Punchline Politics

"Full Fledged Moonbattery is the only way to describe Colbert's performance. All the canards were there; Iraq, WMD, the press as White House lap dogs(??), Bush the stupid, Bush the incompetent, Bush as Machiavelli (the stupidity of trying to show Bush as both dumb and evil genius lost on the clueless Colbert), as well as the usual jokes that liberals find funny about 9/11, religion, and ordinary Americans.

"The left, of course, is in rapture over Colbert's 'speaking truth to power.' I always have to scratch my head in wonderment over this little prevarication by the liberals. Does anyone seriously believe that the 'power' to shape debate, set the national agenda, color the personalities, and make or break the politicians resides with conservatives? Who are they trying to kid?"

Mash at Daily Kos is ecstatic:

"Stephen Colbert just finished speaking truthiness to power at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner. Standing at the podium only a few feet from President Bush, Colbert launched an all out assault on the policies of this Administration. It was remarkable, though painful at times, to watch. It may also have been the first time that anyone has been this blunt with this president."

Dependable Renegade believes the man is a hero:

"Stephen Colbert displayed more guts in ten minutes of performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner than the entire Bush family has in their collective lifetime. He, along with the ever-feisty Helen Thomas, deftly exposed the 'truthiness' to the world (or at least those who were watching) that Bush AND the D.C. press corps are indeed a naked emperor and his gutless courtiers."

Salon's Peter Daou is in the coverup camp:

"The AP's first stab at it and pieces from Reuters and the Chicago Tribune tell us everything we need to know: Colbert's performance is sidestepped and marginalized while Bush is treated as light-hearted, humble, and funny. Expect nothing less from the cowardly American media. The story could just as well have been Bush and Laura's discomfort and the crowd's semi-hostile reaction to Colbert's razor-sharp barbs. In fact, I would guess that from the perspective of newsworthiness and public interest, Bush-the-playful-president is far less compelling than a comedy sketch gone awry."

Mark Kleiman at Reality-Based Community suggests Colbert was too funny for his own good:

"Stephen Colbert's astonishing rant at the White House Correspondent's Association dinner hit so near the bone --BushCo's bone, and the bone of the lapdog journalists present-- that it drew few laughs, despite its superlative excellence both as text and as performance."

HuffPost's Chris Durang also uses Stephen for some press-bashing:

"Colbert's was a brave and shocking performance. And for the media to pretend it isn't newsworthy is a total bafflement. And a symbol of how shoddy and suspect the media is."