Colbert's speech at the WH dinner was TOTALLY inappropriate.

[Plaid Adder]

And thank God for that.

This is probably not going to lead to Colbert getting a lot of outside-the-box speaking engagements, but so what. For 10 minutes he had the chance to say whatever he wanted to the people who have played a major role in turning 21st century America into the shithole it is, and he did something that the press have utterly and tragically failed to do. He refused to play nice just because he'd been invited into the club.

Stewart did the same thing when he was invited onto Crossfire before its demise. I'm sure that the guy who invited Colbert to the dinner was thinking the same thing Carlson and Begala were thinking when they invited Stewart to their soon-to-be-canceled show: now that he'd been invited into the club, they would all play along together, and everyone would have a good time. Stewart didn't, and neither did Colbert. It would have been easy enough for Colbert to spend the whole time attacking Bush--there's plenty of material, and he's at 32% and dropping--but he devoted a significant chunk of his appearance to going after the media as well. It's truly amazing watching the complete lack of amusement on all those well-made-up faces framed by perfectly-coiffed hair as Colbert insults them to their faces. The only person who comes out of it well is Helen Thomas, who stars in a video which closes the segment and which is probably the weakest part of the presentation--it probably needed a couple more edits before they showed it--except for the scenes with her stalking Colbert as he flees a press conference which thanks to her has gone horribly awry. The best moment comes in an underground garage, as an exhausted Colbert charges up to a police callbox and begs for help from this slow-moving octogenarian menace. "She won't stop asking me why we invaded Iraq!" he shouts. "Hey," says the voice on the other end. "Why did we invade Iraq?" "NOOOOOO!"

Like I said, there's some funny stuff in there, and he does get a few laughs--but only at jokes that involve things for which nobody in the room feels they have to take responsibility, like global warming, and Cheney's shooting of Whittington. Mainly the mood is one of shock and dismay--and not just because what Colbert is doing is 'inappropriate.' And I'll say this now: it absolutely was inappropriate. When someone invites a comic to a dinner, they often want him to roast one or more of the attendees; but they want him to do it gently, with love, in such a way that everyone will be reminded of why they really like the guy and how great he really is despite his minor flaws. Colbert must have known that was what they wanted from him, and he gave them ten minutes of squirming as he reminded them of all the ways in which they have failed to do their collective job. And in fact, the very fact that his act was inappropriate, impolite, ungrateful, and a violation of all the rules of etiquette was a major part of the critique. What is it they say--well-behaved women rarely make history? Well, a well-behaved press makes...this shit we're drowning in right now.

By doing that talk, Colbert modeled for them the refusal to compromise and the willingness to offend that they should have been demonstrating every day in that press room during the run-up to the Iraq war. It's not polite to call someone a liar to his face just because he's told you something that's patently not true. It's not appropriate social behavior to continue pushing your question in someone's face once he's said goodbye to you and moved on to someone else, just because he hasn't answered it. It's not grateful to repay the nice man who gave you your press pass and just called on you by asking him the questions you know he least wants to hear. It's not good manners to demand in no uncertain terms something that your host refuses to give you, even if it's the truth.

Between 2001 and 2004, the White House press corps, with a few exceptions, set a gold standard for polite behavior. They learned the appropriate rules and they observed them. And that's one of the reasons we started a war in Iraq over something that didn't exist: because they were afraid of being inappropriate. After 9/11, questioning Bush was just Not Done. It was like speaking ill of the dead, somehow: unless you were a fringe wacko on the web such as myself, you just didn't do it. It would bar you from the thresholds of all polite society. How could you be so mean to the brave man who's saving us from the terrorists? It was inappropriate. It was impolite. It was ungrateful. So it didn't happen--in the White House press room, or in the media outlets for which those reporters worked.

Helen Thomas was one of the few WH press reporters who understood something simple: that the Bush presidency was a crisis and a disaster. For that reason what had been accepted as "appropriate" behavior from the WH press pool had become grotesquely wrong, because it required the press to become complicit in telling the lies and maintaining the silences that made it possible for Bush and Cheney to pursue their insane domestic and foreign policies. She got that. We got it. But a lot of the other people in that room never got it. They went right on being polite, and strolled jovially alongside Ari and Scotty as we all traveled the path to perdition.

