April Fool
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid forgot what the first day of April can bring when he fell for a trick played on him by his staff about the men he was appearing with Wednesday at a news conference.
“My staff said I had to come in early a little today to talk to me about something,” Reid stated at the start of the conference on the need for a clean-energy smart grid.
“They told me [T.] Boone [Pickens] was becoming a Democrat and John [Podesta] was becoming the Republican,” said Reid, referring to the Texas oilman and the president of the Center for American Progress, respectively.
Lobbying groups also found a way to make light of things April 1. On Wednesday morning, we received a release from musicFIRST, the organization that’s attempting to establish radio performance rights for artists and musicians. It said broadcasters and artists finally had reached a deal.
“We were surprised when the broadcasters said, ‘Let’s work out a deal that is fair to artists, musicians and labels and fair to radio,’ ” said Jennifer Bendall, executive director for musicFIRST. “But they seemed sincere, so we threw caution to the wind and took them up on their offer to talk. After that, it didn’t take long to reach an agreement.”
Of course, it was all a ruse. “Wouldn’t it be great if it were true?” the organization asks.
