Stephen Colbert, of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report, was the featured speaker at last night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The President was not amused.
As Colbert walked from the podium, when it was over, the president and First Lady gave him quick nods, unsmiling. The president shook his hand and tapped his elbow, and left immediately.What had Dubya’s panties in a twist? Some of Colbert’s trademark truthiness, without doubt.Those seated near Bush told [Editor & Publisher’s] Joe Strupp, who was elsewhere in the room, that Bush had quickly turned from an amused guest to an obviously offended target as Colbert’s comments brought up his low approval ratings and problems in Iraq.
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.
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.
So the White House has personnel changes. Then you write 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.Reading the right-wing blogs, the most frequent comments are that Colbert “bombed”, that he “wasn’t funny”. They say this, of course, because not one of them can point to anything Colbert said that wasn’t true. Comedy is at its sharpest when it zeroes in on the truth.
The Moderate Voice has a roundup of reactions from around the blogosphere. Colbert’s speech is available on YouTube Google Video (Colbert’s turn starts at about 51 minutes in), or via torrent (.AVI file—about 53 minutes in).
UPDATE 04/30/06 19:15 EDT: Peter Daou points out that the lapdogs in the media are reacting as expected:
Colbert’s performance is sidestepped and marginalized while Bush is treated as light-hearted, humble, and funny. Expect nothing less from the cowardly American media. The story could just as well have been Bush and Laura’s discomfort and the crowd’s semi-hostile reaction to Colbert’s razor-sharp barbs.
UPDATE 05/01/06 06:12 EDT: Thank You Stephen Colbert has sprung up to collect kudos for the new Comic-In-Chief. Hat tip to Boing Boing.
An excellent transcript is available at Daily Kos.
UPDATE 05/05/06 06:28 EDT: IntoxiNation links to a video of Bush’s reaction during Colbert’s audition video.
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