So Much for the Liberal Media (again)

It’s a really good thing that I read my daily briefing from Salon.com every morning. Otherwise I would probably have missed what was perhaps the most stunning display of courage by a satirist in years.

It’s for sure that The Colbert Report‘s Stephen Colbert will never again be invited to the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. In stark contrast to the number of comedians and satirists that have met George W. Bush over the years and have played along by shaking the guy’s hand and softening their monologues for the occasion, Colbert delivered a hilarious, but stinging routine aimed at the Bush Administration and the members of the press who pass on the White House press briefings as news… And he did this right to the guy’s face. Not ten feet away from the podium sat George W., who seemed to be at least attempting to be a good sport about the whole thing, but who also hardly acknowledged Colbert (who was the last speaker at the event) when the dinner wrapped up.

The Moderate Voice has a wrap-up and links to the performance, and it’s one of the few places you’ll be able to find any information about the event, and in particular, Colbert’s performance. The NY Times is one of the few mainstream outlets to mention the dinner, and yet did not even mention Colbert. So much for the “liberal media.” Since reporting the event is all on the shoulders of the bloggers out there, the typical right-wing sites are trying to rewrite history and claim that Colbert bombed, and that he was unfunny, and that no one in the room was laughing at his jokes. One of the reader comments to the Salon article noted, “It would have helped if his material were a little cleverer and delivered with a better sense of timing. Instead of appearing as satire on pompous punditry, which is the tone of his CC show, his shtick (sic) came off as unpolished stand-up comedy with bad writing. ”

What is clear upon watching Colbert’s performance is that there was plenty of laughter in the room throughout the presentation, and that those who weren’t laughing were, for the most part, kind of smirking with their mouths open, seemingly a bit stunned that Colbert was actually daring to tread into territory that few would be willing to traverse — criticizing the White House occupant and a press corps that caves to his message. Watch the clips and you’ll see what I mean. In no way can anyone who is watching with any kind of objectivity claim that Colbert “bombed.” In the end, thought, what raises Colbert’s performance to a level of pure brilliance is his courage in doing this in front of the very audience he is satirizing.

So like a good many blogs are doing today, I nominate Colbert for “Man of the Year,” and say thanks for doing what so many in the media are unwilling to do — call things exactly as they see them, unabashedly, and damn the consequences.