Anytime This is True runs stories with (shall we say) controversial subjects, it generates letters. But nothing brings more letters than the division between left- and right-wing politics! Some of the people who read the column on President Clinton's White House Intern 'Fornigate Scandal' thought Randy was unfairly biased. (One, from Arizona, said Randy was a "fascist right-wing conspirator" and a "Christian Coalition prevericator (sic)"! Oh, my! How quickly they forget!)

We get much more mail from conservatives ranting about supposed left-wing bias than the other way around! (The difference, though, seems to be that liberals' emotions get out of control, leading to name-calling, while conservatives tend to do the tsk tsk tsk thing, telling Randy he'll go to hell if he doesn't shape up.) So, in the interest of fair play (since the Clinton piece is posted on this web site), and in the spirit of the "Republican Response" speeches that the media carries after a speech made by our Democratic president, we offer:

Continue reading "Bias? You be the Judge" »

Update! See below.

Sometimes you come across a story that really, really seems too weird to be true. Sure we've all heard about chickens who run around the barnyard after getting their heads chopped off. But for over a year? So in an effort to know, for sure, that the news is The Truth, I went looking for evidence that Mike was real. Here's what I found -- and the story from the 26 March 2000 issue of This is True.

Continue reading "Mike the Headless Chicken" »

See Update Below!

The U.S. has its Janet Jackson scandal; Canada has a scandal over a completely clothed woman with a modest neckline. And naturally, we have the photos to illustrate this earth-shattering story from True's 21 August 2005 issue:

Continue reading "Canada: Outpruding the U.S." »

The following essay was included in True's e-mail editions for the week of 19 November 2006.

I had reserved this space tonight for a major rant. What makes one of my rants "major"? I was actually going to call for a boycott and a letter-writing campaign -- I don't recall ever doing that before. I wanted to show how collective outrage can make a difference. But you know what happened? Collective outrage grew on its own, quickly rising to a spontaneous chorus of "NO!" And the perpetrator listened.

Continue reading "The Power of Collective Outrage" »