New York Times Special Edition: Iraq War Ends

We stepped out of the subway, and a girl was handing out free newspapers on the street.
I almost didn't take it, but she waggled her eyebrow and glanced in such a way that I was inclined to peer down at the paper she held in her hand.
Looking down, I saw this:

My heart swelled and I took the paper. My friend The Past Tense and I stopped dead in the street as headline after headline caught our attention.

"Iraq War Ends"
"Nation Sets Its Sights on Building Sane Economy"
"Ex-Secretary Apologizes for W.M.D. Scare"
"Bush to Face Charges"

We were heading for the Met to look at art, but with this paper in our hands, we detoured immediately, headed for the nearest cafe and sat down to read every article line by line. We were in a state of shock and elation. We couldn't believe this was really happening. Despite our disbelief, our hope soared as we considered the possibility of living in a nation that was suddenly making positive changes in every way. Even the "weather report" at the top seemed indicative of a new political climate. It read, "Today, clouds part, more sunshine, recent gloom passes. Tonight, strong leftward winds. Tomorrow, a new day. Weather map throughout." It seemed vaguely possible that we might be experiencing one of the most incredible moments in America's history. We read on, and the tenor and language of the articles matched the New York Times perfectly. As our inspection continued, however, it seemed less and less likely that this newspaper could be true. On page A5, "Court Indicts Bush on High Treason Charge". Then on A8, "USA Patriot Act Repealed"...

We went back to the front page and realized that the paper was post-dated July 4, 2009, and a box in the upper left read, "All The News We Hope To Print". So it wasn't real. We wondered if it was even printed by the New York Times at all, and decided that if it was, this was an epic artistic event. The idea that arguably one of the best newspapers in the country had the guts to pull off something like this and felt that it was important enough to fund an entire edition of free papers was breathtaking. When I got home, I checked it out, and read on the BBC's website that this was actually created by the Yes Men. (I knew they were brilliantly inventive, but I used to live down the street from one of them, so the idea of them orchestrating such a massive well-concerted effort of political detournement hadn't even occurred to me.)
But the gift of this incredible newspaper into our day suddenly made the world seem a bit brighter. After all, If someone believed in this better world enough to print and distribute 1.2 million copies of this more than special edition, perhaps there is enough here in the rubble of this country to effect positive change, make amends for our government's atrocious deeds, and start approaching a better world.

More information:
The Yes Men
Their Wikipedia Bio
Report from the BBC
PDF version of the paper can be found here.

New York Times Special Edition Video News Release - Nov. 12, 2008 from H Schweppes on Vimeo.