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Friday, May 05, 2006

An incident isn't complete till Wolcott weighs in
Posted by Jill | 8:04 AM
In case anyone else has been waiting to see what James Wolcott has to say about L'Affaire Colbert, here ya go:


A note about the Stephen Colbert monologue at the Correspondents' Dinner that Elisabeth Bumiller seems to have slept through face-down in her entree. No question the stint played better on TV than it did in the room with C-SPAN cutting to gowned lovelies in the audience with glaceed expressions and tuxedo'd men making with the nervous eyes, but to say he "bombed" or "stunk up the place" (Jonah Goldberg's usual elegance) is wishful thinking on behalf of the wishful thinkers on the right, who have nothing but wishful thinking to prop them up during the day.

I know what bombing looks like. It looks like Don Imus when he did a standup monologue before President and Hillary Clinton, and went over so badly that sweat broke out in rivulets down his face and in parts unseen. What triggered the perspiration cascade was a sexual innuendo about how Clinton rooted for his favorite football team by yelling, "Go baby!" at the TV, which Imus remarked was probably not the first time he had voiced such a giddyup--an allusion to Clinton's poontang exploits, if you'll pardon the expression. Imus gave such a crass performance and caused such embarrassment to himself and everybody in the room that there were calls for apologies and he was in danger of being as contaminated as Whoopie Goldberg and Ted Danson briefly were after their unfortunate blackface episode.

See, that was Colbert's mistake. He didn't slip in any smutty lines. Had he done so, his standup would have been impossible to ignore as the Fox News hotheads would have gone into full outrage mode to defend the honor of Laura Bush and her virgin ears. Instead, Colbert was cool, methodical, and mercilessly ironic, not getting rattled when the audience quieted with discomfort (and resorting to self-deprecating "savers," as most comedians do), but closing in on the kill, as unsparing of the press as he was of the president. I mean no disrespect to Jon Stewart to say that in the same circumstances, he would have resorted to shtick; Colbert didn't. Apart from flubbing the water-half-empty joke about Bush's poll ratings, he was in full command of his tone, comic inflection, and line of attack. The we-are-not-amused smile Laura Bush gave him when he left the podium was a priceless tribute to the displeasure he incurred. To me, Colbert looked very relaxed after the Bushes left the room and he greeted audience members, signed autographs. And why wouldn't he be? He achieved exactly what he wanted to achieve, delivered the message he intended to deliver. Mission accomplished.


When I watch that footage again, what strikes me is the utter sang-froid with which Colbert affably slips in the shiv. It isn't that Colbert is a show businss novice, but his show is only six months old, and the faux-O'Reilly bit that has now made him infamous has been this finely honed for even less time. That he was able to stand up within ten feet of the President of the United States and say what so many of us have been longing for so long for SOMEONE in the media to say is nothing short of astounding -- and certainly earns him the Giant Brass Boulders award of 2006.

I wonder today if Colbert's message may have actually gotten through. Last night I was flipping channels and encountered CNN's near-hysterical coverage of Rep. Patrick Kennedy's relatively minor automobile accident. This was a one-car crash into a barrier, but it involed a Kennedy and what appeared to be intoxication (though no sobriety tests were performed and the story is that Kennedy had been taking a medication for gastroenteritis), so of course the television news was flogging it to death. That a relatively insignificant Congressman should receive such attention when the Watergate Hotel has been subpoenaed relative to Hookergate (and in light of their refusal to touch George W. Bush's alcohol history in 2000) would seem to indicate that the press has learned nothing and is up to their old tricks. But I'm gratified to see that the story has mostly died down this morning.
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