From George McKelvey's Picks of the Week

Axis of Evil
by John Cleese

Bitter after being snubbed for membership in the "Axis of Evil", Libya, China and Syria today announced that they had formed the "Axis of Just as Evil, " which they said would be more evil than that stupid Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush warned of at his State of the Union address. Axis of Evil members, however, immediately dismissed the new Axis as having, for starters, a really dumb name.

"Right. They are just as evil...in their dreams!" declared North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. Diplomats from Syria denied they were jealous over being excluded, although they conceded they did ask if they could join the Axis of Evil. "They told us it was full", said Syrian president Bashar al-Assad."An Axis can't have more than three countries", explained former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. "This is not my rule, it's tradition. In WWII you had Germany, Italy, and Japan in the evil Axis. So you can only have three, and a secret handshake."

International reaction to Bush's Axis of Evil declaration was swift, as within minutes, France surrendered. Elsewhere, peer-conscious nations rushed to gain triumvirate status in what has become a game of geopolitical chairs. Cuba, Sudan and Serbia announced they had formed the "Axis of Somewhat Evil", forcing Somalia to join Uganda and Myanmar in the "Axis of Occasionally Evil", while Bulgaria, Indonesia and Russia established the "Axis of Not So Much Evil Really as Just Generally Disagreeable".

With the criteria suddenly expanded and all the desirable clubs filling up, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, and Rwanda applied to be called the "Axis of Countries That Aren't the Worst But Certainly Won't Be Asked to Host the Olympics Anytime Soon." Canada, Mexico, and Germany formed the "Axis of Nations That Are Actually Quite Nice But Have Some Nasty Thoughts About America", while Scotland, New Zealand and Spain established the "Axis of Countries That Want Sheep to Wear Lipstick". "That's not a threat, really, just something we like to do" said Scottish Executive First Minister Jack McConnell.

While wondering if the other nations of the world weren't perhaps making fun of him, a cautious Bush granted approval for most axis's, although he rejected the establishment of the "Axis of Countries Whose Names End in'guay'", accusing one of its members of filing a false application. Officials from Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chadguay denied the charges.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED