Everyone has been telling me to watch a clip from Stephen Colbert. I thought it would be from his show, not realizing we had missed the Correspondents Dinner. Thanks to everyone who sent the link or mentioned it.
If you haven't seen it yet, set aside 24 minutes and watch it here.
15 comments:
not as hilarious as the bush-hating world is making it out to be (no surprise), but amusing.
good shots of stone-faced moron at some points.
colbert's delivery is top notch.
Not so hilarious, I agree. But it takes guts and ability to do that routine right in front of The Moron. It was an excellent performance.
Lots of nervous laughter from the audience, and Moron very quickly stopped smiling.
I wish I liked Colbert's show more. It's just too one-note for me. Plus it's on so damn late.
It wasn't the hilarity -- it was just so stunning.
There was a perceptive piece on salon.com about how countering the Bushites is so difficult, because they are always ready with their talking points and can easily sidetrack the argument. But Colbert's satire doesn't allow for that. It just shows the emptiness of the right-wing rhetoric and puffery, and there's very little that can be said back.
And I tend to watch Colbert more than Stewart now. Just hearing him say "Papa Bear" is enough to make it worthwhile for me.
And I tend to watch Colbert more than Stewart now.
That seems to be the trend among lefties these days, as Stewart gets softer.
Stunning? Not really, for me. He pulled too many punches.
However, watching Stewart kowtow to conversative guests and never never never calling them on their bullshit has soured me on TDS.
If Colbert's show is one-note -- I'm not so sure -- it's a brilliant note. He's got the mocking of the rightwing cable show hosts down to a T. Adopting their mannerisms, code words and "logic" helps make him bulletproof.
I guarantee that some of the jokes went over Bush's head and he couldn't figure out what was going on.
But I do wish someone at one of these things would simply unload on the administration and its stenographers in the crowd.
However, watching Stewart kowtow to conversative guests and never never never calling them on their bullshit has soured me on TDS.
Me too. He seems to think his show needs balance. When in reality it would take two networks of nothing but Stewart, Colbert, Garafalo, Franken and Moore to even approach balance on US TV.
He's got the mocking of the rightwing cable show hosts down to a T.
That's the one note, for me. But I do agree that he's very good at it.
Colbert has nerves of steel -- that's what made his performance so impressive. He was inches from W and didn't flinch. He was channleing Jonathan Swift. Sigh, he's dreamy. I want to be pre-pregnant with his baby.
That seems to be the trend among lefties these days, as Stewart gets softer.
Who you calling a leftie!? (Or do you mean that in the American context? In which case I might as well be a slavering Leninist, what with all my support for "human rights" and "health care" and idiotic stuff like that.)
I don't know if it's just Stewart's being soft that's lost me. The correspondents aren't as good as they once were, their pieces aren't as subversive as they once were... I guess it's like liking a band when they were small, and then being too cool to like the band when everyone else starts listening to them. "Indecision 2004!? You should've seen 2000..."
I don't really want to be too hard on Stewart; first, he's not a left-wing show, his whole schtick is to subvert the reigning power. (Why am I using "subvert" so much here!?) In 1999-2000, he was going after Clinton all the time.
And second, he really is supposed to be a comedy show, not a political voice. As he said to Tucker Carlson, "You're on CNN. I'm led in by puppets." I don't think that's a cop-out; it's just a symptom of the weakness of the left-wing voice in the USA that TDS and Colbert are the best they've got.
I meant lefty as opposed to righties and centeries. You qualify, I think.
I don't really want to be too hard on Stewart; first, he's not a left-wing show, his whole schtick is to subvert the reigning power.
You make my point. :) If that's his schtick, then he shouldn't be kissing up to Cons and Neocons.
But I disagree that "he's not a left-wing show" (left-wing in the US sense, that is). Stewart's humour has always been political, and always been liberal.
In 1999-2000, he was going after Clinton all the time.
Shooting fish in a barrel. And you could still go after Clinton from a liberal point of view, which he did. He wasn't agreeing with Newt Gingrich & Co.
And second, he really is supposed to be a comedy show, not a political voice.
I think TDS is supposed to be a political comedy show, just like Colbert. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
I'm not trying to castigate Stewart or say he's completely gone over to the other side. I just noticed a decided middle-of-the-road-ing of his humour as his show grew more and more popular.
Yeah, I guess I just gotta face facts... I'm on the left wing. I never thought that would happen... then again, I never thought the other side would become what it's become.
As for TDS... well, it's not where I get my news, so I can live with it even if it's getting soft. I do fear for those for whom TDS is their only source of news... although with the rest of the options in the US media, I don't know if I can think of a better source offhand... NPR or PBS I guess?
(There I go, siding with the commies again! I really am a leftie! :) )
I'm on the left wing. I never thought that would happen...
Hey, it's nice over here. Especially because we're never in power, so the practicality of our views is rarely tested. ;-)
As for people who actually get their news from TDS, as amusing as the idea is, it's not much better than watching CNN, in the sense that you won't really know what's happening in the world.
And that's a problem why? Seriously, though, there's a significant proportion of the under-35 demographic that does get its news solely from TDS. And it really could be worse, CNN, MSNBC, Fox"Newz", or what-have-you.
But powerlessness is my MO, dude. I think I'll fit riiiiiiight in. I gotta finish the Zinn (still working on the People's History), drink the kool-aid, and take my shoes off in the house, and I'm there...
Seriously, though, there's a significant proportion of the under-35 demographic that does get its news solely from TDS.
I know. I find it completely pathetic. An ignorant populace is not a healthy thing.
An ignorant populace is not a healthy thing.
Yeah... so probably the best thing to do is to prosecute and jail journalists for investigative reporting. That way, the populace will all be reduced to the lowest common denominator...
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