So I know this is old news on the net (meaning it is more than a week old) but I have been thinking it over and what Stephen Colbert did at the 2006 White House Press Correspondents diner may be one of the most important acts of rebellion we have seen in a long time.
For those of you that have not yet seen this amazing (mind blowingly amazing) piece of artistic criticism you can view it below.
Download this video here. (wmv)
What makes this act so powerful, is that Colbert stands before “the most powerful man on earth” and brings him down a notch, and then he turns on the “4th estate” and lets loose with both barrels. You may notice that by the end of this little clip no one in the audiance is really laughing (everyone I show it too laughs like crazy however), thats because Colbert’s jokes cut deep to the heart of what is wrong. A president that cares more about photo-ops than helping disaster victims and a press corp that can’t be bothered to ask tuff questions.
Colbert’s intricate jibes, and complicated jokes are going to go over the heads of a lot of people that are not paying attention to the news. But if you are paying attention you will be cracking up. While at the same time gasping at just how big Colbert’s balls really are. Seriously he must have specially fitted pants, or perhaps some sort of felt lined wheel-barrow. I was expecting the secret service to run out and tackle him at any moment.
The press made a big to do about the presidential look alike comic that was there that night and was suspiciously quite about Colbert’s performance. Maybe there feelings were hurt? I know if my job was to tell the masses the truth and I worked for a major news organization I would be ashamed of myself.
Watch for yourself, Colbert’s performance is masterful and you will find yourself thinking about what he has to say for days after. Seriously watch it twice, you will find things you missed the first time. If only more people had the guts to speak truth to power the way he has, this country might be a very different place right now.