by MzNicky
Troops, we all know about the notorious unreliablity of the internets, and thus how fortunate we are to have traditional/mainstream media as backup to tell us everything we really need to know.
But I never realized just how unbiased and thorough the 24-hour news cable news channels are until yesterday. I got home late Sunday after an out-of-town trip and almost immediately heard something about the appearance by Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents dinner. So first thing Monday morning, I tuned in to CNN, MSNBC, et al. to find out more. Someone must have given me bad intel, I quickly concluded; the only stories I could find about the event lauded the Pretendizent and a Pretendizent-impersonator for their warmly received, “self-deprecatory” standup bit. It was funny. It made the audience laugh. Despite his penchant for doing so repeatedly to various countries, especially those that have oil, Bush didn’t bomb.
Apparently the bombing occurred later in the evening. I soon found a few hundred links on the internets that led me to the C-Span broadcast itself, and I got to see Colbert's “disgraceful” performance. No wonder mainstream media were treating this wretched moment in broadcast history like the red-headed bastard at a family reunion. (Well, at least it was on C-Span, and nobody watches that boring channel, so I guess it wasn’t newsworthy. Yeah, that would expain it.) It was bad enough that Colbert attacked Dear Leader during a time of war, as several patriots have pointed out (nevermind that we will apparently be at war from now until evermore-rapidly-approaching Doomsday). But to attack the media! Right to their smug, self-congratulatory faces! What on earth was he thinking? I mean, they were all sitting right there where they could hear him!
Colbert’s performance has been called “embarrassing,” “uncomfortable,” and “unnerving.” His remarks were about as popular with the press as Rush Limbaugh was with the girls in high school, and therefore, according to the MSM bobbleheads, Colbert “bombed.” On Monday afternoon Mike Allen of Time Magazine, weighing in on MSNBC, likened Colbert’s performance to David Letterman’s much-disparaged Oscar-hosting stint. Tweety brought it home, chirping, “Bush isn’t just a politician; he’s the President,” thus providing the requisite coda to another fine episode of “Hardball” by suggesting Colbert should have shown more respect. Sort of like Don Imus and President Clinton, at the same event ten years ago.
The reaction shots of the news correspondents in the audience—the silent tablesful of stunned, unamused faces—reminded me of Jon Stewart’s masterful smackdown of Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson on the now-deservedly-defunct “Crossfire” shortly before the 2004 election. Rebuffing their sweaty pleas that he start being funny already, Stewart retorted: “No, I’m not going to be your monkey.” Colbert threw off the organ-grinder’s leash as well and delivered a stinging spanking that’s been long overdue to the White House’s tuxedoed, bejeweled hoardes of media whores. And if Colbert’s dead-on comments resulted in embarrassment or discomfort, it belongs to the correspondents themselves, not the messenger. Unamused, were they? Perhaps they should start tuning in to Comedy Central more often. Maybe they'll find Colbert more humorous when he's targeting someone they feel really deserves it.
Crossposted at Jesus General
Stephen Colbert Media MSM Bush Colbert King George White House Correspondents Dinner Colbert Report Media Blackout
Posted by egalia for MzNicky
