I don’t want to make too big of a deal about it, but Steven Colbert’s performance at the White House Correspondent’s dinner was spectacular. I don’t know where he found the guts to take the President to the woodshed like that when he was standing ten feet away. The brilliance of his construction, ostensibly being a huge supporter of Bush, and his refusal to be sidetracked by the lack of laughter and the uncomfortable smiles, made for a comedic triumph of the highest order. The truth stands in such stark contrast to the official spin manufactured through the White House, and through the White House correspondents, that Colbert’s job was relatively easy. Just tell the truth, tell it relentlessly, say it doesn’t matter, say not to care, endorse closing one’s eyes to what everyone clearly knows. The emperor and the Washington press corp are wearing no clothes, and last night they were exposed. A captive audience had nowhere to run, as Colbert dropped bomb after bomb after bomb on them. If there is a hell, Bush will be there getting subjected to Colbert’s speech over and over again for all eternity.
We should build a statue to Steve Colbert for providing a little dose of justice on a most deserving ‘inside Washington’ glitterati. He savaged Antonin Scalia, he savaged John McCain, he savaged the corruption in Washington, he accused the press of being mere stenographers for the administration, he bashed the Washington Post, he brutally attacked the war in Iraq, the President’s response to Katrina, his failure to address global warming, the budget, the NSA leaks, the Plame affair, the secret prisons, and the torture. Colbert left almost no national disgrace unmentioned, and he pulled no punches. I have nothing but admiration for him.
Unsuprisingly, the wingnuts see things somewhat differently…
White House Correspondent’s dinner
Some samples from Pam’s House Blend:
“God bless our President for having the fortitude to put up with this waste of time and these tacky, talentless, hollow little people.”
“Oh. My. God. I cannot believe the vile string of invective cloaked as comedy delivered by that simpering fool Colbert. It was a serious lecture. He picked up confidence and conviction with every worn out accusation he learned on Daily Kos. Unlike Imus, who had enough of a conscience to pour flop sweat on his filthy self, this guy actually developed a glow by the end of his diatribe. He was proud. I cannot believe our president was forced to endure this disgusting insult. I am beyond ashamed.”
“If you have the stomach to watch, be sure to pay attention to the psychopath’s exit. GWB shook his hand curtly. Laura pointedly refused to stand or extend her hand. She gave him a look. Then the filthy coward moved on to kiss and warmly embrace the fossil Helen Thomas… great minds and all.”
“Stephen Colbert’s long presentation could not have been more awful. I did not laugh once. I broke a smile maybe once (the Mayor Nagin joke). Colbert even managed to ridicule the President’s standing-on-the-rubble 9/11 moment as a “staged photo-op”. His blinding hatred for all-things-Bush could not have come across more clearly. Ugh.”
“Watching Stephen Colbert was an exercise in agony. It went on and on and on forever, generating few laughs with everyone checking their watches. Whoever said he was funny, besides Don Imus, should have watched Colbert’s non-performance tonight. It’s like he didn’t have a clue that he had bombed! Bush and his look-alike stole the show. Bush is a master of self-deprecating humor which makes him endear himself more to the American people. Gosh, I love this guy and am so proud of him.”
“I just watched the clip with Steve Bridges, it was great! I’ve seen him doing his Bush impersonation on The Tonight Show, he was exactly the same tonight. He has the style and mannerisms down and their timing was excellent. Missed Colbert and it sounds like a good thing. He is a smarmy little guy. I’ve watched his show a few times to see what it’s about. Whoever invited him failed to realize that he is MOCKING conservatives and Fox News types (especially O’Reilly), not in a nice way either. [Give this moron a cookie!] Too bad he couldn’t be decent tonight. “
The truth hurts.
Heh. It was uncomfortable to watch, and parts of it were definitely NOT funny, but he basically said everything I’ve been screaming at the TV about for the past 5 years and I love him for it. What a brave, brave man.
I wonder what will become of Stephen Colbert now. It will be interesting to watch how the press spins it – or ignores it.
