Stephen Colbert
After showing the Jon Stewart video to my friend Dana she asked me if i had seen the clip of Stephen Colbert speaking at the 2006 White House Correspondents Association Dinner. I replied no and so i searched for it online.
We'll i found it and watched all 24 minutes of the broadcast and was blown away. I couldn't believe Colbert was allowed to say the things he said without getting shut down. He completely laid to waste the entire Bush administration and the corporate news media that rules this country.
What i wasn't surprised by was the lack of media coverage the day after the dinner. The 2,000 plus media outlets (who are all owned by about 4 or 5 corporations) that were present at the dinner barely made mention of the 24 minute speech Colbert gave. No surprise there.
Through viewing these videos and speaking to a number of people i have been reminded that humor sometimes is the best way to say what needs to be said. Political comedians are some of the only people in America who can speak their mind on major television networks without being silenced.
We'll i found it and watched all 24 minutes of the broadcast and was blown away. I couldn't believe Colbert was allowed to say the things he said without getting shut down. He completely laid to waste the entire Bush administration and the corporate news media that rules this country.
What i wasn't surprised by was the lack of media coverage the day after the dinner. The 2,000 plus media outlets (who are all owned by about 4 or 5 corporations) that were present at the dinner barely made mention of the 24 minute speech Colbert gave. No surprise there.
Through viewing these videos and speaking to a number of people i have been reminded that humor sometimes is the best way to say what needs to be said. Political comedians are some of the only people in America who can speak their mind on major television networks without being silenced.
posted by Corey at 4:39 PM
3 Comments:
Its so strange that you say this kind of comedy attack on the establishment is unusual. Here in Australia the most skillful at it are those comedians/social commentators on the two government owned tv stations. I will try to locate some clips to send you. But then again us Aussies do tend to get away with a lot and don't really take our politics too seriously. We would much rather laugh at our politicians!
we're totally moving in the same internet circles - i watched this one the day after and it's fair to say that tucker carlson and a few other rethuglicans - oops - republicans poo-pooed his performance.
However, I thought it was hilarious, and fairly bold all company considered!
Lincolnish indeed!!!!
Carlene,
Yeah, politics is a big deal here in the States. Also it’s a big deal for me because i grew up in a fairly political family. And i also think about how many countries watch what happens in this country.
I feel like we are the most watched country in the world and when our politicians or corporations do something inhumane that it effects a lot more people outside of the U.S. than in (at least it feels like that to me). Most often, and this is contributed to media censorship, it appears as though Americans are the least informed about what’s happening in countries outside of America.
Its sad really because we have this amazing media infrastructure that could be used to share information worth hearing but instead is used to keep people entertained and oblivious to the rest of the world.
Almost all media outlets in America are centered on advertising and trying to (and rather successfully) convince people that they need this item or that.
And so America’s largest export (and the image the rest of the world sees us as) is through the eyes of Hollywood and a few giant corporately run media outlets. I don’t want those bastards representing me to the rest of the world!
Their values are not my values. The stories they tell are not the stories I would tell. They see the world only as what they can get from it (money), not give.
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