'Roasting' the President
If you like political satire, check out this video of comedian Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. It's a televised dinner, where media members are allowed/expected to poke fun at the President and eachother.
Note: There are a lot of edited versions on the Internet, but as far as I can tell, this is the complete video. You can also read the whole transcript here.
Video - Part 1 (this is priceless)
Video - Part 2
(By the way, I apologize for the not-safe-for-work screenshots on the bottom of the linked pages, this was the only site I could find with the unedited video)
Not being from the States, I didn't get some of the jokes in Part 2, but a lot of it is really funny. Colbert's remarks make jaws in the audience drop, and it's worth watching, if only for that.
Here are a few excerpts:
"By the way, before I get started, if anybody needs anything else at their tables, just speak slowly and clearly into your table numbers. Somebody from the NSA will be right over with a cocktail." [National Secutity Agency]
...
"I'm a simple man with a simple mind. I hold a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists. My gut tells me I live there. I feel that it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I strongly believe it has 50 states. And I cannot wait to see how the Washington Post spins that one tomorrow. I believe in democracy. I believe democracy is our greatest export. At least until China figures out a way to stamp it out of plastic for three cents a unit."
...
"[T]hough I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be you Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior."
...
"I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound -- with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."
...
"The greatest thing about this man is he's steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday. Events can change; this man's beliefs never will. As excited as I am to be here with the president, I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is destroying America, with the exception of Fox News. Fox News gives you both sides of every story: the president's side, and the vice president's side."
Found via Grrrl Meets World
Technorati tags: Stephen Colbert, politics, comedy, White House Correspondents' Dinner, Bush
Yeah, this was brilliant! Colbert really has some guts to go up and do what he did directly in front of the president. I commend him for it!
Stephen
I have to wonder whether he had bodyguards escort him to his car...