By standing up there and doing his act as he had written it, getting farther and farther into character as it became more and more clear that it was going over like a lead balloon, Colbert modeled for the press corps a form of courage that they have, by and large, miserably failed to demonstrate. He did his job the way he always does it without worrying about what the administration, his hosts, or his corporate sponsors were going to think of it. And he used those 10 minutes to tell the truth to people who certainly did not get themselves all dolled up for the purpose of sitting there and being forced to hear it. Having been offered the bone of insider status, Colbert, instead of scarfing it up and wagging his tail, bit the hand that fed him. It was uncomfortable, ungrateful, and ungracious; and it was exactly the kind of thing that the press should have started doing as soon as they realized what the crooks in the White House were feeding them.

So yeah. People are going to be all over the cable airwaves and whatnot calling Colbert's speech inappropriate. It absolutely was inappropriate. And it was also fucking right on. It is about time someone showed these people that there are more important things in the world than being invited back.

Thank you, Stephen Colbert,

The Plaid Adder

On edit: Yes, OK, I got the name of the Carlson/Begala show wrong, it's been fixed now.

[AllieB]

1. If only Hardball would go away-I think you meant Crossfire

Great post, BTW.

[Plaid Adder]

4. D'OH! Just edited that

I don't have cable, and it all sounds the same to me anyway...

The Plaid Adder

[Ex Lion Tamer]

92. Is your nick a tribute to the Black Adder?

"I fear the words 'I have a cunning plan' are rapidly marching towards this conversation with ill-deserved confidence."

[Plaid Adder]

93. Yes, it is. n/t

[rocktivity]

2. The Begalia/Carlson show was called Crossfire, not Hardball

otherwise, excellent as usual.

:bounce:
rocknation

[caledesi]

3. Good writing. Had to read this because of the title.

BTW, the show was the now defunct CROSSFIRE that JS was on.

[highplainsdem]

5. Amen, and thank you, Plaid Adder!

Editing out yet another "Crossfire" correction. :)

[psychopomp]

73. Please thank Mr. Colbert, too (LINK)

http://thankyoustephencolbert.org/wordpress/

[Maeve]

86. And thank YOU for that link!

Many of the posters to that letter of thanks castigate Colbert for saying inappropriate things, never mind that their comments are 'inappropriate' to the forum....I'm sure the irony is beyond them.

[Rosemary2205]

6. Well put, as always.

K&R

[KittyWampus]

7. I don't think Judith Miller cared if what she wrote was appropriate...

Sorry, but I just don't think the Mediawhores are doing what they do because they think it's polite or 'appropriate'.

They're just paid media WHORES doing what their editors and producers tell them to do.

As Colbert said 'run it through the spellcheck and go home to their families' (rough quote).

Actual investigating and asking pertinent questions is simply no longer part of the job.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

23. Absolutely correct...she's a NeoCon fellow traveler.

[stop the bleeding]

8. Yep, the press has as much Iraqi blood on thier hands as does

*, Cheney and Rice

[Jacobin]

9. Hands down, the best analysis of Colbert's performance

Bravo!!!

It's been 15 years since I've even heard the media mentioned by anyone as "The Watchdog of the Government"...a phrase that they once aspired to resemble

[Hardrada]

51. The Lapdog of the Government

is more like it.

[Mandate My Ass]

10. I hope his inappropriateness sticks in their collective craws

every day they continue the farce that they are, in fact, operating as a free press when they're nothing but enablers. I know they were hired from on high to do exactly what they're doing, making Bush's totally corrupt and unconstitutional presidency appear legitimate, if slightly bumbling and maybe a touch arrogant at times. But they shouldn't be allowed to kid themselves that they're kidding anybody anymore.

Squirm, maggots. You eagerly jumped on the stinking shitheap and you feed off it. I hope it was mortifying to the nth degree being told we know it's shit you've been trying to sell the rest of us as if it was chocolate cake.

