Peter Leo on Stephen Colbert

From Today's P-G:

The featured entertainer was Stephen Colbert (pronounced cole-bare), whose Comedy Central show "The Colbert Report" lampoons Washington and Fox News. He delivered a blistering 15-minute mock tribute to Mr. Bush as a man who "believes Wednesday what he believed Monday, despite what happened Tuesday." Not everyone was amused. Media coverage first focused on Bush's routine, but Colbert's performance is boiling over in the blogosphere.(www.technorati.com/search/Colbert)

Editorandpublisher.com reported that "as Colbert walked from the podium, the president and First Lady gave him quick nods, unsmiling. Mr. Bush had quickly turned from an amused guest to an offended target as Colbert brought up his low approval ratings and problems in Iraq."

Vaughn Ververs blogging on publiceye at cbs.com: "It appears Colbert may have violated the rules of official Washington with a comedy routine that may have had more attendees cringing than laughing. Some comedians just don't connect with this 'inside' power crowd, some play it too safe and, sometimes, they just aren't funny. Being just unfunny is one thing. A much more serious offense is to make the president angry. It was tough and perhaps a little unfair, but that should have been expected from someone who skewers conservatives by playing a parody of a conservative cable host. Colbert might not be your cup of tea, but doesn't it say a lot about Washington and our political life, when even a comedian can be so controversial?"

My own take (after seeing some of the performance and reading the whole transcript) is somewhat different. I see it more or less the way dday sees it. From the Dailykos:

What Stephen Colbert did the other night is a textbook example of "playing to the back of the room." It's all the more courageous because there actually wasn't a back of the room there; they were all at home, a few of them watching on C-SPAN, others finding the Quicktime later. I know he was quoted as saying that the whole thing was "just for laughs," but he clearly made a conscious effort that he was not going to change his act to satisfy the audience. He wasn't going to the audience, he was going to let them come to him. And if they didn't, oh well. I remember Joel Hodgson of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" fame (who I had the pleasure of meeting recently) once say "We don't wonder 'will people get this,' we say 'The right people will get this.'"

Right on all points. Though I would add, that considering the weight of the sins of this administration (the lies, the war, the lawlessness) it was necessary for someone to say something like that to the president - and to the press.

You have to remember they were being skewered too. How else can you explain these jokes of Colbert's?

Over the last five years, you people were so good -- over tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effect of global warming. We Americans didn't want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out.

And then:

But, listen, 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.

Is it any wonder that most of the media is ignoring Colbert's performance?

Thanks, Mr. Colbert. You got some serious balls.