I never thought for a minute that it was funny. I do think that he used the
“funny” venue to suck his audience into thinking it would, be till they realized it wasn`t at all. They turned out to be the butt of their own “funny” evening.
The Associated Press covered only the Chimpy McTorture squared act.
So I sent them the below email, filling them in on what their reporter missed (and I’ve included the transcript of the brilliant bit, in case you missed it.
White House Correspondents Dinner — what AP missed
To: info@ap.org
Hey, AP: You missed the real news at the White House Correspondents dinner.
It wasn’t the silly “Bush look-a-like” as everyone there was aware, but Stephen Colbert’s brilliant monologue and short film.
One more reason I don’t get my news from newspapers — or AP — anymore. The blogs actually cover what’s news, not what’s the establishment spin and coverup.
So, since your reporter left you out of the loop, below is the transcript of Colbert’s speech:
STEPHEN COLBERT: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Before I begin, I’ve been asked to make an announcement. Whoever parked 14 black bulletproof S.U.V.’s out front, could you please move them? They are blocking in 14 other black bulletproof S.U.V.’s and they need to get out.
Wow. Wow, what an honor. The White House correspondents’ dinner. To actually sit here, at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush, to be this close to the man. I feel like I’m dreaming. Somebody pinch me. You know what? I’m a pretty sound sleeper — that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face. Is he really not here tonight? Dammit. The one guy who could have helped.
By the way, before I get started, if anybody needs anything else at their tables, just speak slowly and clearly into your table numbers. Somebody from the NSA will be right over with a cocktail. Mark Smith, ladies and gentlemen of the press corps, Madame First Lady, Mr. President, my name is Stephen Colbert and tonight it’s my privilege to celebrate this president. We’re not so different, he and I. We get it. We’re not brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We’re not members of the factinista. We go straight from the gut, right sir? That’s where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. I know some of you are going to say I did look it up, and that’s not true. That’s cause you looked it up in a book.
Next time, look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that’s how our nervous system works. Every night on my show, the Colbert Report, I speak straight from the gut, OK? I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the “No Fact Zone.” Fox News, I hold a copyright on that term.
I’m a simple man with a simple mind. I hold a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists. My gut tells me I live there. I feel that it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I strongly believe it has 50 states. And I cannot wait to see how the Washington Post spins that one tomorrow. I believe in democracy. I believe democracy is our greatest export. At least until China figures out a way to stamp it out of plastic for three cents a unit.
In fact, Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong, welcome. Your great country makes our Happy Meals possible. I said it’s a celebration. I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq.
I believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. I believe it is possible — I saw this guy do it once in Cirque du Soleil. It was magical. And though I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be you Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it’s yogurt. But I refuse to believe it’s not butter. Most of all, I believe in this president.
Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us, we don’t pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in “reality.” And reality has a well-known liberal bias.
So, Mr. President, please, pay no attention to the people that say the glass is half full. 32% means the glass — it’s important to set up your jokes properly, sir. Sir, pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, because 32% means it’s 2/3 empty. There’s still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn’t drink it. The last third is usually backwash. Okay, look, folks, my point is that I don’t believe this is a low point in this presidency. I believe it is just a lull before a comeback.
I mean, it’s like the movie “Rocky.” All right. The president in this case is Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed is — everything else in the world. It’s the tenth round. He’s bloodied. His corner man, Mick, who in this case I guess would be the vice president, he’s yelling, “Cut me, Dick, cut me!,” and every time he falls everyone says, “Stay down! Stay down!” Does he stay down? No. Like Rocky, he gets back up, and in the end he — actually, he loses in the first movie.
OK. Doesn’t matter. The point is it is the heart-warming story of a man who was repeatedly punched in the face. So don’t pay attention to the approval ratings that say 68% of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68% approve of the job he’s not doing? Think about it. I haven’t.
I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound — with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.
