Yes way. This is a real thing on a government website.
Press releases are not generally known to be riveting reads. And definitely not the ones from the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee (sample sentence: Last week, Chairman Goodlatte led 239 Members of Congress in sending a letter to ATF Director B. Todd Jones expressing strong concern about the Obama Administration’s plan to ban the manufacture and importation of the second-most common ammunition used for the AR-15, the M855 or “green tip.”)
But someone at the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee apparently decided earlier this week to get creative, shake things up, get their message out in a bold, new way. And they came up with … mimicking a Buzzfeed listicle—with worse writing.
Someone put up a press release—can we even really call this thing a press release? —bashing the Obama administration’s immigration policy. But, you know, so the youth can understand it.
Also, a real thing on a government website.
Because nothing says authority on immigration like a bunch of white actresses, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Steve Carrell, and Britney Spears.
Meanwhile, ZDNet points out the amazing hypocrisy of this particular House committee using GIFs.
“Remember, back in 2011, when the Web went dark to prevent the SOPA bill from passing. That was the Stop Online Piracy Act and it was basically designed to pretty much deny us all sorts of rights online, a golden platter gift wrapped up and delivered to the lobbyists who bought and paid for our elected representatives.
So, guess, Dear Reader, who sponsored SOPA? Yep, most of the members of the current House Judiciary Committee.
These six (three Dem and three GOP) spent a tremendous effort to destroy fair use for all Americans and here they are, a few years later, violating copyright and just barely hanging onto a fair use thread, right on the official site of the Judiciary Committee.”
Your tax dollars at work, people.
Rachel Sadon