Colbert's Historic Feat
(updated twice)
Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner the other night is quickly gaining mythical status in liberal popular lore. As well it should. As I watched it on C-SPAN, I could hardly believe what I was seeing and hearing. The most powerful man in the world was being mercilessly skewered, in person, in front of a live television audience, for over 20 minutes. And he had to just sit there and take it.
I'm no historian, but I'm willing to wager that what I saw the other night has never happened. Ever.
Human beings have been around for quite a long time, and during that time, the title of "most powerful man in the world" has been held by a great many people. George W. Bush is merely the latest. But he may be the first to ever have been mocked so publicly and so personally (and so hysterically) while holding that title.
That in itself is a testament to how far we've come as a species. I'm pretty sure that for most of human history, a quick and painful death would have awaited anyone who tried to pull such a stunt.
But it's also a testament to Colbert's fearlessness. As John Stewart put it tonight, Colbert's performance was "balls-o-licious." Though most of us never have the opportunity to deliver a keynote speech before the leader of the free world, we all have fleeting moments in our lives where, looking back, we wish we had said what we really thought, that we had spoken truth to power, so to speak. The vast majority of us end up chickening out and then regretting our missed opportunity. We relive in our heads what we might have said if we had the chance to do it all again. How many other speakers at events like these have day-dreamed about what they were going to say, only to give in eventually to intimidation and fear of public embarrassment? Hundreds? Thousands?
Stephen Colbert was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Everyone who his life has been devoted to mocking (and justifiably so) was going to be in one room, and he was going to be the featured entertainment. He knew he had 20 minutes where all of these people would be a captive audience, including the leader of the free world seated just a few feet to his right. Sure, he could have delivered some light-hearted but forgettable Leno-esque performance and called it a night. But he knew he would have regretted it for the rest of his life. He knew that for the rest of his days he would be replaying jokes in his head that he wished he'd had the courage to say at the time.
A lot of people--mostly conservatives--have accused Colbert of misjudging the audience. But the truth is, Colbert never intended to play to that stuffy self-important crowd. They, after all, were the butt of his jokes. I think Colbert's true target audience was himself in 20 years. He's going to look back on that performance and feel nothing but pride. He's going to know that he left it all out on the table, that he seized his opportunity and made the most of it. And, like me, he's going to laugh his ass off.
So congratulations, Stephen Colbert, you may have become the first person in history to mock the most powerful person in the world--to his face, for over 20 minutes--and live to tell your tale.
And in a perfect bit of irony, the very press corps that Colbert so perfectly skewered that night seems totally oblivious to the fact that history was made right before their eyes. They couldn't spot a story if it openly mocked them.
For what it's worth, I thought this was Colbert's funniest line:
UPDATE: The New York Times finally weighs in on Colbert's performance, noting the extensive discussion his performance triggered in the blogosphere.
UPDATE II: Finally someone gets it right. Here's Troy Patterson at Slate:
Exactly.
Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner the other night is quickly gaining mythical status in liberal popular lore. As well it should. As I watched it on C-SPAN, I could hardly believe what I was seeing and hearing. The most powerful man in the world was being mercilessly skewered, in person, in front of a live television audience, for over 20 minutes. And he had to just sit there and take it.
I'm no historian, but I'm willing to wager that what I saw the other night has never happened. Ever.
Human beings have been around for quite a long time, and during that time, the title of "most powerful man in the world" has been held by a great many people. George W. Bush is merely the latest. But he may be the first to ever have been mocked so publicly and so personally (and so hysterically) while holding that title.
That in itself is a testament to how far we've come as a species. I'm pretty sure that for most of human history, a quick and painful death would have awaited anyone who tried to pull such a stunt.
But it's also a testament to Colbert's fearlessness. As John Stewart put it tonight, Colbert's performance was "balls-o-licious." Though most of us never have the opportunity to deliver a keynote speech before the leader of the free world, we all have fleeting moments in our lives where, looking back, we wish we had said what we really thought, that we had spoken truth to power, so to speak. The vast majority of us end up chickening out and then regretting our missed opportunity. We relive in our heads what we might have said if we had the chance to do it all again. How many other speakers at events like these have day-dreamed about what they were going to say, only to give in eventually to intimidation and fear of public embarrassment? Hundreds? Thousands?