Now, there may be an energy crisis. This president has a very forward-thinking energy policy. Why do you think he’s down on the ranch cutting that brush all the time? He’s trying to create an alternative energy source. By 2008 we will have a mesquite-powered car!
And I just like the guy. He’s a good joe. Obviously loves his wife, calls her his better half. And polls show America agrees. She’s a true lady and a wonderful woman. But I just have one beef, ma’am.
I’m sorry, but this reading initiative. I’m sorry, I’ve never been a fan of books. I don’t trust them. They’re all fact, no heart. I mean, they’re elitist, telling us what is or isn’t true, or what did or didn’t happen. Who’s Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was built in 1914? If I want to say it was built in 1941, that’s my right as an American! I’m with the president, let history decide what did or did not happen.
The greatest thing about this man is he’s steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday. Events can change; this man’s beliefs never will. As excited as I am to be here with the president, I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is destroying America, with the exception of Fox News. Fox News gives you both sides of every story: the president’s side, and the vice president’s side.
But the rest of you, what are you thinking, reporting on NSA wiretapping or secret prisons in eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason: they’re super-depressing. And if that’s your goal, well, misery accomplished. Over the last five years you people were so good — over tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effect of global warming. We Americans didn’t want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew.
But, listen, let’s review the rules. Here’s how it works: the president makes decisions. He’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put ’em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know – fiction!
Because really, what incentive do these people have to answer your questions, after all? I mean, nothing satisfies you. Everybody asks for personnel changes. So the White House has personnel changes. Then you write, “Oh, they’re just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg!
Now, it’s not all bad guys out there. Some are heroes: Christopher Buckley, Jeff Sacks, Ken Burns, Bob Schieffer. They’ve all been on my show. By the way, Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to be on my show. I was just as shocked as everyone here is, I promise you. How’s Tuesday for you? I’ve got Frank Rich, but we can bump him. And I mean bump him. I know a guy. Say the word.
See who we’ve got here tonight. General Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff. General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They still support Rumsfeld. Right, you guys aren’t retired yet, right? Right, they still support Rumsfeld.
Look, by the way, I’ve got a theory about how to handle these retired generals causing all this trouble: don’t let them retire! Come on, we’ve got a stop-loss program; let’s use it on these guys. I’ve seen Zinni and that crowd on Wolf Blitzer. If you’re strong enough to go on one of those pundit shows, you can stand on a bank of computers and order men into battle. Come on.
Jesse Jackson is here, the Reverend. Haven’t heard from the Reverend in a little while. I had him on the show. Very interesting and challenging interview. You can ask him anything, but he’s going to say what he wants, at the pace that he wants. It’s like boxing a glacier. Enjoy that metaphor, by the way, because your grandchildren will have no idea what a glacier is.
Justice Scalia is here. Welcome, sir. May I be the first to say, you look fantastic. How are you? [After each sentence, Colbert makes a hand gesture, an allusion to Scalia’s recent use of an obscene Sicilian hand gesture in speaking to a reporter about Scalia’s critics. Scalia is seen laughing hysterically.] Just talking some Sicilian with my paisan.
John McCain is here. John McCain, John McCain, what a maverick! Somebody find out what fork he used on his salad, because I guarantee you it wasn’t a salad fork. This guy could have used a spoon! There’s no predicting him. By the way, Senator McCain, it’s so wonderful to see you coming back into the Republican fold. I have a summer house in South Carolina; look me up when you go to speak at Bob Jones University. So glad you’ve seen the light, sir.
Mayor Nagin! Mayor Nagin is here from New Orleans, the chocolate city! Yeah, give it up. Mayor Nagin, I’d like to welcome you to Washington, D.C., the chocolate city with a marshmallow center. And a graham cracker crust of corruption. It’s a Mallomar, I guess is what I’m describing, a seasonal cookie.
Joe Wilson is here, Joe Wilson right down here in front, the most famous husband since Desi Arnaz. And of course he brought along his lovely wife Valerie Plame. Oh, my god! Oh, what have I said? [looks horrified] I am sorry, Mr. President, I meant to say he brought along his lovely wife Joe Wilson’s wife. Patrick Fitzgerald is not here tonight? OK. Dodged a bullet.
