Lansing - Getting an appointment with a state senator can be hard enough with a real press pass - let alone a fake one.
Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" invaded state Sen. Virg Bernero's office Wednesday afternoon, prying and jesting him with their sarcastic brand of questions. The interview was based on a privacy bill the Lansing Democrat introduced in the Michigan Senate earlier that day.
"Daily Show" "correspondent" Samantha Bee served up the show's usual bantering style with quick quips and mockery aimed at the senator, who said he has only seen the work of the show's main anchor Jon Stewart - not any of the sometimes-satirical correspondents' stories.
"If it makes me look foolish or whatever, I can live with it," Bernero told The State News on Wednesday. "With a guy like me, I try not to take myself too seriously. They share our perspective on the issue, so how I'm used in the process is small potatoes really."
Bee said Bernero would be the voice of reason in the news story.
"He'll come across well," she said of the interview. "I can't believe that they would ever talk to us - it's amazing when they do."
Bernero introduced a bill in the state Senate on Wednesday that would protect workers from being fired by their employers for activities off the job, unless it poses a conflict of interest or hurts the company. It was prompted by four smokers fired by Weyco Inc., a Okemos-based health benefits company, for not quitting smoking.
Anita Epolito, a former Weyco employee fired because she refused to quit smoking, interviewed with Bee and said the show conveyed her case better than John Stossel and "20/20," which interviewed her for a segment last week.
"Once again, it's not the news, but fortunately they were in tune enough to understand that it was a privacy issue, and smoking is not the issue," the Haslett resident said. "The satire was just really funny and dry."
In the senator's interview, Bee first asked Bernero straightforward questions about his legislation. Then the camera turned to Bee as she asked Bernero comical questions.
She threw her hands in the air several times and provoked the motionless senator, who sat in front of her, to mimic a real interview.
Because of Comedy Central policies, the dialogue can't be released. Bee said the show probably will air next week.
"The Daily Show" touts itself as Comedy Central's daily "fake news" broadcast. Hosted by Stewart, the show attracted attention during the presidential election with its "Indecision 2004" coverage.
"It was unlike anything I've ever done," Bernero said. "I knew it'd be a trip."
To prepare for the shoot, the nonsmoker Bee smoked almost a half a pack of cigarettes on camera.
"I feel like I could vomit - there's so much nicotine flowing through my veins right now," she said.
