# Colbert and Kent State **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 14, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258 "2006-03-14T01:33:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/41 "2006-03-14T06:31:03Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Maybe this is a generation gap thing, but it’s probably a humor gap thing. > > Man, I hope nobody tells this guy that almost all Holocaust jokes are told (and best appreciated) by Jews. Ayuh. Speaking as one. Also, [Humanitarian | Thomson Reuters Foundation News](http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16699501.htm) I can’t believe I forgot the volkswagon part! ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/42 "2006-03-14T07:12:10Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I think my all-time favorite joke that I hate myself for loving is: … I actually think that’s even funnier now. 😃 Q. What would Marilyn Monroe be doing if she were alive today? A. Clawing at the inside of her coffin. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/43 "2006-03-14T08:55:51Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > What was Neil’s reaction? Did he play along? Actually I don’t think Young was around at that point. Colbert only appeared at the end of the show, when Stewart did his usual mock “hand-over” to him (a quick segment intended to be a preview of the upcoming _Colbert Report_, but more and more it’s just a convo between Stewart and the “Stephen Colbert” persona). But I don’t think Young would’ve had a problem with it. He seemed immensely cool throughout the interview, not to mention charmingly fond of his dog. 🙂 The comparison to a Holocaust joke is a poor one because Colbert’s comment wasn’t joking about Kent State; rather, it’s mocking the mindset that tries to justify any establishment/government action, no matter how thuggish. In this way, Colbert’s Kent State reference was no more “sick” than Mel Brooks’s use of a Hitler-loving playwright in _The Producers_, or “Mr. Hilter” in the classic Monty Python sketch. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/44 "2006-03-14T13:17:06Z")
> [@xbuckeye](#): > > …You have to understand that most of Colbert’s viewers are too young to have experienced Kent State anywhere but the history books, songs, and stories from Ma and Pa.,. And for our youngin’s here, who might not get the connection between Neil Young and Kent State, > [@](#): > > [Excerpt](http://www.thrasherswheat.org/fot/ohio.htm) from the article “An Analysis of Music and Lyrics in Relation to American Culture in the 1960s” > One of the most outspoken songwriters of this era and calling was Neil Young. Whether it was with Buffalo Springfield or with his other group, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Neil Young expressed his opinion at every opportunity that presented itself. In his song [Ohio](http://www.thrasherswheat.org/fot/lyrics_ohio.htm), he expresses both his opinions about the war, and about a specific event that took place on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio. Gotta get down to it Soldiers are gunning us down Should have been done long ago. What if you knew her And found her dead on the ground How can you run when you know? CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![LucyInDisguise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucyindisguise/32/18064_2.png) [@LucyInDisguise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LucyInDisguise)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/45 "2006-03-14T14:03:53Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > Ayuh. Speaking as one. Also, [Humanitarian | Thomson Reuters Foundation News](http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16699501.htm) > > I can’t believe I forgot the volkswagon part! Just in case ya haven’t checked it out yet, here is a link to [The Gallery.](http://boomka.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/falbum/wp/album.php?album=72057594067999377) This should be the new definintion of the term “Sense of Humor”. Lucy ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/46 "2006-03-14T15:14:08Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > And for our youngin’s here, who might not get the connection between Neil Young and Kent State, > > Gotta get down to it > Soldiers are gunning us down > Should have been done long ago. > What if you knew her > And found her dead on the ground > How can you run when you know? > > CMC fnord! Ah, so more bad Neil Young lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/47 "2006-03-14T15:16:24Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Dude, I don’t care if you’re Elie fucking Wiesel. It was a dumbass comparison. Won’t somebody think of the weasels? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/48 "2006-03-14T15:27:10Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > I thought the ashtray joke was a branch davidian joke. > > But I suppose it could just as well be world trade tower tenants, Beslan students, or any of a number of fiery travesties. _“…and the times, they are a’changin’…”_ ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/49 "2006-03-14T15:29:12Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Of course it’s ajoke, but it’s about as funny as a holocaust joke. If you don’t think holocaust jokes can be funny, you’re either sadly deficient in humor OR sadly deficient in friends who can tell a joke well. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/50 "2006-03-14T15:48:04Z")
> [@LucyInDisguise](#): > > Just in case ya haven’t checked it out yet, here is a link to [The Gallery.](http://boomka.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/falbum/wp/album.php?album=72057594067999377) > > This should be the new definintion of the term “Sense of Humor”. > > Lucy Ok, [Jewgle](http://static.flickr.com/46/108074166_7520ddf075_o.jpg) is funny. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/51 "2006-03-14T16:25:23Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Ok, [Jewgle](http://static.flickr.com/46/108074166_7520ddf075_o.jpg) is funny. Jewwwwwwwwwwwgle at the bottom cracks me up. Their take on the children’s classic, the [Giving Tree](http://boomka.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/falbum/wp/album.php?album=72057594067999377&page=1&photo=106465014) is hilarious as well. ---
**Author:** ![samm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@samm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samm)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/52 "2006-03-14T17:56:07Z")
I keep being reminded of that Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where there is a “Survivor” from the reality show at the dinner party with a Jewish survivor. COLBY: We had very little rations, no snacks. SOLLY: Snacks, what are you talking snacks? We didn’t eat, sometimes for a week, for a month… COLBY: Have you even seen the show? SOLLY: Did you ever see our show? It was called the Holocaust! ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/53 "2006-03-17T08:39:32Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Wow . . . and I _like_ tasteless jokes. I think that’s the most offensive thing I’ve ever heard . . . I highly recommend you don’t read this: What happens to black jews? They have to go the back of the oven. (I told you.) ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258/54 "2006-03-18T02:35:35Z")
People who don’t get satire are sad. People who don’t get satire and create a Pit thread about it should be gassed. My great-grandparents and many other relatives were killed in Auschwitz, so I’m flashing my Jew badge to get away with that remarkably insensitive comment. Steven Colbert rocks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colbert-and-kent-state/348258.md?page=2)