Stephen Colbert Shows President Bush What Shock and Awe is All About

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.

FOX News, also a target in Colbert’s routine, reported in one of the few mentions of Colbert’s performance that Colbert “bombed” at the dinner. They noted that the crowd was uncomfortable and the president didn’t appear to find it funny. That is not because Colbert was bombing in the comedic sense, it’s because Colbert was dropping bombs on those in attendance. Yes it was uncomfortable. Yes, it was quiet. Yes, Bush looked annoyed. Colbert delivered what this administration could not, shock and awe.

You can see Colbert’s performance for yourself and decide if it was newsworthy or not. The media’s response has dispelled the myth that the media has a liberal bias. If anything, the Washington press, Helen Thomas aside, has confirmed what Colbert asserted in such a funny way, Bush makes decisions, the Press Secretary announces them, and the press corps types. Colbert’s presentation of it was funny. The reality of it isn’t.

Part One: http://video.freevideoblog.com/video/AAC7FA18-2DDC-4D3E-B1BB-9D6CBD83E27F.htm

Part Two: http://video.freevideoblog.com/video/C91DDBB4-28AD-4E6F-BD52-822BC77DF696.htm

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=8916