Sooooooo....What's the "zeitgeist" saying about Colbert's speech?

[Armstead]

Haven't seen or heard much of anything about the "buzz" about Colbert's little reality grenade that he dropped in the laps of the Media and Political Elite last night.

Is an embarassed silence the tone that the media has adopted? Or has there been a reaction that I've missed so far?

What he did was every bit as important as John Stewart's appearance on Crossfire a couple of years ago. Probably more so, because Colbert took them all on in one room.

Anybody seen or heard anything yet from the victims of Colbert's scalpel?

[BlueEyedSon]

1. You won't hear any "buzz"... more proof of the total spinelessness of the

media

[Shredr]

2. They're all talking about that insipid Bush "double"

And no one's even mentioning Colbert. So predictable. So tired.

[Jara sang]

4. The Bush double sucked

I thought.

[Shredr]

5. I thought so too

Colbert was clearly the star of the evening, but the press will never show him. Cowards.

[tridim]

14. His impression was dead on

I'll give him credit for that, but his routine was very low-brow and lame.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

3. They're still in shock.

[Mr_Spock]

23. I agree

Give them time to wash their sweaty clothes & sponge clean all the shit stains off their gowns...

:D

[finecraft]

6. Byron York was on Washington Journal this morning

He said that Bush was funnier that Colbert. York felt that Bush was funnier because he did something that was "outside the box", whereas Colbert did the same thing he does on his show. (And Colbert did it very well last night, if I might add!) IMHO, Colbert took them all on, and wiped the floor with them!

[NYC Liberal]

8. Colbert, though, really wasn't trying to be "funny"

In the same way as Bush. His was really incredibly biting satire and he was trying to make a point by showing the hypocrisy of EVERYONE there. It *did* happen to be funny because it's all TRUE...but he wasn't being "haha" funny the same way as Bush.

[finecraft]

12. I think the concept of satire is foreign to York

being the incredible jackass he is.

[leftofthedial]

7. I love the way the crowd got increasingly uncomfortable

and aware that they were the ones being skewered right along with the idiot boy king.

Colbert has balls like King Kong.

[MADem]

9. There seems to be a lot of 'angsting' about how OTHERS FEEL

Here's the truth of the matter--MOST PEOPLE WERE NOT WATCHING. SOME of the "twenty percent of the electorate who pay attention" were, but some weren't. And the rest didn't know about it, will maybe catch a clip on these here internets in the future, or see a segment on the "noose" programs. Like every other year....

It's SATURDAY NIGHT...what do the young and the restless do? Pop some popcorn and watch the Correspondent's Dinner on CSPAN?? Lord, I was never one to cut an impossibly wide swathe in my youth, but Saturday night was a night to get out and DO SOMETHING! Even if we had HAD CSPAN back then, I doubt I would have given up my Saturday night! If we'd had VCRs, maybe I would have thought to pop in a tape, but maybe not. I'm not gonna shift my voting patterns over what happens when a bunch of journalists get together to congratulate themselves, anyway!

I'm old now, so I stayed in and watched it. My neighbors, who are older than me, and rabid Democrats, too, went out to a local community entertainment event.

But hell, I stayed in, I tuned in, and I really ENJOYED it.
And that's all the validation that I need...

[Armstead]

15. Who's "angsting"? I just asked a damn question.

You're correct. It was C Span on a Saturday night.

But these things do make a difference. remember Imus skewing Clinton at that event one year. Most of those who didn;t see that event (including me) did hear about it, and the controversy it generated. Maybe not earth shattering, but anotehr little ripple in the sea of meme that do shape larger perceptions.

I'm old enough to have seen it last night, and it did say something about the mood of the country. After several years of bland comedians, the press assoiciation invited someone who actually brought some truth in the form of subersive humor. And the fact that Colbert had the guts to take it directly to Bush and the whole Washington Establishment was quite admirable. He could have stayed with safe "schtick" and gotten some safe laughs.

So, wondering how it is being rteacted to is hardly "agonizing about feelings." Fer christ sake, take some bran or something.

[MADem]

17. There are dozens of threads on this subject...and maybe two or three

on the passing of John Kenneth Galbraith, an important American patriot. Not much on Darfur, either, relative to the tragedy happening there.

