In a chillingly sarcastic roast, last night Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central stood next to George and Laura Bush and did a "comedy" routine that left mouths agape in the room. At the White House Correspondents' Dinner where the press and the president of the United States are the butt of comedians' jokes, the invited host ridiculed Bush without using a single obscenity, relying only on Bush's record as the source of his comedic inspiration. The merciless lampooning left the initially smiling First Couple with pursed lips. Colbert was hilarious, clever and deadly accurate. C-Span has not yet published the transcript. I am linking to a secondary source. Among other things, Colbert took aim at Cheney, Scalia, McCain, global warming, NSA snooping and other assorted right wing mischief. My husband and I watched it on TV and were mesmerized by Colbert's courage and devastating turn of phrase. If the Democrats have trouble coming up with a persuasive party platform, playing back Colbert's speech on the campaign trail might do the trick for them in 2006 and 2008.
"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.
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. “If anything, 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."
Colbert also made biting cracks about missing WMDs, “photo ops” on aircraft carriers and at hurricane disasters, melting glaciers and Vice President Cheney shooting people in the face. He advised the crowd, "if anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly on into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. will be right over with a cocktail. "
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 of the story — the president’s side and the vice president’s side." He also reflected on the alleged good old days, when the media was still swallowing the WMD story.
Addressing the reporters, he said, "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."
He claimed that the Secret Service name for Bush's new press secretary is "Snow Job."
As Colbert walked from the podium, when it was over, the president and First Lady gave him quick nods, unsmiling, and handshakes, and left immediately.
Those seated near Bush told E&P's Joe Strupp, who was elsewhere in the room, that Bush 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. Several veterans of past dinners, who requested anonymity, said the presentation was more directed at attacking the president than in the past. Several said previous hosts, like Jay Leno, equally slammed both the White House and the press corps.
“This was anti-Bush,” said one attendee. “Usually they go back and forth between us and him.” Another noted that Bush quickly turned unhappy, and left the dais shortly after while most seated near him, including Colbert and Snow, glad-handed the crowd. “You could see he stopped smiling about halfway through Colbert,” he reported."
Update: Daily Kos has the complete transcript. Enjoy!
It's also available for download at Crooks and Liars:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/04/29.html#a8104
I was impressed with his performance. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that he stayed in character--he wouldn't have taken the job if he was afraid to make the relevant jokes--but it's pretty gutsy to make fun of the President (and his supporters) right in front of the President and the First Lady for a solid 15 minutes.
Posted by: Joe | April 30, 2006 at 02:22 PM
Joe: Thanks for the other link.
I think the C-Span transcript will become available soon. I am not sure if one can link to it - you probably have to pay for it. But I am sure some of the bigger liberal blogs will make it available.
I must say that I was quite stunned - Colbert's brutal honesty sent chills down my back. On the one hand I was cheering and on the other, I was feeling a bit sorry for the Bushes.
Posted by: Ruchira Paul | April 30, 2006 at 03:04 PM
A larger screen size capture is available at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcIRXur61II&search=colbert
Click on parts 2 and 3 in the box on the side to see the complete video.
Unbelievable stuff. I just happened to catch it live and was blown away by the amount of truthiness Colbert was able to put into his monologue!
Posted by: Sujatha | May 01, 2006 at 09:36 AM
Sujatha: Thanks for the link and also for visiting.
Unbelievable it surely was. Yet Daou Report at Salon says that the major media outlets are ignoring Colbert, focusing instead on the bland routine that Bush did with his "double." (I suspect CBS's segment about Colbert on last night's 60 Minutes was an acknowledgement without comment of what he had unleashed.)
But no fear. Thanks to the alternate media including blogs, the story has exploded. The usual anaemic Sunday traffic on my blog got a shot in the arm yesterday because I had posted the story relatively early. Google and Yahoo searchers looking for "White House Dinner, Colbert" came in all day even from Europe.
As I was telling Joe, I wonder if Al Jazeera will broadcast this with an Arabic voice over!
Posted by: Ruchira Paul | May 01, 2006 at 12:06 PM
bush certainly deserves it. and i'm sure somebody is paying for allowing that "free speech zone." i wonder what they were expecting from colbert?
Posted by: a-train | May 01, 2006 at 07:33 PM
A-train, I have to agree. As much as I like to say I hope the administration doesn't have retribution plans for Colbert himself, it is the the organizers of the event who are the ones most likely to punished for letting Colbert get through the door. Punishing Colbert would be too obvious and would get them even more negative press than they already get.
It was an amazing job Colbert did. I say, "Good for him!"
Posted by: snaveevans | May 03, 2006 at 09:04 AM