New York Representative Tom Reed (R), who actually does look like a caricature of a congressional Republican, started the push to outlaw the publication in all forms. Rep. Reed was lampooned in a recent Onion article that claimed the Republican is torn between living up to Grover Norquist's famous anti-tax pledge, and doing what is good for the nation. The story included the following quote, attributing it to Reed: "At the end of the day, it's a question of whether a nonbinding signature on an outdated and worthless pledge written 26 years ago is more important than preventing the nation from completely going to hell. I just don't know what to do here."

While open to poking fictitious fun of all political ideologies, The Onion is generally considered to be a left-leaning outfit.

"Yeah, it started in liberal Madison, Wisconsin, and that explains a whole lot," Reed said. "I'm all for the First Amendment. Of course. But you can't yell 'fire' in a crowded theater, and you can not mock and discredit serious people with impunity."

The American Civil Liberties Union, not surprisingly, immediately postured in support of The Onion. With its stated mission "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country," the free speech organization is already preparing a legal defense and promises to file an injunction "upon any federal action infringing on the right to freedom of expression among our nation's purportedly free press," read an ACLU press release.

The non-profit further encourages citizens to have their voices heard by visiting petitions.whitehouse.gov to create an offical White House petition, demanding The Onion be permitted to continue its satire, in all forms, unmolested.

"I think Johnny Gutenberg is rolling in his grave right now," retiring Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank (D) said, referring to the 15th Century German inventor whose Johannes Gutenberg Press revolutionized the widespread distribution of news and information.

But where Frank sees danger to our freedom at home, some of his more conservative colleagues view potential international consequences. Department of Justice agents raided The Onion's Chicago, Ill., headquarters in early December, confiscating dozens of computers.

Iowa's Steve King (R) sits on the House Judiciary Committee and has been a driving force to outlaw The Onion.

"The bottom line is, it's a bona fide threat to national security," King warned citizens. "Understand, other nations have actually reprinted Onion tripe as real American news! If the rest of the world really thinks this is what we really think, we should all recognize the implications."

Indeed, on a number of occasions stories from The Onion have been picked up and reported as real news. Most recently, the Chinese Communist Party's website reported, as fact, an Onion story naming North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, as "the Sexiest Man Alive."

"And how many people have seen the fake photo of our own Vice President [Joe] Biden, without a shirt on, ostensibly washing his car?" King asked.

The allegedly victimized Biden said he has no problem with The Onion and opposes any legislation censoring its content. When asked specifically about his own appearances, he smiled and said it was not a problem.

"When I saw that PhotoShop[ped picture] of me washing 'my' Trans Am outside the West Wing, I literally did L-O-L," Biden said. "It was f---ing awesome."