Colbert riles political establishment — Day Six

May 4, 2006

I would have been more than happy to let the [tag]Stephen Colbert[/tag] story go — I went all of yesterday without even mentioning it — but the WaPo’s [tag]Richard Cohen[/tag] decided he’d weigh in on the “controversy” and his comments were odd enough to warrant a response.

Why are you wasting my time with [tag]Colbert[/tag], I hear you ask. Because he is representative of what too often passes for political courage, not to mention wit, in this country. His defenders — and they are all over the blogosphere — will tell you he spoke truth to power. This is a tired phrase, as we all know, but when it was fresh and meaningful it suggested repercussions, consequences — maybe even death in some countries. When you spoke truth to power you took the distinct chance that power would smite you, toss you into a dungeon or — if you’re at work — take away your office.

But in this country, anyone can insult the president of the United States. Colbert just did it, and he will not suffer any consequence at all. He knew that going in. He also knew that Bush would have to sit there and pretend to laugh at Colbert’s lame and insulting jokes. Bush himself plays off his reputation as a dunce and his penchant for mangling English. Self-mockery can be funny. Mockery that is insulting is not. The sort of stuff that would get you punched in a bar can be said on a dais with impunity. This is why Colbert was more than rude. He was a bully.

And with this, Colbert-gate has jumped the shark. Or rather, the political establishment’s analysis of the story has.

Honestly, at this point, it’s just silly. Colbert is a comedian, who did a 20-minute stand-up routine, in character, doing the same shtick he does every night, which is presumably what generated the invitation to the correspondents’ dinner in the first place. He was hardly breaking new ground — he delivered some biting comments about the president’s approval ratings, Fox News’ bias, global warming, and the press corps’ laziness. He could have done a 20-minute set on Cheney shooting an old guy in the face, but he went with a more politically-relevant monologue.

[tag]Cohen[/tag] thinks that makes him a “rude bully”? It’s comedy. Colbert told jokes. The event itself is about mockery and good-natured derision. Why is this still a story?

Colbert teased the [tag]establishment[/tag] — and their delicate sensibilities still haven’t recovered. That says far more about the [tag]media[/tag] and the White House than it does Colbert.

Cohen proving once again how bad a journalist and observer he really is.

And I do not think anyone can automatically rule out “payback” of some sort against Colbert in this country–we see that happen almost every day under this Sadministration.

Colbert’s only fault is that he had to go on for so long–10 minutes would have been sufficient for him to get his points across. But they gave him 20 minutes and knew what his schtick was.

  • The excesses of the Colbert character ( a stupid partisan bully beyond rudeness)
    are exactly what make him funny.
    Colbert is art imitiating fox.

  • the message colbert sent was, basically, ‘i won’t laugh along with war criminals.’ no wonder the msm flipped. i bet cohen thought bush looking for wmd in the oval office was hilarious.

  • Drawing a parallel between this and art, I would like to offer a quote from a true artistic genius – Han Solo:

    “Who’s scruffy-looking? (to Luke) I must have hit her pretty close
    to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh, kid?” – Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back.

    Ouch! for the Press. And that is today’s WORD!

  • the msm is no different than the bush white house. if you support them, you are funny and safe. if you don’t, you are a bully and uncouth. that helen thomas took part in the video shows just how far they have fallen in comparison.

  • I notice that Cohen didn’t call Colbert a liar or question the substance.

    That tells you everything you need to know. They are no longer even attempting to obscure the issues by calling the facts into question (like they used to), but rather are hellbent on shooting the messengers.

    Poor mister president! If I was the next president, I’d hurt more than his feelings. My first act would be to hand him over to The Hague. Insults ought to be the least of his worries.

  • Do you think that the chosen ones in “The Press,” (MSM, or whatever you want to call it) are getting the word that many, many of us out here are not the sheep they thought we were?
    Colbert bitch-slapped them more than he did the president. And it’s only their own that’s whining about it. No one is defending them, but their own.
    Perhaps they need it, they need a few more knees to the ‘nads to wake them up to (forgive my yelling)
    DO YOUR F’ING JOB!!!!!!

