fake Congresswoman takes on colorful causes
Rep. Sherri Davis, a Republican from California, has a plucky resume, fabulous fashion sense, and a mission to eradicate yoga mat-borne illnesses. She’s colorful, quotable and, unfortunately, totally fake.
Those who aren’t up on their members of Congress, or who don’t have a congressional directory handy, might be fooled by Rep. Davis’ internet footprints, which include a smattering of press releases, mentions on various blogs, and video
clips posted on YouTube.com. She even has recommended items on Amazon.com.
The tales spread about her are just detailed enough to appear plausible. According to the press releases, which are posted on the website
www.pr-inside.com and show up in Google news searches, the congresswoman is pressing legislative priorities including “a program designed to capitalize on the current ‘scrapbooking craze’ to increase youth reading levels through individual vouchers and through major tax-breaks to the American scrapbooking industry” and the Yoga Mat Cleanliness Act (YMCA), which the congresswoman promoted through appearances with actress Sarah Jessica Parker. According to the release, Parker “caught a bad case of
tinea cruris from using an unclean yoga mat”.
A woman purporting to be Davis appears in the YouTube
clips offering bizarre policy prescriptions, such as suggesting that the problem of illegal immigration be solved by rounding up all illegal immigrants and forcing them to live in a tent city in the desert. Some viewers appeared fooled by the clips, posting comments like, “Is anyone else baffled as to how this ditz got elected? Or scared and embarrassed that she is one of the lawmakers of our country?”
Some details, though, are just too over-the-top. Davis’ releases claim she “skyrocketed to fame in the 1990s with her raunchy rock-anthem ‘(Doing the) Baby Dance,’ which reached No. 4 on the Billboard pop charts.” Before taking office, Davis also played the role of Penny Pingleton in numerous regional performances of “Hairspray.”
We tried to get to the bottom of the bottom of the ruse, but her “staffer,” who identifies himself as Jake Barnes (oddly, that’s the name of the lead character from Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”) refuses to give up his “boss.”