And, of course, we can’t forget the man of the hour, new press secretary, Tony Snow. Secret Service name, “Snow Job.” Toughest job. What a hero! Took the second toughest job in government, next to, of course, the ambassador to Iraq.
Got some big shoes to fill, Tony. Big shoes to fill. Scott McClellan could say nothing like nobody else. McClellan, of course, eager to retire. Really felt like he needed to spend more time with Andrew Card’s children. Mr. President, I wish you hadn’t made the decision so quickly, sir.
I was vying for the job myself. I think I would have made a fabulous press secretary. I have nothing but contempt for these people. I know how to handle these clowns. In fact, sir, I brought along an audition tape and with your indulgence, I’d like to at least give it a shot. So, ladies and gentlemen, my press conference.
NOTE BY FREDERICK: The “audition tape” I have transcribed below is available here.
BEGINNING OF “AUDITION TAPE”
Colbert shows a video of a mock press conference. It opens with him at a podium, addressing the assembled Washington press corps.
COLBERT: I have a brief statement: the press is destroying America. OK, let’s see who we’ve got here today.
COLBERT (acknowledging various reporters): Stretch! (David Gregory nods)
Sir Nerdlington! (reporter nods)
Sloppy Joe! (reporter nods)
Terry Lemon Moran Pie! (Terry Moran nods)
Oh, Doubting Thomas, always a pleasure. (Helen Thomas smiles)
And Suzanne Moll (sp?).
HELLO!!
(Moll stares at Colbert, looking unhappy. Colbert mimics putting a phone to his ear and mouths “call me.”)
REPORTER: Will the Vice President be available soon to answer all questions himself?
COLBERT: I’ve already addressed that question. You (pointing to another reporter).
REPORTER: Walter Cronkite, the noted CBS anchor, . . .
COLBERT (interrupting): Ah, no, he’s the former CBS anchor. Katie Couric is the new anchor of the CBS Evening News. Well, well, how do you guys feel about that?
You, tousle-haired guy in the back. Are you happy about Katie Couric taking over the CBS Evening News?
DAN RATHER: No, sir, Mr. Colbert. Are you?
(Laughter)
COLBERT: Boom! Oh, look, we woke David Gregory up. Question?
DAVID GREGORY: Did Karl Rove commit a crime?
COLBERT: I don’t know. I’ll ask him.
(Colbert turns to Rove) Karl, pay attention please! (Rove is seeing drawing a heart with “Karl + Stephen” written on it.)
GREGORY: Do you stand by your statement from the fall of 2003 when you were asked specifically about Karl, and Elliott Abrams, and Scooter Libby, and you said “I’ve gone to each of those gentlemen, and they have told me that they are not involved in this.” Do you stand by that statement?
COLBERT: Nah, I was just kidding!
GREGORY: No, you’re not finishing. You’re not saying anything! You stood at that podium and said . . .
COLBERT (interrupting): Ah, that’s where you’re wrong. New podium! Just had it delivered today. Get your facts straight, David.
GREGORY: This is ridiculous. The notion that you’re going to stand before us after having commented with that level of detail and tell the people watching this that somehow you’ve decided not to talk. You’ve got to . . .
(Colbert is seen looking at three buttons on the podium, labeled “EJECT,” “GANNON” and “VOLUME.” He selects the “VOLUME” button and turns it. We see Gregory’s lips continue moving, but can’t hear any sound coming out.)
COLBERT: If I can’t hear you, I can’t answer your question. I’m sorry! I have to move on. Terry.
TERRY MORAN: After the investigation began, after the criminal investigation was underway, you said . . .
(Colbert presses a button on the podium and fast-forwards through most of Moran’s question.)
MORAN (continuing): All of a sudden, you have respect for the sanctity of a criminal investigation?