    This was the perfect forum to do this, too. After Bush’s routine last year, no one in this group stood up to him. The proper response then would have been:
    “Mr. president, how dare you? How can you be so insensitive to our fallen troop and their families? Would you do this to entertain our wounded troops in our VA hospitals? This is a slap in the face to all thinking Americans.”
    But, noooooo…..
    They laughed and laughed.

    If Colbert wanted to bully these creeps, he would have thrown the dead and mangled troops and Iraqis in their faces. He would have pulled a still grieving mother, or wife or child in front of them and screamed, “This is the America you helped bring us.”

    Thanks for letting me vent. Tell the MSM to do their jobs, or we want their letters of resignation.

  • The coverage and response to Colbert’s performance is getting annoying. Permit me to point out a few things, none of which will be particularly original.

    Colbert has AN ACT. A shtick, even. He plays an arrogant, anti-intellectual blowhard.

    He (and his writers) do satire. Parody. A comedic balancing act, where they take the arguments and talking points of the day and blow them up. They do this by exaggeration, by the sly mockery of the on-screen “Words,” by inviting straight men and women on the show and having them respond to the outrageous character.

    He was invited to this event and did his act.

    He did not speak “truth to power.” He mocked the s*&t out of the people in the room – all of them. Satire. Parody.

    It was funny. It was daring. It was, of course, balls-alicious.

    He was not there as some lefty warrior. He was there as a satirist. He did that job and did it well.

    Cohen, though this goes without saying, is full of crap.

  • “When you spoke truth to power you took the distinct chance that power would smite you, toss you into a dungeon or — if you’re at work — take away your office.”

    Wow. This man is truly clueless. You didn’t have to look further than the live audience to see this is completely wrong… just ask Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame if there is something to fear.

  • Two years ago, after Bush’s little skit about missing WMDs, we outside the beltway were offended. We were told to “lighten up,” “it’s just a joke,” etc. Now, when we laugh at a man that skewered the press and president so thoroughly, we’re told, “that’s not funny.”

    Huh, go figure. I guess we here in fly-over land are just boors and rubes and don’t know what good humor is.

  • Cohen knows that he’s been indicted for treason, along with the rest of the press. When the traditional press decided to play nice instead of challenging the neocon crusade, they betrayed the entire nation, and unfortunately the effects of this betrayal will last for generations.

    The press knows it dropped the ball, and Colbert rubbed their noses in it. That’s why they’re crying foul.

    Poor Cohen. Got beat up by a bully. A bully called “the truth”.

    Traitor.

  • “So Not Funny” is the column header of Cohen’s article. Here is my take:

    So not funny is Bush sending our young to die in a war of choice.
    So not funny is Bush giving tax cuts the have-mores.
    So not funny is Bush with his signing statements, choosing to follow only the laws HE thinks are appropriate.
    So not funny is the tax giveaways to the oil industry.
    So not funny is the Bushies spying on Americans.
    So not funny is the way the Bushies have taken this country down the toilet.
    So not funny is the Washington press corps kowtowing to the Bushies.
    So not funny is the outing of a federal agent.
    So not funny is the hiring of political hacks for important positions.
    So not funny is the ignorance of the Bushies when it comes to science.
    So not funny is the arrogance and incompetence of the man who is the Worst President Ever.

  • I’m sorry, Mr. Cohen, I’ve been reading your column for 30 years, you’re not that funny.
    George ‘Al-Saud’ Bush being the clown for “nukular proliferation” brought back fond memories of his WMD schtick a couple of years back. I heard that KILLED in Iraq. It wasn’t funny. Neither was Colbert. It was biting satire that made everyone squirm in their seats, which was exactly as intended.
    It’s not surprising that MSM doesn’t get it. There head is so far up the administration’s ass that I can’t see their neck.

  • I don’t know if anyone else read this, but one of the news stories that I read about the event said that Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson were sitting 3 tables away from Karl Rove. I sorta’ hope that their presence gave old Karl a bad case of indigestion.

