They knew every word Cobert was going to say... We were not the auds

[Ioo]

I have a theory – Bush’s people knew every single word, they knew it was going to be scathing but that is okay and here is why...

For the past few months the Bush people have been making this fake president “More open for criticism” and “More willing to fess up to mistakes made”... and this was the perfect place for it, because every single person who made comments like this are in the room. This allowed Bush to take one for the team in front of people that will then go in a few weeks be able to write “more open to criticism” or “taking note of recent criticism” all of this without out it really be open to all the world to see.

Fact is, most of America will never see this, ever.... this was Bush taking one for the team in front of a crowd that has said in the past “Unwilling to admit mistakes” and “Not open to criticism”

Mission accomplished, they can no longer say those things again...

Bush’s folks could have cut his mike NO Questions asked. They also gave him some level of run on the East Wing, and the driveway to make his little presentation. This was no suprise at all. All staged, all “Look Bush can take it!”

He did a great job, but it was not “speaking trutheness to power”, it was “we will let you think you are speaking trutheness to power because we can”

[sendero]

1. You're not the first with that idea..

... but I don't think so. Nobody is going to change their mind about Bush because he sat through a comic bit. What about the dissing of the press corp? If they wanted that as a "message" it would be all over Fox news and it isn't, it's buried.

[Ioo]

4. Did not need to change minds - Just needed to show Bush unconfy...

that is all, that Bush was "Open to criticism" that is ALL

[sendero]

15. Show to who?

Less than 1% of the population saw it. If that were the plan, it would be all over Fox, CNN, MSRNC and the networks.

Show it to the press corp? They are irrelevant.

[Ioo]

21. The Media - He wanted the Media People at the dinner to see it..

that allowed the people that were making the comments about him, the media, to him take it. Those that were in that room reach almost every single person in the US at some point....

[sendero]

23. Well...

. I like creative ideas, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

The press is already well aware of Bush**'s personality and temperament, and having Colbert do a solo is hardly going to change their perception.

[DainBramaged]

2. Ok, good point, but it was delicious fun, period

But my theory is he switched his script at the last minute, and it was too late to cut him off.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. I think your hat might need some adjusting.

:tinfoilhat:

[Ioo]

6. You honestly think this administration would allow anyone to be unscripted

and to use the white house?

If you think that, it is your hat that is on tight.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

7. Did you watch it?

Bush did NOT take it in stride at all. That right there destroys your whole theory.

[Ioo]

8. They wanted the press to see him squirm... It solves the issue..

that this man is "sheltered" and "Does not take criticism" and so on... it is perfect! Show him a little out of his confy zone, and it shows he is human...

[kittenpants]

24. Exactly, I doubt * would have turned that interesting shade of purple if

this was a stunt. He hardly looked amused.

[stray cat]

5. Colbert and Jon Stewart are not in Bush's pocket

[EFerrari]

11. No, they're not. But that doesn't mean they can't be manipulated

just like the rest of us.

[EFerrari]

9. I agree. It wan't an accident or stupidity. It was tactical. n/t

[Ioo]

10. that is the word I was looking for TACTICAL!

[EFerrari]

13. I accidentally retrieved a word. lol.

I was saying yesterday that no way the booker didn't know EXACTLY what they were hiring. Exactly. They don't just open the phone book or catch 5 seconds on teevee and say, "That guy!"

Corporate bookers are serious as a heart attack. Someone must have asked for Colbert.

Even so, we don't yet know if the positives will outweigh the negatives for the spinners.

[hang a left]

20. I agree as well.

It just doesn't sit right with me. It was uncomfortable for me to watch it with the audience so clearly not entertained. It is not like the media is not hip to Colbert's material. I think that there is some ulterior motive as well, but hell if I can figure it out.

[Guaranteed]

34. LOL no. They didn't know.

Some of them might have had an idea.

NONE of them understood the extent of the "shock and awe" that would come from him.

Trust me- they DIDN'T want that.

[pstans]

12. I see your point

There wasn't anything new to what Colbert said. He was playing his character perfectly and a lot of the things he said weren't new, he says them on his show. They knew what they were getting. They might have thought Colbert would tone it down a bit.

[Jim Warren]

14. I do believe you're on to something

This administration is buried so deep in shit and they are looking for breathing room.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

16. Sorry, but no. Did you see the look on Herr Busch's face? If they....

...had known what Colbert was going to say, and the way in which it was going to be said, he would never have made through the NeoCon White House security.

Nope. Not buying a word of it.

[Ioo]

19. Self denigration makes people like you... and the Media was the audience.

Not you or me.

