The masterful and humorous "Yes Men" activist troupe were the ones behind that delightful prank where they managed to masquerade as representatives of the United States Chamber of Commerce in that Nation Press Club presser. On Tuesday, the day after the presser, they pranked Senator Specter (D-PA) to remind him that he needs to vote for cap-and-trade.
Read all about it below the fold.
Now that I look at it again, I'm surprised that the National Press Club did not suspect the man masquerading as a representative of the Chamber. He looks like a grad student who put on make-up and hair dye to look older. Still, it was a prank for the ages and it was remarkable how well they managed to fool the press into thinking that the Chamber of Commerce had taken a 180-degree turn in their policy.
On Tuesday morning, "Yes Men" pulled a more traditional prank in Washington D.C., where they dressed up in puffy canvas suits (dubbed "survivaballs") and chased after Senator Specter as his handlers led him away from the action. Watch it:
Move over, Mike Stark. (Just kidding, Mike, you're great.)
The point of the survivaballs (which do not work, obviously, they're just to help make a point) is to say to Congress: "If you do not pass environmental protections soon, we may all have to live in survivaballs someday." They were targeting Senator Specter to remind him that he needs to vote favorably on cap-and-trade (with humor as their weapon of choice).
The "Yes Men" pulled the same survivaball stunt at the G-20 protests in Pittsburgh.
Discuss how you feel about this new prank in the comments. Feel free to critique, laugh, and make up jokes.
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In other news, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway (who is running for the 2010 Senatorial Democratic Primary) has some big news in the way of fundraising.
Attorney General Jack Conway has outraised primary challenger Lt. Governor Daniel "the Grouch" Mongiardo for Q3 675K to 524K. Mongiardo now has 1.3 million dollars on hand while Jack Conway sits on a pile of 2 million big ones. Some people thought that the 2010 Kentucky race was lost for the Democrats when Bunning decided to retire, but the recent polling and fundraising is very encouraging news.