In 1978, a Faux Paper Was Real Genius.

A spoof called ''New York Times -- Special Edition'' was handed out in big cities around the country this week, full of news stories imagined by liberal pranksters. It was a Grade-A caper; people walked into their subways carrying a newspaper headlined, ''Iraq War Ends,'' thinking, well, how do you like that? Then they noticed the date on the paper was next July. Now, clever as it was, this week's spoof will not do any damage to the reputation of liberals/progressives as being a little short in the humor leg. The faux paper was full of virtuous high-fiber material -- universal health care, nation sets sights on building sane economy, apologies by a range of villains -- and generally was all the fun of a steaming bowl of quinoa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]