The Colbert Report exposes the uncomfortable truth about journalists: They have no sense of humor. Watch and laugh… unless you’re a journalist… then mutter.
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colbert is my hero. hes funny and i understand him more than the buzzmachine guy. also colbert is on the cover of wired and the buzzmachine guy is not.
You have to give Colbert credit for watching his guest’s back. Wexler stuck his neck out for the joke (fell flat, but at least he tried), the media tries to make hay out of it (this they choose to get uppity about rather then EVERYTHING else that is available?) and Colbert smacks them for it. Bravo.
Robert,
Court jesters have always been the ones who had the freedom to speak the “truth.” This tradition is rooted in a variety of cultures dating back hundreds of years, including the commedia dell’arte, pantomime, vaudeville, etc. etc.–which is not even to speak of the Native American’s view of the coyote as the “trickster” or the Egyptians (you get my point).
From the Wikipedia entry for “clown”:
“being perceived ‘idiots’ they were often the only people in court who enjoyed free speech, and during the 16th century, especially in France, actors began to train as fools often in order to have the ability to make satirical comment. This is mainly where we get the contemporary idea of the court jester…”
So, what does that say about 16th Century France? Our society is no different. We are not living in a society that is vastly different or unique in this sense.
Peter, like the comments on YouTube point out, that “edit” was not only perfectly normal and straightforward - it was the entire point of Colbert’s coaching to get Rep. Wexler to give a statement that could be clipped and soundbitten in just that manner.
Jeff and Colbert are both right to take the morning shows to task for being so obnoxiously and two-facedly “high-minded” about the interview; Colbert especially had to do so since they took the tack of ridiculing the idea of appearing on his show at all. The “religious” rep. deserved just the smack-down he got and would be that it had came from establishment media.
There’s neither anything conspiratorial or unexpected that Fox News would run with the clip in just the manner that it did.
[...] Stephen Colbert kicks the morning news shows squarely in the nuts over the flurry of coverage that spawned from his interview with incumbent without a challenger Robert “I enjoy cocaine” Wexler: [...]
I don’t watch either “Good Morning America” or the “Today” show but I was amazed by the trivial nature of their “NEWS”. Stephen Colbert gives the news as a jester, but his show is about matters that are of serious concern to all of us. That doesn’t appear to be true of the other 2 shows.
July 27th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
What does it say about a society that the ony place truth speaks to power is from court jesters?
July 27th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
colbert is my hero. hes funny and i understand him more than the buzzmachine guy. also colbert is on the cover of wired and the buzzmachine guy is not.
July 27th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
Good Morning America is journalism?
Maybe that’s the *real* problem.
July 27th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
You have to give Colbert credit for watching his guest’s back. Wexler stuck his neck out for the joke (fell flat, but at least he tried), the media tries to make hay out of it (this they choose to get uppity about rather then EVERYTHING else that is available?) and Colbert smacks them for it. Bravo.
July 27th, 2006 at 3:53 pm
Another take is this “expose” of FOX New’s approach to the coke comment (not that Fair and Balanced) needs to exposed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGqPxn7njqM&mode=related&search=
July 27th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Robert,
Court jesters have always been the ones who had the freedom to speak the “truth.” This tradition is rooted in a variety of cultures dating back hundreds of years, including the commedia dell’arte, pantomime, vaudeville, etc. etc.–which is not even to speak of the Native American’s view of the coyote as the “trickster” or the Egyptians (you get my point).
From the Wikipedia entry for “clown”:
“being perceived ‘idiots’ they were often the only people in court who enjoyed free speech, and during the 16th century, especially in France, actors began to train as fools often in order to have the ability to make satirical comment. This is mainly where we get the contemporary idea of the court jester…”
So, what does that say about 16th Century France? Our society is no different. We are not living in a society that is vastly different or unique in this sense.
July 31st, 2006 at 2:00 am
Peter, like the comments on YouTube point out, that “edit” was not only perfectly normal and straightforward - it was the entire point of Colbert’s coaching to get Rep. Wexler to give a statement that could be clipped and soundbitten in just that manner.
Jeff and Colbert are both right to take the morning shows to task for being so obnoxiously and two-facedly “high-minded” about the interview; Colbert especially had to do so since they took the tack of ridiculing the idea of appearing on his show at all. The “religious” rep. deserved just the smack-down he got and would be that it had came from establishment media.
There’s neither anything conspiratorial or unexpected that Fox News would run with the clip in just the manner that it did.
July 31st, 2006 at 4:09 pm
[...] Stephen Colbert kicks the morning news shows squarely in the nuts over the flurry of coverage that spawned from his interview with incumbent without a challenger Robert “I enjoy cocaine” Wexler: [...]
August 1st, 2006 at 10:56 am
I don’t watch either “Good Morning America” or the “Today” show but I was amazed by the trivial nature of their “NEWS”. Stephen Colbert gives the news as a jester, but his show is about matters that are of serious concern to all of us. That doesn’t appear to be true of the other 2 shows.
August 2nd, 2006 at 10:28 pm
I’m a court jester and I take offense to the first comment.