:thumbsup:

[Kurovski]

11. Time to take off the white gloves, and KEEP them off.

K&R.

I love the trick title...:evilgrin:

[warrens]

12. It would have been more appropriate if at the end...

Colbert had unzipped and pissed all over the unelected punk.

[underpants]

13. Crossfire was cancelled BECAUSE OF Jon Stewart

Apparently the CNN execs were watching and they agreed that the show really didn't offer anything plus it opened up the time so that their well healed shaved Ewok could man "The Situation Room".

[Admiral Loinpresser]

14. Just a reminder: this same press corps

savaged Bill Clinton frequently and Al Gore constantly. They went out of their way to damage his 2000 campaign, despite Gore's lack of fault. If they laugh at Colbert, they must confess their sins and culpability in world calamity.

[MazeRat7]

15. There are a lot of us Colberts out here that are set in our convictions.

This event gives us license to stand firm on our message. I too was really pleased he didn't "tune down" his act one degree BECAUSE of the audience at hand. Too bad our so called party "leaders" haven't learned that same lesson, that integrity is more important than popularity.

MZr7

[DemoTex]

16. "Stewart didn't, and neither did Colbert" (play along).

Stewart and Colbert: Two men of character; two men of integrity. Who would have thought that it would take funny men to call-out the regime? Who would ever have thought that?
So what if they are now persona non grata with the sycophants in the MSM. At least they should be able to sleep at night. They have given their absolute best shots. Wait, no. I think their best shots are yet to come.

[Raksha]

72. The court jester is actually an old and honorable tradition.

Re >>Who would have thought that it would take funny men to call-out the regime? Who would ever have thought that?<<

Who else? Shakespeare's King Lear is the most obvious example of this old tradition. The Fool is the only one allowed to tell the king the truth while everyone else just lies their asses off, telling him what they think he wants to hear.

Of course in those days the court jester was an official position, and he was given a certain license. Stephen Colbert is a free-lancer who of necessity took the role upon himself. After all, telling "the king" the truth is considered treason these days! But the precedent is still there.

[Ned_Devine]

74. Nice King Lear reference!

[Raksha]

80. Well, it's been so long since I read it

I had to generalize and couldn't come up with any direct quotes, but I'm glad you got the idea anyway.

Welcome to DU!!! :toast:

[Rex]

17. Hard to smile when someone slings shit right back at ya.

The MSM is so one way, it must have been hard eating shit for 10 minutes! Colbert will always be remembered for what he did. So inappropriate and at the perfect time and place.

To tell the Chimperor he wears no clothes, in front of everyone! Priceless.

[Captain Hilts]

18. If I were Prez, I wouldn't show up to this thing.

There's already the Gridiron dinner and the Alphalfa....

Clinton should have clocked Imus.

The discomfiture in the room came from the fact that he fried the press as much as the Prez. They BOTH deserve it, but,yes, I'm a little uncomfortable with the setting.

[politrix]

20. Excellent Post!!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

26. How "free" are we if we can't be critical of His Chimpness, face-to-face?

[Captain Hilts]

32. A Question Period, like Parliament would be even better.

But 'we' haven't been able to have a go at this guy. He manages to be out of town for every major protest.

The Press, on the other hand, aren't "we." The folks in the audience Saturday night don't represent 'us', or they would have body slammed him for the run up to the war.

[soleft]

19. Last week I was riding my bike past Colbert's studio

I was riding around on the west side of Manhattan and looked up and saw a building with a blue awning that said "The Colbert Report" and I was like, "Oh"

And for some reason, I felt compelled to stop and take a picture of it. It was just a blue awning with some words.

But now I think I'm going to print it out and hang it in my cube.

[Lisa]

21. I thought it was quite telling, that the other performer Bush invited

... a professional Bush impersonator, is from "Clean Comedians", a talent agency which bills itself as providing speakers for corporate events, etc., who promise not to offend the audience (with comments about sex, drugs ... or racism, gender discrimination, or other things which will get in the way of good old belly laughs).

Someone at the White House seems to have confused satire with comedy -- overlooking (maybe on purpose, or out of wishful thinking?) that there are a lot of times when satire is NOT funny, and situations when mere laughter would distract from its main purpose.