COLBERT (seen playing with rubber ball, which he is bouncing off attached padddle): No, I never had any respect for the sanctity of a criminal investigation. Activist judges! Yes, Helen.
HELEN THOMAS: You’re going to be sorry.
(Laughter)
COLBERT (looking vastly amused, mockingly): What are you going to do, Helen, ask me for a recipe?
THOMAS: Your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands (we see Colbert, his smile fading) of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime.
COLBERT (interrupting): OK, hold on Helen, look . . .
THOMAS (continuing): Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is why did you really want to go to war?
COLBERT (again interrupting): Helen, I’m going to stop you right there. (Thomas keeps talking.) That’s enough! No! Sorry, Helen, I’m moving on. (Colbert tries to turn her volume off, but the knob falls off his controls.)
(Various reporters start shouting questions at Colbert.)
COLBERT (agitated): Guys, guys, please don’t let Helen do this to what was a lovely day.
(Reporters keep shouting at him.)
COLBERT (putting his fingers over his ears and shouting in a high-pitched voice): Bllrrtt! No, no, no, no, no. I’m not listening to you!
Look what you did, Helen! I hate you!
(Helen Thomas glowers at Colbert.)
COLBERT (frantic): I’m out of here!
(Colbert pulls back the curtain behind him, desperately trying to flee. He says, “There is a wall here!” The press corps laughs. Colbert has difficulty finding a door from which to exit the room, echoing Bush’s experience in China. He finally finds the door and hurries through it.)
COLBERT: It reeks in there! Ridiculous! I’ve never been so insulted in my life! Stupid job.
(Colbert continues walking away. We hear sinister-sounding music playing. We see Helen Thomas walking behind Colbert.)
(Colbert looks behind him, sees Thomas, and starts running.)
(Colbert trips over a roller skate, and yells “Condi!” We see a close-up of Helen Thomas’ face, looking determined and angry. Colbert, increasingly panicked, gets up and continues running, running into a parking garage. He reaches an emergency call box, and yells into it.)
COLBERT: Oh, thank God. Help me!
ATTENDANT: What seems to be the problem, sir?
COLBERT: She won’t stop asking why we invaded Iraq! ATTENDANT: Hey, why did we invade Iraq?
COLBERT: NO!!! (runs toward his car)
(We see Helen Thomas, still walking toward him.)
(Colbert reaches his car, and fumblingly attempts to open it with his key. Finally he succeeds, jumps in, locks the door, and continues to fumble trying to get the car started. He finally does so, and looks up to see Helen standing in front of the car, notepad in hand.)
COLBERT: NO!!! NO!!!
(Colbert puts the car into reverse and drives off, tires squealing. Thomas smiles.)
(Colbert is shown taking the shuttle from Washington, D.C. to New York. A car and driver are waiting for him at Penn Station. The uniformed man standing alongside the car opens the door and lets Colbert in.)
COLBERT: What a terrible trip, Danny. Take me home.
(The driver locks the doors, turns around, and says, “Buckle up, hon.” IT’S HELEN THOMAS!!!)
COLBERT (horrified face pressed against car window): NO!!!
END OF “AUDITION TAPE”
STEPHEN COLBERT: Helen Thomas, ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Smith, members of the White House Correspondents Association, Madame First Lady, Mr. President, it’s been a true honor. Thank you very much. Good night!
Thank you thank for the transcript, judybrowni!
Personally, I think a big deal should be made, of the media, after being outed as the hypocrites they are, now downplaying [huge understatement]
the importance of their outing.
I commented on your open thread last night, before Colbert came on, then watched the rest. I then came back here & was happy to see I wasn`t the only one to see this. For a minute, I thought I was alone in an alternate parallel.
and so couragious, that the cable networks are showing absolutely none of his speech. If you’re watching the news today you’d think he wasn’t even there.
Colbert called them cowardly cretins to their face. That’s much worse in their eyes than just insulting Bush.
