Proving that you can get away with saying things satirically that would be difficult to say in a serious manner, Stephen Colbert really lit into President Bush as host of the White House Correspondent's dinner on Saturday.
I couldn't get the C-Span clip to work on my computer (you have to set up Real Player as your default player, and I didn't feel like doing that). I found this shorter clip at one of the video sites. Don't bother watching after Colbert switches to his audition tape (after about 7 minutes, 30 seconds on the shorter clip), because its not really funny from there on.
According to various reports, Bush was thoroughly unamused by Colbert. Doesn't surprise me. Ideologues can accept satirical criticism just as gracefully as they accept serious criticism (which can be succinctly described as "not at all").
Some choice moments from the video below:
Fox News gives you both sides of every story ... The President's side [pause] and the Vice President's side.
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Let's review the rules; here's how it works:The President makes the decisions — he's the decider.
The Press Secretary announces those decisions;
And you people of the press type those decisions down:
Make, announce, type. Just put them through a spell check and go home...
... Write that novel you've 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.
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... and everyone writes "Oh, they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking; this administration is soaring.
If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.
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... a very challenging interview. You can ask [Rev. Jesse Jackson] anything. You can ask him anything, but he's gonna say what he wants, at the pace that he wants. It's like boxing a glacier.Enjoy that metaphor, by the way, because your grandchildren are going to have no idea what a glacier is.
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Mayor Nagin is here from New Orleans — the "Chocolate City".Mayor Nagin, I'd like to welcome you to Washington, D.C. — the "Chocolate City [pause] with a marshmallow center" ...
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I think I would have made a fabulous press secretay. I have nothing but contempt for these people.
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