# The President of the United States vs. Steve Colbert? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915 "2006-05-01T04:11:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/21 "2006-05-01T06:43:32Z")
[QUOTE=Fern Forest] I think I detected a bit of Phil Ken Sebben during his press conference. [/QUOTE] “Ha-ha, Bush on a dais!” ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/22 "2006-05-01T06:43:37Z")
[QUOTE=TJdude825] In any case, I suspect the Report will be pretty good tomorrow. I can’t wait. [/QUOTE] You think Stephen might go after Colbert? ---
**Author:** ![Gladstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90db22/32.png) [@Gladstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gladstone)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/23 "2006-05-01T06:55:45Z")
There were worlds of difference between the reception the Bush impersonator received from the audience and Stephen Colbert. Colbert got only light laughs at most of his more obvious jokes and about half of his speech was warmed over material from his very first show last October. Even the video was only slightly funny. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/24 "2006-05-01T11:59:19Z")
[Transcript here](http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/4/30/1441/59811), although I’m sure it’ll be all over the net soon enough. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/25 "2006-05-01T13:22:24Z")
Does this happen a lot at these things? I recall somebody, I think Don Imus, also doing a similar brutal set against the Clintons (with them in the room). Are they mistakes, them booking the wrong person (like not “getting” Colbert’s act), or do they purposely get a critic? ---
**Author:** ![Snag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/26 "2006-05-01T13:44:15Z")
[QUOTE=Gladstone] There were worlds of difference between the reception the Bush impersonator received from the audience and Stephen Colbert. Colbert got only light laughs at most of his more obvious jokes and about half of his speech was warmed over material from his very first show last October. Even the video was only slightly funny. [/QUOTE] OTOH, he went after the press as well, calling their work ‘fictioin’ and so forth. That may have been part of it. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/27 "2006-05-01T13:56:29Z")
I’m a fan of Stephen Colbert and _The Colbert Report_, but I thought his performance was a bit flat. The material wasn’t that great (or original for watchers of his show), and his presentation and timing seemed off and didn’t really match the audience. This format didn’t work for him. I thought the president with his alter ego was much better. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/28 "2006-05-01T14:22:44Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Are they mistakes, them booking the wrong person (like not “getting” Colbert’s act), or do they purposely get a critic? [/QUOTE] One of the traditions at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is that the speaker roasts the President. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/29 "2006-05-01T14:27:30Z")
The funniest part of the link in the OP is the list of attendees at the very end. Why on earth was one of the guys from the Doobie Brothers there? ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/30 "2006-05-01T14:32:04Z")
[QUOTE=JeffB] I’m a fan of Stephen Colbert and _The Colbert Report_, but I thought his performance was a bit flat. The material wasn’t that great (or original for watchers of his show), and his presentation and timing seemed off and didn’t really match the audience. This format didn’t work for him. I thought the president with his alter ego was much better. [/QUOTE] I thought the performance was flat too, but maybe it was I had insomnia and was watching it on C-SPAN at 5 AM or thereabouts. Actually, I think it was flat because the audience was different. Rather than the studio audience which is in on the phoniness of the character, much of the audience at the dinner wasn’t. Colbert was way too hip for the room, much like Letterman was when he hosted the Oscars. People in power at such affairs are there to be gently mocked, not lampooned full bore. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/31 "2006-05-01T14:43:42Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] The funniest part of the link in the OP is the list of attendees at the very end. Why on earth was one of the guys from the Doobie Brothers there? [/QUOTE] [He is a real-life defense expert](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Baxter). > [@](#): > > Baxter fell into his second profession almost by accident. Always a technology-oriented man, he began to ponder whether hardware and software developed for the military—data-compression algorithms and large-capacity storage devices—could also be used in making and recording music. As it happened, his next-door neighbour was a retired engineer who worked on the Sidewinder missile program. This neighbour bought Baxter a subscription to an aviation magazine, and it provoked an interest in a wide range of military-oriented publications . . . and an active curiosity as to whether incumbent systems could meet future threats they weren’t designed to meet. > > … > > Baxter now consults to the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community, as well as for defense-oriented manufacturers like Science Applications International Corporation (“SAIC”), Northrop Grumman Corp. and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. He has been quoted as saying his unconventional approach to thinking about terrorism, tied to his interest in technology, is a major reason he became sought after by the government. I’m puzzled about a lot of the comments here. This is not a White House function. It’s the press corps’ revenge night against the Powers That Be. They always have a comedian make fun of the president. About every other year there’s a flap about the comments being too mean. It’s like the outrage over a referee or umpire blowing a call in a playoff game. It’s happened 800,000 times over the years and each time people react like it’s never occurred before. The only difference with Colbert is that now people get to see the video on the Internet instead of it being a private function. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/32 "2006-05-01T14:50:28Z")
