May 1, 2006

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Stephen Colbert at the WHPC Dinner

Stephen Colbert mocked Bush Saturday night to his face for about 30 minutes at the annual White House Press Corps dinner. While driving down Connecticut Ave that night, I was forced to stop and wait for about three minutes for some well-dressed waspy types to be escorted across the street to the event by police officers, so I'm glad something good came out of it. Bush had to just sit there with a stupid grin on his face, not quite managing to hold in his contempt for Colbert, while Colbert blasted him.

Why they allowed Colbert to do that routine, right in front of Bush, is pretty incomprehensible to me, but wow! It is hilarious. He stayed in character the whole time, acting as if he loved Bush, while obviously lambasting everything about him. He also mocked the press at their own celebratory dinner, thanking them for failing to ask the tough questions or investigate anything the President did. As a result, the mainstream press has boycotted Colbert's routine, instead running stupid stories about the act that preceded Colbert where Bush got on stage with a Bush impersonator. That bit was mildly humorous (if you download the file using the torrent below, you'll have that, too), but Colbert's speech was one of the most newsworthy things to happen this year, and it is being blacked out. The Press Corps wants the President at future annual dinners, and the Press also don't like being mocked, so they're not reporting on it. Such blatant bias. Everyone needs to watch this. Some of my favorite lines:

• "If anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. will be right over with a cocktail."
• "So don't pay attention to the approval ratings that say 68% of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68% approve of the job he's not doing? Think about it. I haven't."
• "When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday - no matter what happened Tuesday."
• "Now, I know there are 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."
• "Everybody asks for personnel changes. So the White House has personnel changes. Then you write, "Oh, 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!"
• "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."
• "Let's review the rules. 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."

This is one of the ballsiest things I've seen in a long time. Welcome to the no-fly list, Stephen Colbert. Here is a transcript, but if you can, you should really watch the video:

• Crooks and liars (doesn't have the whole thing)
• YouTube: Part 1, 2, 3
• Torrent (has act before Colbert, too)

From BoingBoing, Slashdot, DailyKos, EditorAndPublisher

Posted at May 1, 2006 5:06 AM | Comments (8)

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