This administration is not funny. It's monstrous, and the horror of it even managed to leak through into what Bush and his doppleganger had set up, with (according to the NY Times) an effort which went back as far as January. Bush got up there and spoke, while his lookalike uttered what was really on his mind. He literally showed himself to be two-faced, in the hopes of getting a laugh from the audience, to distract them from his plunging popularity ratings. And maybe, hoping to defuse that looming accusation of dishonesty -- just as playing the lovable yokel was his team's way of defusing criticism that he was ill-informed and lazy. ("How can you be so mean to this nice fellow Dubya?")

People have been upset that the networks have played "the Bush twins" clip over and over, while virtually ignoring Colbert. But if the spectacle of Bush shows the whole world that his smile and inane banter are not to be trusted -- if everybody who sits through a platitude-laden speech or shakes his hand from now on, thinks about Steve Bridges dressed up as Bush's "inner self", disrespecting the people he's making nice with ... I don't think that's a bad thing at all.

Several years ago, the White House tried to get Will Ferrell (who did the Bush impression on Saturday Night Live) to come over for a visit, possibly hoping to set him up for just this kind of arrangement. (You scratch our guy's back, you'll get to meet some powerful people and help your career ...) Ferrell refused to do this, and even some of his own colleagues thought he was nuts.

I think this relates to what the Plaid Adder has said so eloquently. When times got bad (as in the McCarthy era), a lot of people claimed that they "had no choice", and had to go along with those in power. But what Stephen Colbert -- and Jon Stewart, and Will Ferrell too-- have shown, is that there IS a choice. If you don't want to play their way, you can decide to do it your own way ... which also includes deciding not to play, period.

p.s. it seems the White House has learned that satirists can be every bit as difficult to handle as poets (e.g. Sharon Olds).
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051010/olds

[WiseButAngrySara]

43. Wonderful post, Lisa! ....n/t

[Francine Frensky]

22. Interesting that the media ignored MLK's "I have a dream" speech

too, initially. I've seen it mentioned that the day after his speech, there were very scarce mentions of that in the papers; there were so many speeches that few people in the media bothered to highlight that speech....which still sends chills up my back when I hear it today.

The media people are still as stupid as they ever were.

[Bear down under]

85. Lincoln's address at Gettysburg

was also either ignored or derided by the press at the time. The phrase I remember reading long ago was "the President's absurd remarks".

[MsUnderstood]

24. You had be at Colbert. . .

Wow! Spot on analysis! Thanks for putting my thoughts into words.

[Hubert Flottz]

25. He simply fought fire with fire.

And the GOPer bullies and their media pimps did what bullies and pimps always do, when the worm turns, they melted down like shit on a hot summer night.

I loved every second of it. How many times has the world had to tolerate Bush and the GOP's grossly inappropriate bullshit, over the past 6 years? Them standing up in front of the country lying to our faces and then patting each other on the back and covering for each others lies and inappropriate criminal deeds.

Ann and Rush are so far ahead of Mr. Colbert in the inappropriate category, that a lifetime of the things he did the other night will never catch up. Mr. Colbert did one thing that hardly any republicans or their paid media flunkies and drones EVER do anymore, he told the truth. THE TRUTH SHOULD BE WHAT THE NEWS MEDIA THRIVES ON AND LIVES BY, not what they ALL run away from, like scared little babies.

Helen Thomas is the Mother Jones of this generation and as long as I live I will love her for her courage and devotion to her work and to her country. I wish we had an Army of Helens.

It's time to get RUDE! RUDE, is the only thing pigs like that understand.

[Karenina]

27. Some criticize the clip with Helen

for being too long. I strongly disagree. Having the *dauphin sit through 7 minutes of Helen Thomas "stalking" is so wonderfully delicious, delectible and delightful!

[Alamom]

31. I thought so, too. I thought the whole Colbert performance was

well done.

[Hubert Flottz]

45. And a good time was had by all...

at DU! I'll bet Teddy Kennedy loved the show...at least as much as we did.

