Satire vs Hoax

Ken O’Brien

Satire: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues

Hoax: something intended to deceive or defraud

As a way of educating my obviously ignorant (and perhaps deceitful) detractors regarding the recent issue I have raised regarding the activities of Town Councilor Kristen Auclair, I reprint an article written by Matt Rock on Newsvine on May 27, 2014.

Satire is not meant to be a "hoax" (an open letter to the team at IFL Science)

As some of you may know, I used to be a frequent writer here at Newsvine, probably best known for writing political satire.  That satire was deemed good enough for someone to hire me and steal me away in 2011.  If you don't know who I am, well, now you do.  And with that introduction out of the way, let's get to the content at hand. 

Was Councilor AuClair Involved In A Fundraising Scam?

Ken O’Brien

In a previous post I addressed whether Southbridge Town Councilor Kristen AuClair had misled voters about her role in denying the historical evidence on the existence of dinosaurs.

During her campaign for her current seat on the Council she claimed that her comments on the matter were little more than satire.

As another blogger has noted, “Sadly, I think they actually believe what they’re saying, although we may never know for sure. Between their Facebook page, Twitter feed and Youtube channel, they seem dumbfoundingly earnest. And would anyone put this much effort into their website if they didn’t really mean it?”

Whether or not Councilor AuClair was pursuing an earnest belief or was in fact engaged with others in a high level piece of performance art, one of her group’s efforts, in which she was involved, raises serious concerns.