I mentioned in the other diary that he deserves an award-The Biggest Balls of The Year Award’ for his amazing tour de force in ‘truthiness’…I suspect he will gain cult hero status for this performance alone, deservedly so.
A painful splash of reality up under the cloak of the obese and sommnolent media … and then for them to tip toe out past this stinking administration is par for the course. We watch with our own eyes thanks to CSPAN and they just keep keepin’ on.
Yet …. the blood stained napkins left at the table after wiping their silent lips will soon become tailored to fit each of them as funeral shrouds.
History will not treat the old American media with compassion.
Holy cow! You should be the speechwriter for the next Dem. prez candidate.
Very kind of you Second Nature .. yet .. I fear my feelings towards our ‘civilization’ have become themselves so savage … that my words might well singe the grey beards off the Young Trotskyites.
We just saw it on C-SPAN about an hour ago and it was INCREDIBLE! I thought parts of it were outrageously funny, but most of the time I was struck dumb with amazement that 1) Colbert had even been invited, 2) Colbert was sitting at the head table, and 3) Colbert had been invited not only to speak but to give the closing speech of the evening.
My guess is that the strategy was to rally support and sympathy for the president among the wingnut community, and these excerpts show that at least so far it has succeeded very well in that respect.
It did go on for a long time, and I was surprised that he was given that much time, but the length of it was part of what really made it work. After awhile I started to think of “The Girl in the Cafe” which is really an incredible film if you haven’t seen it. The thing that was so powerful about the film is how uncomfortable it made you to see the woman being so socially inappropriate, even though you knew that what she was saying was the absolute truth. I won’t spoil the end, for those who haven’t seen it, but it really makes the whole film incredibly worthwhile.
Well, last night SC was “the boy in the cafe” and will never complain about the size of his ego or his big fat head anymore. He has all the room he wants for his great big ego in my book from this day foward.
I think Stephen Colbert the person vs. the character he plays on the report are two different people with the same name. I’ve heard him interviewed on NPR last fall (Fresh Air I think) and saw 60 minutes tonight. He seems like a really nice down-to-earth guy when out of character.
I’m now officially in love with him either way! LOL!
Colbert has a pair of brass ones! The Helen Thomas skit was too long but the rest was great, really great and people were laughing but he was snubbed by Bush (of course) but Colber does indeed deserve a statue.
he certainly does. I would not be so courageous, as much as I might wish I could be. He showed phenomenonal stones, especially his brashness in offering to have Frank Rich whacked for the Prez, and in stopping midway through to thank Bush for agreeing to be on his show.
The Rumsfeld thing was priceless. And flipping off Scalia, while Scalia was forced to laugh? A statue just for that alone.
I watched Colbert’s performance twice last night and agree it was brilliant. The crowd, especially the media is surely having lots of second thoughts today. Hopefully Bush had a lot of trouble going to sleep after being faced with such reality. There was some laughter and some trying to suppress their laughter, too.
A statue for Cobert would not be prize enough for what he pulled off last night. It was amazing. The priceless part for me was when they showed Joe and Val Wilson laughing their asses off in the audience. Loved it, loved it, loved it!
Watch.
In the next several weeks…watch.
He WILL be swiftboated.
And his career WILL be harmed in terms of his ability to work on the national media.
Watch.
Good man, though…
AG
No way. He just made himself into a star. They can’t touch him. Jon Stewart will probably get that gig next year though. He needs the laughs too much to pull something as grosteque and truthy as Colbert pulled off.
Counterculture star?
Yes.
Multimillionaire star like Jon Stewart? Hosting the Academy Awards?
I don’t think so
Not enough pulling of punches.
Not unless Chimpy and the whole gang go down, and go down HARD. Which I do not think will happen for the same reasons the DemocRats backed off when the 2004 election was stolen.
Why?
In concert with the networks and the big print media.
Ready?
All together now:
“FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY!!!”
That’s not bad, though, the counterculture thing.