[Patiod]

89. Plus the "Gannon" button made the whole thing worth it

The same Gannnon that no one in the "real" media thought to investigate.

[PegDAC]

46. Loved that part

especially. Helen is such a good sport!

[Hubert Flottz]

50. I loved it too.

Welcome to DU PegDAC.

[dogday]

28. I love the way he described Washington

Chocolate city with marshmallow center and graham cracker crust of corruption....:yourock:

[Kurovski]

30. A malomar!

[King Coal]

29. Inappropriately appropriate or appropriately inappropriate.

An explanation of conjoining antonyms: Inappropriately appropriate or appropriately inappropriate.

Elegant, Plaid, Elegant. Concise and spot on. Beauty.

[TexasLawyer]

33. No the speech was NOT funny

It was hilarious to the point that I nearly lost consciousness. That man has the cojones of King Kong. All that, and Helen Thomas too!

[BrklynLiberal]

36. Cannot add anything that has not been said, but will kick & recommend..

:yourock: :headbang:

[fearthem]

34. Bush ate crow at the dinner.

[canichelouis]

71. Peppered with buckshot

[Broken_Hero]

35. great post, nice seeing you around... n/t

[NVMojo]

37. excellent and journalists have forgotten to be the eyes and ears of

the public. They are instead the WH mouth piece just like ole Jeffy Gannon.

[Blutodog]

39. Jeff Gannon mouth piece

Or in Jeff's case he had everyone's piece in his mouth. Jeff truly was just another DC media whore :)

[Raster]

42. "mouth piece" EVERY pun intended!

[Clarkie1]

38. Is this DU anymore, or Entertainment tonight?

Colbert's act was not inappropriate. He was hired to do his act, and he did his act.

It was absolutely appropriate, and funny in parts and biting in others. He did his job and he did it well. And yes, he's very very good at doing what he does. Can we move on now?

[donco6]

40. ? I think that was the point of the article.

But I suppose I could be an idiot.

[Notoverit]

47. Uh, reading past the title might help....

[madmark]

41. my only concern was after the speech sc would never get rw'rs on

his show again which would make it less interesting; the flip side is if he gets bigger he may get even more. Who knows.

[WiseButAngrySara]

44. Excellent analysis Plaid Adder!! K & R! ....n/t

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

48. Ka-Ching! Fan-Fucking-Tastic!

If you weren't...

Oh, never mind. I love you to death anyway!

And I'm too old to have children.

[Terran1212]

49. BRAVO!

[Generator]

52. And you know what cheeses me off to no end?

That the journos little bit of squirmiming listening to Colbert is ALL they will ever have to pay for not doing their jobs. Because of course, they still have their jobs. Still have their condos and second houses. Still no way in HELL does their kid have to sign up for the military because that's the only job they can get. No, that's it. An uncomfortable moment. And nothing will ever move them because if they don't get it by NOW-when will they get it? When we truly are at war with Iran and China gets involved and it's WW3? When does the truth matter?

When is what you do-and what they do is damn important matter more than self congratulatory interest? When? Everyone wants a good life, and their kids not to suffer. But pick another goddamn profession than "journalism" if you want me to respect you if you have stood silent during the worst years this country has ever seen. Please. This was the worst they will face? I'm afraid it is.

[Epiphany4z]

53. I keep hearing from my Righty friends

Cobert was over the top!!

so I told them...I think if it was over the top because the rw press and Bush are over the top..I mean how do you lampoon somebody like that? Some times I read headlines coming out of this administration I often think..NOOooooo this has to be an onion article..no way is it true....The press and Bush have simply been that
ridiculous..pretend you don't know who O'Rielly is...sit Cobert next to him listen...what one would you think was actually satire? It would a flipping hard call. If it was over the top it is the Rights own fault. They are over the top.

[marions ghost]

54. excellent essay Plaid Adder

as usual. Thank you for your astute comments.

Colbert was absolutely brilliant. How he got up the nerve to do that I don't know. Maybe all he had to do was keep thinking of his 3 children to do it.

I'm reminded of that guy Harry in Charlotte, NC, who gave Bush a piece of his mind, altho in the more quivering voice of the common man. Colbert obviously has the natural performer's advantage. But in the case of both, it was clearly one brave individual sticking his neck out.