I loved it. Especially the line about the mayor of New Orlean being from Chocolate City… ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/33 "2006-05-01T15:05:34Z")
Beautiful! Brilliant! Richly deserved, most of all… ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/34 "2006-05-01T15:20:56Z")
Interesting that [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) has a headline “Bush imposter steals the show” and has nothing on Colbert… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/35 "2006-05-01T15:35:49Z")
Come on. Yes, the material was recycled from his show, but that’s common among comedians. I didn’t see anybody bitch that Al Franken’s speech at the same event under Clinton was recycled from his book. It’s different, as Jon Stewart points out, making these jokes when the real person is right in front of you. Colbert stood not two meters from The Decider and on several occasions looked him in the eyes, eliciting a response. Balls. Big ones. The White House Press Secretary Interview was less funny than [the same premise where Bill Maher was running with it](http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2006/04/audition.html). It came to its logical and comic conclusion (in addition to delivering its most zinging _j’accuse_) with Stephen at the emergency phone: Colbert: “She won’t quit asking why we went to war with Iraq!” Operator: “Say, why did we go to war with Iraq?” Colbert: “Yaaaaagh!” And then it went on and on. Now, someone may refresh my memory, but the thing with Don Imus as I recall was that he made tasteless jokes about stained dresses. Am I misremembering? And we’re comparing this to making cracks about the president’s dragging us into war? I myself am afraid that this will damage his show, because one of the advantages he had over Jon Stewart was that he could attract guests who were starkly conservative, although they were in on the joke, he could then flay them more viciously than Jon Stewart, who was basically forced to suck up to some people just to have them on the show. Observe how he let’s [Bill Kristol](http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/04/28.html#a8079) or [Caitlin Flanagan](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRoXxWK-ne4&search=caitlin%20flanagan) have it. After this, I fear fewer people will be willing to play along with the premise of the show. The mask has been ripped away. Over at [Salon.com](http://Salon.com) the complaint is that this story is being [woefully underreported](http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2006/05/01/colbert/index.html). From beneath his mask, Colbert spoke truth to power, making even opponents of Bush uncomfortable. I like to imagine they were reminded as I was of Emerson’s _Self-Reliance_, “Else to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.” ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/36 "2006-05-01T17:24:05Z")
Yes, Don Imus did a similar thing when Clinton was president. This was in 1996, so there was no talk of stained dresses, but there were jokes about Clinton’s adultery. IIRC, Imus described Clinton hollering, “Go baby” when watching a baseball game, and added 'I bet that’s not the first time that he said that". I laughed then, and I laughed at Colbert too. When Imus’s monologue hit the papers in 1996, a conservative friend and colleague of mine claimed that Bill and Hillary were out of line by not laughing at the jokes. By amazing coincidence, I’m having dinner this week with my friend – he’s retiring and moving out of the area. It’s safe to say this topic will come up. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/37 "2006-05-01T17:30:09Z")
[QUOTE=zamboniracer] Actually, I think it was flat because the audience was different. Rather than the studio audience which is in on the phoniness of the character, much of the audience at the dinner wasn’t. [/QUOTE] That was my impression, too. I was dying, myself, but the room’s response seemed almost sluggish. Surprising for members of the national press, who from what I’ve gleaned really love \*The Daily Show, \* et al. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/38 "2006-05-01T18:31:26Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] One of the traditions at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is that the speaker roasts the President. [/QUOTE] That wasn’t a roast, that was a BURN. And a damned good one too. It’s pretty sad when a commedian is the only person to be able to stand up to our elected officials. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/39 "2006-05-01T22:15:36Z")
It is the best aspect of humorists of any medium when they dare to speak the truth for laughs in front of a hostile audience. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915/40 "2006-05-01T22:46:23Z")
[QUOTE=Purd Werfect] That’s right, Steven Colbert has now become a live-action **Dilbert** figure. [/QUOTE] (bolding mine) It’s pronounced “dil-bair,” right? 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-of-the-united-states-vs-steve-colbert/354915.md?page=3)