It’s a living…
AG
P.S. Thelonious Monk, harmonic founder of modern jazz as we know it and all around strange person, used to get up from his piano and do a little freak shuffle dance while the rest of his quartet continued playing. Sometimes he’d go all the way around the club and then come back, sit down and start playing again.
“Oh, that LOVABLE, strange Mr. Monk!!!”, all the squares would say.
One day on one of his little dance excursions around a club he passed by a musician friend of his who was standing against one of the walls. As Monk passed by he looked right at him and said “Hell of a way to make a living, ain’t it?”
Yup.
Crazy like a fox.
Colbert’s no dummy.
He took a calculated, “Showbiz is my life” risk. I hope it works out for him.
I really do.
It’s ALL showbusiness.
Even revolution.
Yup.
Much as I hate to reference an article on dKos…
Media blackout on Colbert performance?
Yup.
Like I said…
In the next several weeks…watch.
He WILL be swiftboated.
And his career WILL be harmed in terms of his ability to work on the national media.
Watch.
He farted in church, and the good grey lady plus the rest of her fussy sisters went “SNIFF!!! Let’s ignore the wretch!!! And go talk to the vicar as well!!!”
Not exactly swiftboating…but it’s early in the game yet.
Watch. I will BET you that his masculinity is publicly questioned in the very same media that is non-eventing his performance before the week is out.
Wanna bet?
Watch.
AG
P.S. And if I was his tax guy?
I’d prepare for the worst.
The WORST of the worst.
For YEARS.
Colbert was brutal. It was almost hard to watch. I kept expecting someone to come drag him off stage. I’m amazed Bush did not choke on a pretzel. I laughed out loud several times. It was so audacious.
but I intend to go mine CSPAN to see when it’s on again.
I read the transcript, though, and it strikes me as being right up there with the speech Groucho Marx gave as the president of Freedonia in Duck Soup, or maybe Adenoid Hinkel’s pseudo-German rant in The Great Dictator.
Laugh? Of course they couldn’t laugh. He was nailing their shoes to the floor and setting them on fire. If Lori Liebermann felt that Don McLean was “killing [her] softly with his blues,” Colbert was killing them with the meat-ax of truth and truthiness.
He won’t be invited back for years, if ever. He doesn’t need to be. He’s made his point.
when something is done or said par excellence, all one can add is an,
Amen brother. ’bout time.
It hurts. But Holy Mother of Jeebus, what a performance. Looking that old bastard preznit right in the eye!
All so effortless too. So unlike a comic working a room with zero laughs. Damn. That’s painful. But Colbert knew exactly what he was doing and marshalled on. Pure brilliance. And definetely a “comedic triumph of the highest order.”
It’s funny that the proof of how great Colbert truly was, is in the lack of coverage about him today.
Yeah, couldn’t be more obvious that word came down from high not to cover his performance..and the MSM simply proved Colbert right about the press by doing so.
It’s amazing how venomous people get, how defensive they get, when someone as sharp as Colbert so clearly reveals that their treasured “truthiness” is so hollow and foolish and false; that in the end, their “truthiness” can never be a reliable substitute for reality.
Did anyone see the 60 Minutes segment on Colbert? I fell asleep and missed it, damn it all! Wow, that guy is everywhere all of a sudden.
Colbert does not need a statue. Maybe a State! If one simply extracts the specific points that he refers to, what appears is the final push needed to rate the chimp as well ahead of President Buchanan in the race for the leader of the Mediocracy! The only “successes” that garbage man has achieved are the tax cuts for the wealthiest of the wealthy. There is not a single program that has succeeded that has had a positive impact on the 99% of the American public that are not considered in the “wealthiest of the Wealthiest”!
billjpa@aol.com
at the risk of vain self promo, I must admit that Colbert’s performance was donkeytalesque in the extreme.
Take no prisoners while speaking the uncomfortable truth staright at the dead Left and the dead Right.
Colbert receives lifetime membership in the Centerist hall of fame.
A tribute to Colbert site, ThankYouStevenColbert, has video, links to press and a place to say thank you.