# TIME magazine doesn’t understand Canadian satire; thinks the US Ambassador threatened Parliament with a Patriot missile **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 29, 2025, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224 "2025-11-29T01:13:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/1 "2025-11-29T01:13:06Z")
_The Beaverton_, a Canadian satire mag, write an article about the US Ambassador to Canada. Trying to think of the most outrageous possible statement, they attributed a fake quote to the US Ambassador: > ”‘A Canada that it would be very easy to target with 500% steel tariffs, or one patriot missile aimed at Parliament Hill,’ he added, rather incredulously.’” Cause nobody would think the US Ambassador would threaten to bomb Canada , right? Yeah, about that. TIME quoted it straight. And then had to issue a correction. _The Beaverton_ responded: > “We don’t try to trick people,” said MacIntyre, who’s also an editor. “I promise I wrote that line thinking this is the silliest joke I can write and people will obviously think it’s a joke.” [https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/beaverton-dupes-time-hoekstra-9.6996328](https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/beaverton-dupes-time-hoekstra-9.6996328) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/2 "2025-11-29T01:15:44Z")
Not to mention that Patriot is a purely defensive missile, which any credible media should have known or found out. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/3 "2025-11-29T01:30:16Z")
Sure, but it’s not like it’s unbelievable a member of this administration wouldn’t know that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/4 "2025-11-29T01:35:15Z")
The joke of course is that reality is now so insane that nobody, and I mean _nobody_, can write parody that stands out from reality. The _Onion_, and the _Beaverton_, will founder in the current gale of bullshit. But yeah, the Patriot missile is for killing incoming aircraft and missiles, not for attacking ground targets. Any fool oughta know that much. The current US ~~administration~~ criminal regime may well not, but any Canadian politician or journalist would. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/5 "2025-11-29T01:51:45Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Patriot is a purely defensive missile What kind of US Patriot is “purely defensive”? The best defense is a good offense! You know who said that? [Mel, the cook on “Alice”](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Radio/TheFrantics). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/6 "2025-11-29T02:09:21Z")
But when Canada unleashes their top-secret Maple Leaf Repulsion Fields to make Parliament fly, we’ll be ready! ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/7 "2025-11-29T05:46:32Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > The best defense is a good offense! You know who said that? [Mel, the cook on “Alice”](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Radio/TheFrantics). Yeah! When do we get to start trashing bozos? ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/8 "2025-11-29T07:24:01Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > What kind of US Patriot is “purely defensive”? The Patriot is a surface-to-air missile so the only way to hit Parliament with one is if it falls on the building. The headline would be 100% more believable if they had said Tomahawk missile instead. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/9 "2025-11-29T14:53:36Z")
Seems Time Magazine isn’t the only ones having trouble with humour these days. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/10 "2025-11-29T19:44:48Z")
One commenter on The Beaverton’s FB page referred to this as ‘The Beaverton Window’ - the shifting perspective on satire and reality. I really wish I’d thought of that one first! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/11 "2025-11-30T16:48:06Z")
I honestly wouldn’t have been sure if someone had asked me yesterday if TIME was still in business. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/12 "2025-11-30T19:14:47Z")
I know, right? Powerhouse of the media in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. And now? Gets taken in by some Canadian satire mag. Ozymandias. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/13 "2025-11-30T19:43:08Z")
About 10 years ago, someone said “The only way you can tell anymore that an _Onion_ article is an _Onion_ article is that it’s in the _Onion_.” Wish I could remember who said that. And, _Time_ just doesn’t understand satire in general; it has nothing to do with Canada. Except maybe that they are better at it. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-magazine-doesn-t-understand-canadian-satire-thinks-the-us-ambassador-threatened-parliament-with-a-patriot-missile/1025224/14 "2025-12-01T20:19:41Z")
Given what actual cabinet members are doing and saying nowadays, I have plenty of sympathy for journalists who fall for Poes Law… > I mean typically the best way to tell a piece of over the top hyperbolic satire about the current US government, from actual news, is it the over the top satire seems more reasonable. That said this story doesn’t fill me of confidence of how our media will handle our current era of AI generated fake news ☹