Signifying Nothing

This year's Faulkner write-alike contest was won by a parody of The Sound And The Fury where--get this--the idiot, Benjy, turns out to be--can you believe it?!--George W. Bush.

There's a flap because United Airlines magazine didn't print the parody except on its website. The magazine claims it was only planning to publish it online.

I don't know what's really going on, but, based on the excerpt in the linked article, the parody is pretty bad. The title alone, "The Administration and the Fury," feels like the writer's not trying. The only reason I can imagine the judges chose it, despite what they claim, is that it takes on the Bush administration (in a highly unoriginal way). Somehow, I can't see them happily proclaiming the piece if it insulted an actual sacred cow, like the NAACP or Islam.

(If the judges are big Bush fans who simply couldn't deny the wit behind the piece, then I humbly apologize. Any takers? I'll give odds.)