Happy “Make Fun of the Cheneys” Day!
On December 12, 2002, Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynn sent a DCMA notice to the White House parody site, where the site hosted a fake biography of Lynn Cheney. Partial bio:
Mrs. Dick Cheney was born Lynne Ann Vincent on August 14, 1941 in Casper, Wyoming. The daughter of a ruggedly masculine sheriff and her demurely erudite husband, Lynne took an early and girlishly appropriate interest in those aspects of American art and culture which are so comfortably reminiscent of 18th century thought and tradition. A voracious reader of books, the young future Mrs. Dick Cheney took a special liking to the tragically romantic works of the Frenchman Victor Hugo, most notably his seminal novel “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” from whose dog-eared pages she would later would take her inspiration when selecting a mate.
Text of the DCMA notice:
“This is to request adjustments in the content of your website at www.whitehouse.org. On the webpage http://www.whitehouse.org/administration/lynne.asp appear photographs of the Honorable Lynne V. Cheney and a fictitious biographical statement about her.
It is important to avoid using her name and picture for the purposes of trade without her written consent, see N.Y. Civil Rights Law”
To protest their legal threats and harassment, April first is “Make Fun of the Cheneys Day.”