Awesome.

[ShortnFiery]

55. Here ! Here!

Both you and Stephen Cobert are prime examples of The Genuine Article. :thumbsup: :patriot:

[tlsmith1963]

56. More People Need to Be "Inappropriate"

It has to be full-on punk rock, 1970's style. It's time for it again. Let's be as obnoxious & inappropriate as possible. That's what the neocons deserve.

Tammy

[Captain Hilts]

57. The dinner promotes an unhealthy coziness between WH and press.

And why is Gen. Pace there? Is he allowed to laugh? With whom was he sitting? Was he some organization's "invited guest" or is he considered "White House" and gets an invitation?

In addition to this dinner there are the Alfalfa and Gridiron dinners. How many of these do we need?

[MrSlayer]

58. Brilliant, just brilliant.

Great job PA.

[0007]

59. Very good analysis. Nominated. n/t

[Horseradish]

60. Notice how no one critical of his act

is citing any examples of how "Colbert lied when he said ...."

A truly Truman Show (the Jim Carey one) moment. I gave him a standing ovation alone in my living room ....

[CrispyQ]

79. ...

"I gave him a standing ovation alone in my living room ...."

:rofl:



Welcome to DU, Horseradish! Great screen name!

:hi:

[aquart]

61. Precisely, Plaid Adder.

[tomg]

62. Great Post, Plaid Adder

and you really got to the core of the whole thing when you wrote about the attendees and the roasted and the comic:"they want him to do it gently, with love, in such a way that everyone will be reminded of why they really like the guy and how great he really is despite his minor flaws."

There are two kinds of satire: Horatian, which is gentle and friendly and urbane and invites the target to laugh at itself; and then there is Juvenalian which wants to cut your balls off and then offer the knife to the first passerby so they can cut your heart out. It is the difference between Bob Hope and Bill Hicks. For me, the real joy of Colbert the other night was that the audience thought it was getting Bob Hope and they got Colbert channeling Hicks. The whole audience looked like deer in the headlights. Just as Stewart began the end of Crossfire, maybe Colbert's State of the Union the other night will lead to the cancellation of the The Dubya Show.

[Zen]

63. Thanks for the perspective!

I just envisioned the movie where Cher slaps the guy across the face and says

"SNAP OUT OF IT"

:D

[kdpeters]

65. That was Nicholas Cage in "Moonstruck" n/t

[12 12 2000]

64. Suck Ups in the Washington Press Corps...

laughed their asses off of Bush's lame, hokie bit with his 'alter ego', complete with stale jokes, but could not, or more likely were too cowardly to recognize the genius of Colbert's tour de force. Your insights are right on, Adder.

[DallasNE]

66. How Can It Be Inappropriate When It Was So Long Overdue?

This press/stenographer thing didn't just start happening on January 21, 2001. It was present throughout the 2000 campaign. But by about January 28, 2001 it should have been all over. Yes, we knew that early in the Bush administration that a disaster was in the making. How did we know? For one, the lies about the Clinton's trashing Airforce One. By the end of February 2001 we had the fat cat joy ride on the nuclear sub that sunk a Japanese fishing boat, killing most of those on board. About that same time we also had Bush insulting North Korea where Colin Powell had to smooth things out and the EP-3 spy plane that landed in China. The first step was not diplomacy but to send war ships sailing toward China.



And the American people were seeing through this even if the media was being a lap dog for Bush as Bush's poll numbers were already below 50% by September 10, 2001.

So, if there is one area where I disagree with your otherwise excellent article it is with the label "inappropriate". If not now, when? After all, it is not like the Bush administration ever was truthful. I say both the press and the Bush administration got exactly what they deserved. If toes were stepped on, so be it.

[JWS]

67. They tried to delegitimize him by bringing him into the mainstream.

And he bit them in the ass, totally awesome.

[opihimoimoi]

68. Colbert nom'd for a spot on Mt Rushmore

Ya did it again, great thread....mahalo

[Mr_Spock]

96. Mt Colbert

:rofl:

[savemefromdumbya]

69. Ye who dares wins

and if no one takes the trouble to rock the boat then where will we be?

