Free Stephen Colbert: Beyond Truthiness by Bruce Watson Page A

movie, or policy. They came from all political persuasions - from Al Sharpton and Ralph Nader on the left to Peggy Noonan and Bill Kristol on the right. Regardless of political persuasion, each guest noticed what Colbert himself soon touted, the “Colbert Bump.” After appearing on Colbert, authors sold more books, musicians’ CD sales spiked, and politicians raked in campaign contributions. No Colbert Bump, however, rivaled the one he gave himself as keynote speaker at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
    The annual dinner for presidents and reporters dates to 1920. Down through the decades, guests have included Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, James Cagney, and Barbra Streisand. Yet only with the presidency of Ronald Reagan, veteran of Hollywood roasts, did the correspondents’ dinner itself become a good-natured roasting. Rich Little, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, and even Jon Stewart, before The Daily Show, hadstepped to the podium to make lighthearted fun of the president. The atmosphere was formal - black tie - but the rules were unwritten. A comedian could mock a president’s personality but not his policies. Sarcasm was okay, satire was not. Either no one explained these rules to Colbert or he ignored them. And because his conservative caricature was less known than his Daily Show correspondent, it’s possible the Correspondents Association thought the earlier Colbert would show up. When it was all over, when President George W. Bush was done seething and Colbert hailed as “one of the great satirical wits of our time,” the journalist who invited Colbert admitted he hadn’t seen much of The Colbert Report .
    Many Colbert fans admit he was not at his best that night. Some jokes fell with a thud, others glanced off the audience. The silence between jokes was awkward. But tens of millions of Americans had waited a very long time for that moment. By April 2006, George W. Bush had been president for five years, and to a growing number of disgusted citizens, those five years had seemed like an eternity. In the wake of 9/11, with its shock and sorrow, Bush had led a relentless and reckless march to war. Then came the “shock and awe” of the Iraq invasion, the arrogance of power – “Democracy is messy!” - and Bush’s macho “Mission Accomplished” speech amidst a bumbling aftermath. Oops, there were no weapons of mass destruction. “Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere,” Bush actually joked. “Nope, no weapons over there . . . maybe under here?” Oh, and that yellow-cake uranium Saddam bought in Africa? Never mind. Abu Ghraib and the tortured prisoners? “Just a few bad apples.” Further denials were followed by Katrina and assorted gaffes, foreign and domestic.
    Just weeks before the dinner, Bush had claimed, “I’m the decider, and I decide what’s best.” Would no one stand up and give this man the mocking he deserved?
    Before the dinner, the entire Colbert family, including Lorna Colbert, met Bush at a private party. “We actually had a very nice conversation beforehand about the nature of irony,” Colbert remembered. “The president was charming and lovely. The president’s mother went to the same school as my wife. He was extremely nice to my Mom. I have beautiful pictures of the two of them together that night. Nice guy.”
    But once Colbert stepped to the podium, it was “no more Mr. Nice Guy.” His mock praise dug deep. Colbert lauded “my president” for being consistent. “He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday.” Colbert pretended to be appalled at criticism of White House personnel changes. Bush was not “re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. This administration is not sinking,” Colbert pleaded. “This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.”
    While most cameras fixed on Colbert, one stayed riveted on Bush. It showed him leaning back in