The man had run of the white house, he used the press room the driveway the east wing to tape his little thing, they HAD to know.

I also think that if this was out of left field, they would have cut his mic and ended it right there, he was the LAST act.

Bush would have walked out, you are telling me he sat there and took it if it were out of left field?

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

27. If you can't take it, you lose

Cut Colbert's mic? Walked out? Much, much bigger story than 'comic mops up room with Bush.'

Nothing you point to proves the admin 'had' to know. This is another one of those 'everything is scripted by the WH' ideas that, when all added together, beg the question who has the time to plan and execute all of them; and why, if they're so good at them, they still commit the most appalling gaffes.

[bunkerbuster1]

31. My first reaction as well.

I think this would've been a huge story had Bush walked out, or cut Colbert's mic.

And I don't think the Administration is competent enough to concoct half the plots that I've heard some people attribute to them.

[kittenpants]

41. It's not self-denigration if someone else is saying it. n/t

[EFerrari]

29. He didn't book it and I'd be surprised if they would run it by him.

Do you really think they let him make decisions :)

[Guaranteed]

36. That's your common sense talking.

And you're right.

No goddamned way- not with what he did to them.

[radwriter0555]

17. I have to disagree. This came out of left field for them. They may have

expected some bitch slapping, but they didn't expect the castration and evisceration that Colbert perpetrated.

[izzybeans]

18. Yeah Bush handled it well.

:sarcasm:

Sorry, even if they knew, there is no way they spin this positively. That's why the GmOsPm ignores it and/or complains like my three year old son when I tell him to stop whatever dangerous thing he has now started doing. He cries.

On edit: Bush has the same capacity as my son to handle criticism. He was about to blow his top, just like my son does when I hide the chocolates.

[marions ghost]

22. Nah

I agree with those here who say there's NO positive spin on this for Boosh and the lapdog media. Witness Milbank on Countdown and the sound of crickets in the MSM.

The DUer who likened Colbert to Shakespeare's Fool was right on target. The only reason Colbert was allowed access and tolerance was that he came in the guise of The Fool, speaking truth in riddling bombastic statements. He suckered them. He was expected to make everyone titter, not leave them feeling like "WHAT just happened?" Those media heads got it instantly. It was a guerilla attack.

So I don't think Colbert's performance was staged to impress any other audience than the one that was directly in front of him. Oh sure, he knew he would have Comedy Central fans on his side. But he did not do this to help the administration 'look good' to Rightwingers. That's so far-fetched it makes me LOL.

[Ioo]

25. Think about it, they screen members of the Aud at town halls...

Thay have had people removed for a bumper sticker on their car, you don't think they would ask for his routine ahead of time?

Please... This was all staged....

[underpants]

26. Are there printable transcripts available??

I've seen the video but I am trying to find a printable version.

[CrispyQ]

39. Common Dreams

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0501-30.htm

[kittenpants]

28. What about this quote from an aide in US News

"Colbert crossed the line," said one top Bush aide, who rushed out of the hotel as soon as Colbert finished. Another said that the president was visibly angered by the sharp lines that kept coming.

"I've been there before, and I can see that he is ," said a former top aide. "He's got that look that he's ready to blow."


If this was all "set up" to make Bush look so smooth, then they must not have told this aide (or Bush for that matter).

[WinkyDink]

30. No. No. Did I mention No?

Bush was HOT, and so was Laura. If this was "known", there would have been chuckles and handshakes. They were NOT amused.

And if it was some Machiavellian ploy to show that Bush could "take it", the media would have been made aware that this was a story to tell. It was not told. Not even Tweety praised Der Chimperor for his "sunny nobility" during this routine.

[Guaranteed]

35. Totally agreed.

It was odd that Kristol mentioned something about the WHCD, but- no.

If they had KNOWN that he would do this, there is NO WAY IN HELL they would have let him get up there. Absolutely no way.

He HURT them- badly. More than we know.

He implanted a nasty, nasty seed of truth in their minds.

[treestar]

32. Interesting possibility

I doubt they would NOT know what he was going to say. These are the people that will not allow someone with an anti-Bush slogan on a sign near any rally he is at. Their national security fixation would require that they get advance scripts.

[Guaranteed]

33. There's just no way they saw that coming.

Even if most of them knew he was going to be on the dais.

[Disturbed]

37. Transcript of Stephen Colbert's monologue

Transcript of Stephen Colbert's monologue


http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0501-30.htm

[stepnw1f]

38. Nope...

I doubt Bush was looking uncomfortable for show.

[rniel]

40. I did notice right at the end

Colbert going over and shaking Bush's hand right afterward. He said something to him and it looked nice and cordial to me.