colbert, my new boyfriend

[keryx]

Transcript & video of Stephen Colbert bringing it on at Daily Kos

[ETA: You know, I didn't think of that as a particularly daring move - though I suppose it is. I just think it's funny, and true, and if you can't tell the funny truth to members of the press in a country with protected speech...]

Comments

[originalenid.livejournal.com]

Mmm, I saw the whole speech yesterday. PRICELESS and so BRAVE! I love Helen Thomas for doing that, too. Bush did NOT look amused. HAH.

[mabjustmab.livejournal.com]

Holy freakin poop. that was soo funny. I was laughing so loud, a co-worker came over. I didn't care, I unplugged my headphones and we watched the whole thing. omg....that was funny as hell.

thank you so much for sharing!

m

[arovd.livejournal.com]

omg that man has balls the size of... well... texas, really.

[arovd.livejournal.com]

but it wasn't just the press - he was standing three feet from GW and *SKEWERING* him. That's gotta be a little nervewracking...

[keryx.livejournal.com]

But Colbert skewers Bush all the time. This was just more direct. Though I'm sure being that personal had to have been anxious-making, it just doesn't seem like a huge leap in ballsiness, I guess.

More courage that most people in that room.

[ivyblogs.livejournal.com]

But there are rules- you know? You're supposed to go there and roast the president but not really insult him. Obviously Colbert either agreed to tone down his act (play along)and then didn't- or the idiot who asked him to speak at the dinner never saw his show. I saw the speech live and my jaw dropped. I kept expecting them to cut off his mic. It was like when John Stewart went on Hardline, where he was expected to play along and be funny- but instead he called Tucker Carlson a dick and told them shows like theirs was hurting America and to stop it. A lot of people were shocked and thrilled because it had been so long since they'd seen anyone in the news media be honest. But this wasn't just in the faces of two journalists- it was the all the press and the PResident himself!

At a previous White House correspondents' dinner, W. did this gag where he was pretending to look everywhere for WMD's ("let me see, nope- not under there!") - and the press attending laughed. Laughed! That's how much people who attend that function are supposed to kiss ass. That fucker makes a joke about why he sent people off to kill and be killed and the representatives of the established news media didn't want to so rude as to boo- or even just not laugh. So I think Colbert was very brave. He went out there knowing he wasn't going to be playing to the audience- that the only people that might be laughing wouldn't even be in that room (not to mention that he'll have a harder time getting conservatives and members of the press on his show now) and even the television audience might not see it because it was on c-span. The few audience reaction shots I saw were of people looking confused, shocked and even scared. He stood out there and insulted most of those attending and the president of the united states (if you can call telling the truth insulting) to their faces, live on national television! I loved that the more his stuff bombed with that audience, the more energetic he seemed. I swear that by the time it was over, he was glowing. Not only that, but he managed to make part of it a big old love note to Helen Thomas- that alone said so much. He smacks down most of the mainstream media but includes a flattering portrayal of Helen Thomas in his act- the one journalist who refuses to stop asking real questions. The one person in the white house press corps who has so much integrity that our president refuses to call on her. I'm sure she was at the head table because she was Colbert's guest- don't you think? And didn't he kiss her afterward? I do think he was very brave. But forget about balls, the man has integrity! How often has anyone see an example of that anywhere near the current president of the United States of America? I though it was thrilling!

Re: More courage that most people in that room.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

The integrity, I'll give you. And I have to say, I find it unbelievably sad that the most challenging well-known journalists in the country seem to come from the Fake News (Daily Show). I just feel like everyone in the press should be able to have that level of frankness in their approach (although in most situations with a wee bit less bias).