Congressman Jim Cooper Takes Very Controversial Stand

In our news today, a British panel has issued its findings on the role of satire in today's society.

But first, Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) has taken perhaps the most controversial stand of his long career. Speaking before a group of reporters in Nashville, Cooper said that he believed that the law of gravity would operate tomorrow as it does today.

"If you roll a pencil off of a desk tomorrow, it will fall to the floor just like it does today," Cooper said.

Asked by John Seigenthaler III, a local reporter, if it was not risky for Cooper to be taking such a stand in advance of release of the findings of a Federally funded group of experts on the subject, expected to be released in two weeks, Cooper responded, "All of my life I have taken controversial stands that were ahead of their time, and I have no intention of stopping now."

Asked by another local reporter, John Seigenthaler IV, if he was ready to sign on to another topic of high interest, whether the sun would continue to rise in the East, Cooper said he needed more time to study the issue.

"Each topic must be decided on a case-by-case basis," he said.

Meanwhile, the panel in Great Britain looking into the effects of satire on modern living reported that most individuals don't recognize satirical statements either when they hear or read them, and therefore tend to take them very seriously, without enjoying the humor in them.