  • As in the case of the MSM in general—and Richard Cohen specifically—it is common for the cowardly, groupthink-horde to hurl insults such as “rude bully” to the truly courageous individual.

    As for Buzzmon’s request for “letters of resignation,” it’ll never happen. These tail-tucking dogs get nice fat paychecks for playing “Fairy-Tale-Make-Believe-Journalism.” They couldn’t spew out a serious, hard-hitting piece of news if you heimlich-maneuvered their collective gut with a 205 Howitzer shell—at point-blank range. They rant and rage about the blogosphere, because it’s the blogosphere that’s out there doing the MSM’s job. Insidious little squeaks like Cohen and his ilk can’t “pretend their collective responsibilities away” into the misty nether-regions, when they’re constantly reminded of those responsibilities by others. They can’t hide their heads in the sand—when the sand is blown away by the fresh breeze of Truth….

  • I sent Mr Cohen a nice email. I hope he gets it:

    Mr Cohen:

    You write: “On television, Colbert is often funny. But on his own show he appeals to a self-selected audience that reminds him often of his greatness.”

    I think what you meant to say was:

    “On television, Bush is often presidential. But his presidency appeals to a self-selected audience that reminds him often of his greatness.”

    There, now it makes sense.

    Regards,

    Tom Elliott
    San Diego, CA

    PS: I know. You won’t find this funny. You apparently find it better to make jokes about not finding WMD. Remember that one? I’m sure you do. I’ll bet you even laughed.

    PSPS: You aren’t funny. But you are a joke.

  • CB, I’m so glad you brought this one up. I was stuck at Saturn all morning for a blown tire and had nothing to do but read the WaPo. Cohen was just sickening.

    Colbert was funny. When the audiance wasn’t laughing they were shoving their fists into their mouths to stop from laughing. And Colbert is even funnier to the rest of America who got to watch him skewer the ‘elite’ there in the room.

    The President deserves all the pounding we can give him, any time, any place. He has lied to America, conspired to subvert free elections IN THIS COUNTRY, and sent America’s military and reputation to die in the sand of Iraq.

    And as Chris mentions, Wilson and Plame proves that this administration will use any means, legal or illegal, unethical or immoral, to attack those who shine the light of truth on them.

  • Cohen is the epitome of a self-hating faux-progressive douchebag. He’s been this way for years, limply wagging his finger at the stylistic crimes of “intemperate” activists and bloggers who dare to express views he half-heartedly shares, and then excusing the real travesties against Constitutional governance committed by the Republicans. What a tool.

  • The worst aspect about Cohen’s article is his attempt to (as a self-proclaimed expert on humor) tell us what’s funny. I wish he could hear the laughter from the people who really matter.

  • It’s really sickening to see the corporate takeover of what used to be independent, hopefully liberal, progressive “media” (for want of a better word).

    They’re all just stooges and ass-kissers and not worth our attention anymore. Americans’ idea of comedy is a car wreck at NASCAR, or a Faux news employee or church pharisee calling someone else a “librul humma-sekshul”. My idea of comedy is Aristophanes or Moliere or Colbert; I’m feeling very alone and powerless in America, which is just how the corporations want this “consumer unit” to feel.

  • They don’t even grasp the irony. Colbert plays
    a right wing blowhard, a clueless demagogue
    every night on “The Colbert Report,” and in
    so doing skewers and eviscerates the Bush
    administration and the sycophantic MSM
    through biting, ripping political satire. He’s
    become a big hit.

    So the establishment invites him to perform
    at this annual event. What the hell did they
    expect? He did his act. What, they invited
    him on to not do his act? Did they tell him
    not to do his thing? Did they ask for a
    preview?

    I mean this is ridiculous. They’re assailing
    the guy for doing what he does every single
    night. If they didn’t want that, why did they
    put him on?

