Fantasyland blending into wacky world

"Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Presidency". "New Wearable Feedbags Let Americans Eat More, Move Less." "High School Tonys Honor Nation's Drama Club Nerds." Via Youtube I've just been touring old and new satirical news segments produced by the brilliant (if socialistic) "Onion News Network" -- and these are some of their hilarious headlines. They're so outlandish, thank God that reality could never possibly scan so weirdly in serious journalism -- right?

That's what I keep thinking, but then a story like this one comes along. You tell me which is less surreal, please -- The Onion's incredibly deft work with scripts, sets, lights, actors, and technology or the fact that something like THIS could come about in any country that even vaguely considers itself "free": 

http://reason.com/blog/2011/04/25/state-dept-proposes-creepy-imp
State Dept. Proposes Creepy, Impossible-To-Answer Questions for Passport Applications
http://www.consumertraveler.com/today/state-dept-wants-to-make-it-harder-to-get-a-passport/

If you don’t want it to get even harder for a U.S. citizen to get a passport — now required for travel even to Canada or Mexico — you only have until Monday to let the State Department know.
The U.S. Department of State is proposing a new Biographical Questionnaire for some passport applicants: The proposed new  Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information.  According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.”

The State Department estimated that the average respondent would be able to compile all this information in just 45 minutes, which is obviously absurd given the amount of research that is likely to be required to even attempt to complete the form.
It seems likely that only some, not all, applicants will be required to fill out the new questionnaire, but no criteria have been made public for determining who will be subjected to these additional new written interrogatories.  So if the passport examiner wants to deny your application, all they will have to do is give you the impossible new form to complete.
It’s not clear from the supporting statement, statement of legal authorities, or regulatory assessment submitted by the State Department to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) why declining to discuss one’s siblings or to provide the phone number of your first supervisor when you were a teenager working at McDonalds would be a legitimate basis for denial of a passport to a U.S. citizen.......


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