Stephen Colbert was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Everyone who his life has been devoted to mocking (and justifiably so) was going to be in one room, and he was going to be the featured entertainment. He knew he had 20 minutes where all of these people would be a captive audience, including the leader of the free world seated just a few feet to his right. Sure, he could have delivered some light-hearted but forgettable Leno-esque performance and called it a night. But he knew he would have regretted it for the rest of his life. He knew that for the rest of his days he would be replaying jokes in his head that he wished he'd had the courage to say at the time.
A lot of people--mostly conservatives--have accused Colbert of misjudging the audience. But the truth is, Colbert never intended to play to that stuffy self-important crowd. They, after all, were the butt of his jokes. I think Colbert's true target audience was himself in 20 years. He's going to look back on that performance and feel nothing but pride. He's going to know that he left it all out on the table, that he seized his opportunity and made the most of it. And, like me, he's going to laugh his ass off.
So congratulations, Stephen Colbert, you may have become the first person in history to mock the most powerful person in the world--to his face, for over 20 minutes--and live to tell your tale.
And in a perfect bit of irony, the very press corps that Colbert so perfectly skewered that night seems totally oblivious to the fact that history was made right before their eyes. They couldn't spot a story if it openly mocked them.
For what it's worth, I thought this was Colbert's funniest line:
Sir, pay no attention to the people who say the
glass is half empty, because 32% means it's 2/3
empty. There's still some liquid in that glass is my
point, but I wouldn't drink it. The last third is
usually backwash.
UPDATE: The New York Times finally weighs in on Colbert's performance, noting the extensive discussion his performance triggered in the blogosphere.
UPDATE II: Finally someone gets it right. Here's Troy Patterson at Slate:
You hire a good political satirist, you get good
political satire, which is necessarily dangerous.
So, when the Washington Post's "Reliable Source"
column speaks of the "consensus" that the routine
"fell flat" and New York Daily News gossip—and
"Reliable Source" alumnus—Lloyd Grove writes
that Colbert "bombed badly," they are offering
meaningless reportage. Pop Dadaist that he is,
Colbert wasn't bombing so much as freaking his
audience out for his own enjoyment.
Exactly.
posted by A.L. at 11:16 PM
17 Comments:
I couldn't watch it the first time on the internet and had to come back later to watch the whole thing. The fact that the president was sitting right there and being skewered actually felt painful to me from the personal level side of things.
What Colbert said wasn't anything new and was actually a bit of a rehash. It was not his best work and I do like his style of humor and observation.
But I watched him intently to see if his voice wavered, if he trembled a little and he didn't. It was one of the most courageous acts I have seen in my life.
Colbert deserves praise for telling the emperor that he is wearing no clothes.
Helen Thomas deserves a round of applause too for her willingness to be a part of the performance.
I think Don Imus beat up Clinton pretty badly at one of those events during his Presidency.
There have also been plenty of guest speakers who aren't well recieved, deservedly or otherwise.
I'm still processing what I saw & heard the other night from Colbert; I had forgotten that word called 'courage'. How beautiful it was to behold!
Thank you for your well written piece/tribute about/to Colbert. To himself he was true, and that can NEVER be wrong.
Thank you Mr. Colbert.
Speaking of thanking Colbert - just thought I would provide this link. 21,000 some odd thank you's so far.
So Colbert is the new leader of Moonbattia? Succeeding where others have failed to maintain the throne - such stalwarts as Fat Mike Moore, Mama Moonbat Sheehan, Joe Wilson, Helen Thomas, and Al Gore. That's quite a collection you got there. Think about how bad the democrat party has become when you have to rely on a soon-to-be-forgotten commedian to try and articluate your agenda.
At the poster above: so I take it you're a strong supporter of the president and his policies?
I mean I don't mind if you say yes, I'll just be surprised is all.
It seems that 'The Right' spends more time these days attacking the 'The Left' than actually praising the president for his actions/policies. Rightly so, to be sure, since the policies are terrible - but at the same time, ironic and telling to hear you attack the 'non-agenda' on the side of the Democrats when the very firm agenda of the president can be described quite succinctly in the word "disaster"
Think about how bad the democrat party has become when you have to rely on a soon-to-be-forgotten commedian to try and articluate your agenda.