    Somewhat reminds me of how the
    administration prepared for the post
    war period in Iraq – Not. They got what
    they deserved. They have only themselves
    to blame. And they can’t see that. That’s
    what gets me. They are too blind and
    full of themselves to realize they are fault.

  • Quote: “Colbert is a comedian, who did a 20-minute stand-up routine, in character, doing the same shtick he does every night…He was hardly breaking new ground”.

    CB, as the excellent comments here indicate, you’re still not getting the significance of the Colbert issue. He WAS breaking new ground in that he delivered biting satire that got Bush, McCain, the media and the Generals where it hurts. He told the truth and, I believe, aside from the video, he didn’t care if it was “entertaining.” He told the media what they are doing to this country and not to feel all smug and happy in their tuxedoes, yukking it up with the criminal administration, because we know it too. He told Bush, to his face, that his shining moments consist of stage managing lies with the backdrop of the countries greatest tragedies. He told McCain that he is a hypocrite who will be going to Bob Jones University in his immoral quest for the Presidency. He was not polite, he was not light hearted, he was not a friendly, “one of the guys” winking as the country is plundered. He told them all that they are a catastrophe.

    This was not skit night at the frat house, but that is what the audience wanted and what Bush expected. And if Cohen thinks Colbert will suffer no penalty for it, he is, sadly, mistaken. This is an evil and vindictive administration. Bush was about to explode at the breach of the enforced compliance code. How many corporate media cronies will want to hire Colbert, the man who (gasp!) insulted Dear Leader. At the least, I’m sure Bush has re-assigned one of the few remaining IRS agents–you know, one of the guys investigating people taking the Earned Income Tax Credit–to look into Colbert.

  • It’s also ridiculous to refer to Colbert in this situation as the “bully”. Bush has all the power. The administration has been threatening those that report the truth (NSA, secret prisons, etc.) The administration and their mouthpieces have routinely accused anyone who voices dissent of treason (or it’s cousin, providing ‘comfort to the enemy’).

    Cohen is willfully dense or outright lying if he thinks there will be no repercussions for Colbert.

    And he’s a douchebag for pronouncing that he is funny and Colbert is not.

    If you invite a satirist to speak, and he satirizes… it’s a little disingenous to call him rude. And it’s perceived as rude largely because the entire establishment would prefer to enable Dubya’s “bubble”.

    I thought it was freakin’ hysterical. And a lot of people think I’m funny too.

  • I found one guy who put it better than I ever could …

    At least one way of measuring the freedom of any society is the amount of comedy that is permitted, and clearly a healthy society permits more satirical comment than a repressive, so that if comedy is to function in some way as a safety release then it must obviously deal with these taboo areas.

    This is part of the responsibility we accord our licensed jesters, that nothing be excused the searching light of comedy. If anything can survive the probe of humour it is clearly of value, and conversely all groups who claim immunity from laughter are claiming special privileges which should not be granted.
    –Eric Idle

  • ” In Washington he was playing to a different crowd, and he failed dismally in the funny person’s most solemn obligation: to use absurdity or contrast or hyperbole to elucidate — to make people see things a little bit differently. He had a chance to tell the president and much of important (and self-important) Washington things it would have been good for them to hear.”

    First, to the point that Bush mocks his own inability to muster a complete sentence, great. To imply that this was the sole point of Colbert’s act is way off point. The meat of Colbert’s act is the gut instinct/avoid reality modus operandi of the Bushites. To me, that is absurdity and Colbert does a great version of what the character known as Scott McClellan might be like behind closed doors.

    “He had a chance to tell the president…things it would have been good for them to hear”??? Uh, dude, he did. He pointed out just how painful the absurdity of the administrion is. Anyone that thinks Colbert’s act wasn’t funny should at least be thankful that it is mockery instead of the reality of the US under the Bushites.

