I wasn’t going to bother writing anything about the Colbert roast at the White House Correspondents Dinner but then I saw a comment about it on the Chris Mathews show last night.

Here’s the transcript: A few cowardly media types pontificating.

For those who may not have heard, Colbert did a “roast” at the WHCD that was simply amazing. You may not have heard because he blatantly told all the media personalities sitting in the room that they sucked. They dropped the ball on almost every major issue in the last few years, becoming not journalists but regurgitators and speculators. So, it’s no wonder these same media types haven’t given Colbert any press over it.

Think how hypocritical this is. Right now over 60% of the US disapproves of Bush, probably a similar number don’t believe the mainstream media is doing their job, and someone gets a chance to say what all of us are thinking to Bush’s face, on live TV. Not just to Bush but to the media as well. Is it a suprise that the same media has been tight-lipped on this incident?

And, flipping through TV late Sunday night, I ran into that Chris Mathews show, and heard him and some other boring lady casually mentioning how he bombed. Well, maybe it’s true that he bombed for that crowd. I guess I’d be upset if I went to a comedy show and the comedian stood there and told me how much I sucked for 30 minutes. But, apparently he didn’t bomb for the people in reality. The video has been burning up the web. Also, this website already has over 53,000 thank you notes to Colbert as of this writing: Thank You Stephen Colbert. That site also has links to the video in case anyone hasn’t seen it.

The sheer magnitude of what Colbert did still amazes me. He said all this to Bush’ face, and didn’t pull any punches. Here were my favourite moments:

  • I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq.
  • The greatest thing about this man is he’s steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday. Events can change; this man’s beliefs never will.
  • I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is destroying America, with the exception of Fox News. Fox News gives you both sides of every story: the president’s side, and the vice president’s side.
  • The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put ‘em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you 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!
  • It’s like boxing a glacier. Enjoy that metaphor, by the way, because your grandchildren will have no idea what a glacier is.
  • Mayor Nagin! Mayor Nagin is here from New Orleans, the chocolate city! Yeah, give it up. Mayor Nagin, I’d like to welcome you to Washington, D.C., the chocolate city with a marshmallow center. And a graham cracker crust of corruption.

Full transcript here