| Author |
Message |
    
themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2841
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, April 30, 2006 - 9:27 am: | 
|
Published: April 29, 2006 11:40 PM ET
WASHINGTON A blistering comedy “tribute” to President Bush by Comedy Central’s faux talk show host Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondent Dinner Saturday night left George and Laura Bush unsmiling at its close.
Earlier, the president had delivered his talk to the 2700 attendees, including many celebrities and top officials, with the help of a Bush impersonator.
Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged the Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, “and reality has a well-known liberal bias.”
He attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. “This administration is soaring, not sinking,” he said. “If anything, they are re-arranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.”
Colbert told Bush he could end the problem of protests by retired generals by refusing to let them retire. He compared Bush to Rocky Balboa in the “Rocky” movies, always getting punched in the face—“and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world.”
Turning to the war, he declared, "I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."
He noted former Ambassador Joseph Wilson in the crowd, just three tables away from Karl Rove, and that he had brought " Valerie Plame." Then, worried that he had named her, he corrected himself, as Bush aides might do, "Uh, I mean... he brought Joseph Wilson's wife." He might have "dodged the bullet," he said, as prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald wasn't there.
Colbert also made biting cracks about missing WMDs, “photo ops” on aircraft carriers and at hurricane disasters, melting glaciers and Vice President Cheney shooting people in the face. He advised the crowd, "if anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly on into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. will be right over with a cocktail. "
Observing that Bush sticks to his principles, he said, "When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday - no matter what happened Tuesday."
Also lampooning the press, Colbert complained that he was “surrounded by the liberal media who are destroying this country, except for Fox News. Fox believes in presenting both sides of the story — the president’s side and the vice president’s side." He also reflected on the alleged good old days, when the media was still swallowing the WMD story.
Addressing the reporters, he said, "You should spend more time with your families, write that novel you've always wanted to write. You know, the one about the fearless reporter who stands up to the administration. You know-- fiction."
He claimed that the Secret Service name for Bush's new press secretary is "Snow Job." Colbert closed his routine with a video fantasy where he gets to be White House Press Secretary, complete with a special “Gannon” button on his podium. By the end, he had to run from Helen Thomas and her questions about why the U.S. really invaded Iraq and killed all those people.
As Colbert walked from the podium, when it was over, the president and First Lady gave him quick nods, unsmiling, and handshakes, and left immediately |
SO Ref
Citizen
Username: So_refugee
Post Number: 1738
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 30, 2006 - 10:38 am: |
|
Part One
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_g8vCqvIuec&search=colbert%20white%20house%20correspo ndent
Part Two
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8FBDPCyiFqY&search=colbert%20white%20house%20correspo ndent |
Dr. Winston O'Boogie
Citizen
Username: Casey
Post Number: 2065
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, April 30, 2006 - 10:55 am: |
|
Very Shakespearean.
Only the Fool is able to speak the truth to the king. |
tulip
Citizen
Username: Braveheart
Post Number: 3482
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 30, 2006 - 11:14 am: |
|
If anyone wants to see this, C=Span has said they will replay it at 12:30. |
John Caffrey
Citizen
Username: Jerseyjack
Post Number: 214
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 30, 2006 - 11:58 am: |
|
Check the video link. It's excellent. |
tulip
Citizen
Username: Braveheart
Post Number: 3484
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, April 30, 2006 - 2:09 pm: |
|
In watching it again, it seems those who liked the first half, with the "double" tended not to like the second half, and the reverse. |
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page