Don't take it personally. I just cannot help but note that there's way more discussion on this small, relatively unimportant event in the big scheme of things, than there is on other issues of the day. Small things, like amusing presentations at professional dinners, or National Anthems in languages other than english, always seem to get more play and more drama/worry than things that really have a potential to impact our lives.

As I said, I enjoyed the show. And I don't need a Hallelujah chorus to affirm my enjoyment. That's just my opinion, and that is all I meant.

[Armstead]

19. I don't disagree with you aboutthe relative importance...

As one who has seen countless threads about serious issues drop like stones while anything about a Bush pimple stays on top, I shareyour frustration on that score. Try discussing globalization sometime, and see how quick that one drops.

But things like Colbert's appearance are important too, in their own way. Remember how important a chance remark by one of the Dixie Chicks showed how fascist the country was becoming? Just a country singer, but there was much more of significance involved in that.

I think Colbert's has the same symbolic value. Much of what he said is considfered taboo among those cretins in the Beltway crowd. So hearing it told to their face -- and to the President himself -- is important, IMO.....Not Darfur, I agree. But important in the sense of moving towards ecoming a country where we might actually tackle the big issues again.

[MADem]

20. Point taken. Give the MSM time to digest it. They don't quite yet know

what to say, because no one with sufficient gravitas has stepped forward and told them.

Or they need to think about it, because if they throw down too soon, they may find themselves frozen out of the WH. The TONY SNOW SHOW might cross them off the guest list...

I just get a bit dismayed when a thousand threads bloom on a topic that could be artfully discussed in two or three, tops.

[robbedvoter]

10. Blitzer said it was funny - saw an amazed thread here earlier

About the only mention Colbert got.

[Flubadubya]

11. Corporate Whore Media avoiding this like the plague...

I checked in on the self-proclaimed media Kop himself, Howie Kurtz, for starters. You would think, given the nature of his show and how he touts it as the definiive "last word" on anything media-related, this would be a hot topic. Not a whisper of it as he rattled off his lineup.

Ed Henry talked about the dinner on CNN and that he even attended it. He gave about a five-minute blow-by-blow, talked about BOosh and his doppleganger schtick, Then at the end of his piece he briefly mentioned that Cobert had said some things (no details, of course) that it seemed the pretzeldunce did not particularly like.

That was it... sum total of any mention of Colbert. I scouted around in the other Sunday shows and, as already discussed, the absence of any mention of Colbert's slam on BushCo and the press was simply dumbfounding. They ain't touchin' this one! :grr: :puke: :thumbsdown:

[mucifer]

13. we can only hope lots of people download and share it.

The guts it took for him to say those things while he stares bush in the eye. Wow! Jon Stewert and David Letterman would never do that. Well, maybe now they can because Colbert opened the door.

The homage to Helen was beautiful! She had a great time.

[rucky]

16. Somebody needs to put it on YouTube

not to slight the other video blogs, it's by far the most viewed.

[Ready4Change]

18. The Truth hurts.

And for those who are in denial, or who well know their wrongdoing, Truth in the form of laughable satire can be unbearable.

I want a video of this. I want to see who does the most squirming.

[Mr_Spock]

21. Give it some time. They're still cleaning the shit stains off their gowns!

They were sweating like pigs last night - let's give them time to regroup!

[fearthem]

22. Their silence is deafening.

[NightOwwl]

26. Telling, isn't it.

Welcome to DU fearthem :hi:

[Evergreen Emerald]

24. msnbc did a piece this morning

They said no one was spared his wit. They showed some clips.

[fearthem]

25. HuffPo has a direct link to the best of the evening.

[eleny]

27. I caught a minute of FoxNews this morning

The host asked his guest what she thought about Colbert. She said he was funny but that W stole the show. Then they dropped it. No discussion.

I'm sure Colbert is enjoying the silence because he knows he made a huge impact. You know - "First they ignore you...".

[chat_noir]

28. blog comments

AMERICAblog: http://www.haloscan.com/comments.php?user=katsiva&comment=114641094969083510

Crooks and Liars: http://www.haloscan.com/comments/crooks/8104/

Firedog Lake: http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/04/30/truthiness-in-a-tux/#comments