Sunday, April 30, 2006
Speaking Truthiness to Power
I am de-hiatusing myself quickly to reiterate that I hate the White House Correspondents Dinner. It's unseemly for reporters to get all chummy with the people they're supposed to be covering, particularly in an era like this one. The failure of our current press corps to cover this administration honestly and effectively has had, is having, and will continue to have devastating consequences that result in nothing less than real people ending up real dead. The press corps should be boycotting the damn thing, not jockeying for seats.
The chumminess of the whole thing is summed up by this story, which is leading most of the online news sites this morning. Ha-ha-ha, they had a Bush impersonator up there alongside Bush. Isn't that funny. (Didn't they do the same thing with Will Ferrell a couple of years ago?) But the far more newsworthy event coming out of the dinner was Stephen Colbert's remarks. In the words of Steve Gilliard, "He said everything I would want to say if I could force George Bush to listen to me as a captive audience for 20 minutes." Colbert's liable to end up in Guantanamo for what he said, but just knowing that Bush had to listen to it brightens up a rainy Sunday.
Money quotes:
I am de-hiatusing myself quickly to reiterate that I hate the White House Correspondents Dinner. It's unseemly for reporters to get all chummy with the people they're supposed to be covering, particularly in an era like this one. The failure of our current press corps to cover this administration honestly and effectively has had, is having, and will continue to have devastating consequences that result in nothing less than real people ending up real dead. The press corps should be boycotting the damn thing, not jockeying for seats.
The chumminess of the whole thing is summed up by this story, which is leading most of the online news sites this morning. Ha-ha-ha, they had a Bush impersonator up there alongside Bush. Isn't that funny. (Didn't they do the same thing with Will Ferrell a couple of years ago?) But the far more newsworthy event coming out of the dinner was Stephen Colbert's remarks. In the words of Steve Gilliard, "He said everything I would want to say if I could force George Bush to listen to me as a captive audience for 20 minutes." Colbert's liable to end up in Guantanamo for what he said, but just knowing that Bush had to listen to it brightens up a rainy Sunday.
Money quotes:
"The greatest thing about this President is you know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday!"Ladies and gentlemen, please remember to tip your waiters and waitresses, and drive safely on the way home. Editor and Publisher has the details here; the video is here.
"I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."
"[Jesse Jackson] is a very challenging interview... It's like boxing a glacier. Enjoy that metaphor by the way because your grandchildren will have no idea what a glacier is."
