It was made by those Grand Folks at The Onion, and purports to be a member of Congress reading a law which allows bizarre forms of martial law in the case of a Classified virus outbreak leading to [Classified] and eating of human brains [Classified].
Aside from the reminder that we're always one announcement away from a christian fundamentalist theocracy that would make Ceauşescu's Romania look like Disneyland, I'm almost sorry it's not real because the production values are so high. The actor they hired to portray "Representative John Haller" is spot-on.
Another reason I'm sorry it's not real: Back in my child-time, the original Outer Limits series debuted in 1964. An episode that caught my attention was "The Architects Of Fear", which starred a young Robert Culp (about to hit stardom with Bill Cosby in the teevee series, I Spy) as a scientist-member of a group who believe Earth's warring humans would unite -- if faced with the threat of an alien invasion.
When the group decides they will create their own alien and have it appear with murderous intent, Culp pulls the short straw (literally), and is slowly transformed, physically, into a hideous mound of latex and paper-mache. His mission is to crash-land a spacecraft on the mall in front of the United Nations building and make people believe he is just the first -- sort of an uglier, more ill-tempered Klaatu.
Robert Culp, Hoping For Better Roles, 1964.
Sadly, he misses his mark and ends up crashing in a swamp not far from his own home (What are the odds? Outer Limits was always doing this kind of thing), and his wife rushes to find him... Hey, buy the video if you want to know how it ends.
But, watching The Onion's creation, I begin to wonder if it wouldn't take something like an alien invasion, or a zombie infestation, to get people to pay attention to our common humanity and leave the past behind, or else get eaten. Just Sayin'.
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