Colbert Lampoons Bush at White House Correspondents Dinner
Colbert Lampoons Bush at White House Correspondents Dinner-- President Does Not Seem Amused
By E&P Staff
Published: April 29, 2006 11:40 PM ET
WASHINGTON
A blistering comedy “tribute” to President Bush by Comedy Central’s faux talk show host Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondent Dinner Saturday night left George and Laura Bush unsmiling at its close.
Earlier, the president had delivered his talk to the 2700 attendees, including many celebrities and top officials, with the help of a Bush impersonator.
Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged the Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, “and reality has a well-known liberal bias.”
He attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. “This administration is soaring, not sinking,” he said. “They are re-arranging the deck chairs--on the Hindenburg.”
Colbert told Bush he could end the problem of protests by retired generals by refusing to let them retire. He compared Bush to Rocky Balboa in the “Rocky” movies, always getting punched in the face—“and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world.”
Turning to the war, he declared, "I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."
He noted former Ambassador Joseph Wilson in the crowd, as well as " Valerie Plame." Then, pretending to be worried that he had named her, he corrected himself, as Bush aides might do, "Uh, I mean... Joseph Wilson's wife." He asserted that it might be okay, as prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was probably not there.
Colbert also made biting cracks about missing WMDs, “photo ops” on aircraft carriers and at hurricane disasters, and Vice President Cheney shooting people in the face.Observing that Bush sticks to his principles, he said, "When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday - no matter what happened Tuesday."
Also lampooning the press, Colbert complained that he was “surrounded by the liberal media who are destroying this country, except for Fox News. Fox believes in presenting both sides—the president’s side and the vice president’s side." He also reflected on the good old days, when the media was still swallowing the WMD story.
Addressing the reporters, he said, "You should spend more time with your families, write that novel you've always wanted to write. You know, the one about the fearless reporter who stands up to the administration. You know-- fiction."
He claimed that the Secret Service name for Bush's new press secretary is "Snow Job." Colbert closed his routine with a video fantasy where he gets to be White House Press Secretary, complete with a special “Gannon” button on his podium. By the end, he had to run from Helen Thomas and her questions about why the U.S. really invaded Iraq and killed all those people.
As Colbert walked from the podium, when it was over, the president and First Lady gave him quick nods, unsmiling, and left immediately.
E&P's Joe Strupp, in the crowd, observed that quite a few sitting near him looked a little uncomfortable at times, perhaps feeling the material was a little too biting--or too much speaking "truthiness" to power.
Asked by E&P after it was over if he thought he'd been too harsh, Colbert said, "Not at all." Was he trying to make a point politically or just get laughs? "Just for laughs," he said. He said he did not pull any material for being too strong, just for time reasons.
Helen Thomas told Strupp her segment with Colbert was "just for fun."
The president had talked to the crowd with a Bush impersonator alongside, with the faux-Bush speaking precisely and the real Bush deliberately mispronouncing words, such as the inevitable "nuclear." At the close, Bush called the imposter "a fine talent. In fact, he did all my debates with Senator Kerry."
Among attendees at the black tie event: Morgan Fairchild, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Justice Antonin Scalia, George Clooney, and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter of the Doobie Brothers--in a kilt.
posted by Name Held by Request | 6:15 AM
2 Comments:
truthiness
The stenographic slugs pretending to be reporters have to look in the mirror and know they've not only been exposed, but that they are the butt of satirical humor. Colbert hammered at the root cause of what's gone wrong in America, especially now that the fourth estate has become a fifth column. What passes itself off as news is nothing more than what Pravda TAAS and Izvestia did in the defunct Soviet Union. We have become what we hated in the Cold War. State/corporate controlled news has replaced the free press. Those who count the votes determine election results. Soon most will be working for the same pay, minimum wage. News for profit, be it monetary or favorable legislation, is really fake news. Colbert and Comedy Central as well as Keith Olbermann are the only TV broadcast news venues that regularly criticize the naked em porer. I stopped watching all news during the corporate news driven impeachment of the last duly elected leader of the free world. Newscasters on all the channels were practically drooling over Clinton's lying about a consensual blowjob.
The second hand excuse for a human being now occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue started a war predicated on deliberate lies and all these jerk off reporters can do is cover his miserable ass.
So let's see: getting your dick sucked is a crime, but being a lying scumbag and war profiteer is good.
We need a national strike where everyone who gives a shit stays home from work one day a week. Treasury looting is as un-American as war profiteering.
Our pResident is a nut
Stephen Colbert was the celebrity entertainer at the 2006 White House Correspondent’s Dinner. But you wouldn’t know it if you only paid attention to main stream media outlets. That is because the main stream media is proving Stephen Colbert right. Colbert, in his persona as a conservative, flag waving, Bush supporting cable show host, unloaded on the Washington press and the administration in a bit of satirical, comedic genius. But the main stream press has decided to pretend it didn’t happen. As Colbert said, “Here's how it works. The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know -- fiction." While Bush’s body double skit enjoys wide coverage by the attending press, Colbert’s indictment of the administration and the press that covers and enables it has gone largely unreported. Apparently, being a target of criticism, as the main stream media was in Colbert’s case, makes the criticism less news worthy.
Was Colbert’s performance newsworthy? Well, all of the major news outlets have carried a story this same weekend noting that Bruce Springsteen was critical of politicians for “criminal ineptitude” in their response to Hurricane Katrina. Springsteen, an entertainer, made the comments to a sympathetic crowd at a music festival in New Orleans, far from those he was criticizing. Colbert stood a few feet away from the president and the Washington press and let them both have it live on CSPAN. Colbert looked straight at Bush and said "I believe in this president. Now, I know there's some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in 'reality.' And reality has a well-known liberal bias."
When Wenyi Wang shouted criticisms at China’s President Hu during a recent visit to the White House it was news, except in China. The American media covered it extensively and Wang made the news talk show circuit to explain her protest further. But Colbert’s satire was directed at President Bush and the press that covers him, not a visiting dignitary. On Iraq Colbert said "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." It amazes me that the main stream media is responding exactly like the Chinese media did in Hu’s case. It didn’t happen.
I recently attended a speech given by President Bush in West Virginia. During the question and answer after his speech, Gayle Taylor, the wife of an Iraq veteran, stood and told Bush about all of the good news stories that her husband, an Army broadcaster, had brought home from Iraq. She criticized the main stream media for not showing the positive things going on in Iraq. Taylor was interviewed after the event and made several appearances on network news shows to further explain her criticisms. This is an example of the media reporting criticism of the media. Why aren’t they doing this in Colbert’s case? The “truthiness” hurts.
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