  • Gosh, CB, you really take one for the team every time you read Cohen. After he wrote to the effect that the reason he was not skeptical during the run up to the Iraq war was he was so busy debunking the arguments of those loony lefties who opposed the war (I’m guessing because they hate America) he did not have time to challenge the administration, I threw in the towel. Whenever a blogger points out some piece of twaddle that this corrupt, used-up ninny produces, I am reminded of a joke that I heard many years go (referring, at the time, to lawyers):
    What have you got when you have Richard Cohen buried up to his neck in sand?
    (Not enough sand).
    Same thing could be said for Joe Klein. Both men are entitled to their opinions. But, I do not think they are entitled to represent themselves as “liberal” voices. They are establishment embeds who have come to like the perquisites and chow too much.

  • “Poor Cohen. Got beat up by a bully. A bully called “the truth”.”

    Racerx, Stephen Colbert could not have said that better himself to start his show.

  • I’ve read Cohen for a long time and have concluded he has a knack for making himself irrelevent.

    What Cohen and Colbert have in common is that, in different ways, both express OPINIONS. Regardless of how much “truth” is contained in their opinions, opinions are not facts. This is what I had in mind when I posted about relying on the “Daily Show” for news — that the MSM has become so journalistically feckless that people find a comedy show more credible.

    The problem I have with many right wingers — and I’m sure it applies to some liberals — is that they seem to believe that, if one’s opinion is strong enough, it trumps fact.

    That delusion is akin to inviting a satirist to address your dinner, assuming he will depart from satire and tell “blonde jokes.”

  • re: Stephen Colbert

    The imperial American presidency has devolved into the worst of the old British monarchy…we now have a monarch unaccountable who rules..at least the Brits have an accountable monarch who simply reigns…

    Compare the Kabuki of our chief executive’s press conferences with the British Prime Minister’s question hour…hence the eruptions of real theater when our President finds himself an unwitting captive audience to some of our more pro-active political commentators: ie Stephen Colbert…might these sites of “in your face performativity” become more commonplace as opportunity presents itself??? – kinda like bringing the “street theater” of the Johnson presidency indoors because it’s been suppressed every where else…

  • Does all this talk that Colbert was “not funny” remind you a little about the movie “Good Morning, Vietnam”? It is very similar to the scene where Robin Williams gets called on the carpet, this time about his jokes. The radio staff sargent tells him that he is not funny and because he knows what “funny” is! I don’t have all the details fresh in memory, but this so similar.

  • No consequences? Well, maybe not thrown in jail– yet– but plenty of consequences.

    Bill Maher.
    Joe Wilson.
    Ken Shinseki.
    John Snow.
    Colin Powell.
    J.H. Hatfield (look that one up!)
    Orange-Alert Boy (Tom Ridge).
    Bob Bullock.
    Dan Fucking Rather.
    John Kerry.
    And, depending on whether you want to put on the Vince Foster tin-foil hat or not, Mel Carnahan and Paul Wellstone.

    There is no question that the Rove/Cheney/Shrub Texas Repug contingent are tough, vindictive, and they take out anyone who crosses them, in the most petty and personal way possible. They play hardball hardest of anyone in modern memory– they have Nixon beat.

    Of course Colbert was taking a risk. Of course he was courageous– by the relatively soft American standards. After all, we’re comparing him to Lenny Bruce, not Nelson Mandela, to Edward R. Murrow, not to Vaclav Havel. How could anyone criticise that?

    I think the whole reason why we have such contempt for the wimpy MSM is specifically *because* the “danger” they are avoiding by sucking up to the administration is so MILD. It’s actually a sad commentary on the sad state of the MEDIA that Colbert’s simple act of “rudeness” is considered out of line.

    The MSM is rotten to the core. The evil they perpetrate is that clubby “good natured” shit we’ve so come to despise out here in the blogosphere. The press has contracted a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome, big time.

    Colbert violated those “social rules” of comity, and went after the truth despite the mild deterrent of “social disapprovation”, and that’s what we want the media to do, every day, all day long.

  • Anyone know what Bush & Co. plan to “do” about Colbert? Rove has got to be staying up late nights scheming. What about any temper tantrums from Shrub?

    Oh, and Colbert was brutally brilliant-screw that wanker Cohen.

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