[Frank Cannon]

76. A coward dies a thousand deaths.

Those with Colbert's Balls taste of death but once.

[SmokingJacket]

70. Colbert is totally hardcore -- like a superhero.

I couldn't even watch it, it was so harsh. But thank God for him.

K&R!

[lonestarnot]

75. Hardsnot deserves to die a quick death on MSM!

Put that truthiness in your pipe and smoke it you neofreaks. And it wasn't inappropriate in the least! Colbert is a patriot!

[Tellurian]

77. Great Post PA..

How can anything we/you say or do be inappropriate?

When the VP of our United States would tell a Senator
from VT to go F*ck himself?

The patients are running the asylum.

[Herman47]

78. No longer feeling so "chipper"

At the end of Stephen's speech, he might not have survived the evening if he had looked at Bush and Bush-Wife and said, "Aw, Mr. President, you're not looking so "chipper" anymore! Damn, I better be careful, Laura's giving me a look like she intends to run me over!"

[Divine Discontent]

81. LOL

I'm soooooooooooo PROUD OF STEPHEN COLBERT! so smart and witty, that Dubya didn't know what hit him... he may have nodded and leaned into Mrs. Bush and said, "boy he sure was a jerk", but what do we care, he spoke, SURELY, for over 2 BILLION or more of the world's population who thinks badly of Dubya's pResidency!

this shop has greattttt stuff on all the current bush/limbaugh&delay/cheney news: http://www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable :kick:

[suffragette]

82. They had been basking in self-admiration until Colbert came on.

First with the host congratulating them on doing their jobs well and then with the Bush duo making comments about how they weren't his audience, which affirmed their view of themselves as the people standing up to him.
Then Colbert popped that smug bubble by holding them to account for not doing their jobs.
He's brilliant and your analysis is very well done.

edited for typos

[Nostradammit]

83. - 'Zactly Right!

My favorite parts in watching the replay are the pained expressions of the attendees as the truthiness of their lies is being force-fed down their throats.

Choke on it, traitors.

[Stockholm]

84. Thank you Plaid Adder!

n/t

[sutz12]

87. Great read, Adder.

Now, let's just hope they don't "V for Vendetta" him. :scared:

[crispini]

88. Stewart, Colbert: Comedians with teeth

Bless them. The world needs more of their ilk.

[Rhiannon12866]

90. I agree, SC was just excellent. As is your post. K&R.

:yourock:

[DemGirl7]

91. We need more comedians like Colbert & Stewart

because they tell it like it really is. Those in attendance at the dinner that were picked on never hear the truth, and if and when they do hear it, they usually don't like it, I know for a fact. We need more people like Colbert & Stewart who are blunt, and sugar coat it with humor so it easier to shallow. Because I feel we have come to a point that the truth can't be held back, and ignored any longer, and if it humor that gets the message out, so be it. Personally if it was me up there I would have pushed the envelope even further, and would have really grilled those there, but that is whole different story. And for all those cable networks that are editing out Colbert's part of the dinner, or are whining that it wasn't funny, these people are just upset, because they don't like to see things shaken up, they are just puppets of the administration, which we all saw during the first year of the Iraqi war, and the build up of it, but that what happens when there is no real regulation of the media, because of the dismantling of the fairness Doctrine..

[oc2002]

94. well said. but the corporate media has put a tight lid on Colbert story,

they hope nobody sees or hears his satire, which is dangerous to the status quo.

[MetaTrope]

95. Amen

Just...amen.

[robbedvoter]

97. Memo sez: "Crossed the line". You don't use the correct term: busted!

"Inappropriate" was not the recommended language...
Which line? Why, the first amendment line, of course!

[Quantess]

98. Best read of the day!

Excellently written!
I think we've had enough of the sycophants in MSM. Thank you, Steven Colbert!:patriot:

[cyclezealot]

99. Adler- someone please where can we get transcripts to Colberts

speech. It is a keeper, got to have it. have had no luck so far.searches so far lead to video's that take us forever to download.