Wow, talk about missing the point. Colbert's just a comedian. And he wasn't articulating anyone's agenda. He was just a guy taking advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity. He was ballsy and funny, and people appreciate that.
It has been so long since we were visited by courage in any of the MSM I didn't at first recognize it with Colbert. John Stewart has hung in there with humorous takes not so subtly jabbing at the administration, but never with malicious intent. Colbert carried that same sword, his words were harsh but not malicious. I was, on the other hand, certain that the Secret Service would whisk him off the podium into an awaiting CIA rendition jet bound for Greenland.
I'm being childish, I know, but when I hear the attacks on Colbert's bravura performance, I can only think to myself - "The Truth Hurts"! And, undeniably, SC has huevos grandes.
Colbert played "Hamlet Meets the Reichsfuhrer."
I have never witnessed a comic routine that I would say after seeing it, "I will always remeber where I was when I saw the most amazing comic routine in history." Hyperbole, perhaps, but I, at this moment feel like I will never forget it. Stephen Colbert used the pregnant pause to perfection throughout his act. In his most cutting moment, when he mentions how difficult it is to send people into battle from a computer room, he pauses and everyone is silent. Instead of moving on, he makes everybody in the room uncomfortable about the statement. Perhaps, and if he did this, then it was truly a monumental feat, but perhaps, he made the press feel a sense of blame for helping generate false headlines that answered the question, "Why did we go to war?" Of course, this means he knew his audience perfectly.
I thought it was also a great gesture to have Helen Thomas sit by him at the head table. I didn't notice, but I wonder if Bush ate anything knowing she was just a couple of feet away. Thomas, representing the only journalist in the White House Press corpse who would question the obvious, was the only true journalist in the room.
And as for some of the people out there who think that Colbert is truly right wing, that is classic and proves Colbert is one of the finest comedic actors in my generation. What, did you not get the whole guts-head bit.
If you did a search on sun, mon, and tues., on Colbert's performance, you will see a precipitous rise in hits. His routine is gaining momentum. Unfortunately, it is only a splash in the internet pool. The tv pundits don't get it. They don't know what a news story is. Regardless of if you liked or disliked the performance, it was a lambasting of the Pres. to his face and to the media that covers him. How is that not news worthy? How would that not stir a "crossfire" argument. I guess the tv news media is welcoming their obsolescence. Kudos Colbert and God Bless America (and the internet)!
A.L. is right that if Colbert isn't punished for this, it will mean we've come a long way.
I loved that speech so much.
My daughter and I watched the rerun together, giving each other open-mouthed, incredulous looks and whooping with laughter. Afterward, we decided Colbert had given a voice to the voiceless, we "little people" who will never have a chance to tell the people in charge exactly what we think and must content ourselves with e-mails, petitions, and phone calls to staffers.
When Colbert got to the part about the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world, I knew we were seeing something awesome.
I didn't catch it that night, so thanks for the link A.L. It was fabulous.
W did not look happy...all the more reason to love it.
And that bit of Rove doodling!
Credits to Plame and Scalia for laughing along!
Nah, A.L., the best line was the one pertaining to the deck chairs on the Hindenberg:
--> "Bushie, you're going down!!!"
I feel that Stephen's own words helped guide him. Clearly, given the uniquely splendid opportunity to do so, Stephen chose to be someone "with the courage to stand up to the administration."
Actually, this did happen once before. It was in the Mel Brooks "History of the World" movie when Comicus appeared before the Emperor.
There have been roasts in the past that have been pretty sharp and they could go on for an hour. I remember a strange article I read in the winter of 2003; George H. W. Bush gave a speech in the northeast somewhere (Mass.?) and made a clear point that his son is thin-skinned. Bush, not Colbert, is the real issue. Colbert, though, was brilliant!
The media has to stop pretending that Bush, his word, his competence, or his philosophy are things any of us should take seriously. Only his power is dangerous and that can be curtailed if Americans and the world stop jumping when Bush says jump.
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