…and the debate over Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House Correspondents' dinner is still blazing like a Southern California wildfire in October. The initial silence in the mainstream press about what transpired at such a (to say the least) massively, widely covered event was deafening! I remember thinking, as I watched the video clip the first time through, that here was something somehow different from the usual run of stories in the media. But it didn't really dawn on me until days later that this could, conceivably, be my generation's "I have a dream" (or perhaps, more fittingly), "Have you no shame?" moment in history; that frozen moment when it becomes clear to all that this nation's history has careened wildly, if not irrevocably, from its path.
Also telling was the resonse from the mainstream media when it did arrive:
"In fact, some aides crowed over reports that the president easily bested Colbert in the reviews of both comedy acts."
–Paul Bedard, US News and World Report, referring to the president's widely covered routine with a G.W. Bush impersonator
The fact that this part of the festivities was so widely disseminated by the alleged "liberal" press speaks volumes about the sort of coverage we've been receiving for the last– um… well, for the last twelve or so years, now that I think about it… (remember Monica?). Of course, nobody was choking the bandwidth of C-Span's servers to see clips of the President's performance.
btw… if anybody still hasn't seen Colbert's performance, it is available on one of my other websites, at The Paranoid Gazette.(if the videos don't work in this browser, you may have to use IE or Firefox. something about Flash Player and Active-X whatevers) There's a bonus clip of Jon Stewart (also of Comedy Central's Peabody Award-winning news lineup) appearing on Crossfire, shortly before they cancelled the stupid show, reportedly, partly as a result of his appearance.
pps… I'll be moving the whole Paranoid Gazette kit'n'kaboodle over to its own domain at www.paranoidgazette.com in a week or two, so DON'T MISS IT!
Rob
I watched it when all the news hit the online community. I sat through Bush’s bit and Colbert. I like Colbert but he didn’t say anything that hasn’t been said before. I was horribly disappointed. His sarcasm lacked any subtlety and his jokes were old. Being crass doesn’t make you more funny or more right. Sorry. Maybe I expected to much from Colbert’s moment of ‘sticking it to the man’.