into flames long before they got around to rendering the image of the presidential seal…
Your last sentence nails it, Rob. The problem with the Bush Administration is that they are threatening to make satire obsolete.
Though I author the page, I agree that it is …well, awful no, but definitely dijointed. It basically was my way of having a blog/rant page back before blogging ’cause I found the UseNet was mostly flames. Any suggestions on cleaning it up are appreciated.