Tuesday, May 02, 2017

No "clown nose" defense this time

I'm old enough to remember late night TV in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. Prominent hosts like Johnny Carson and (starting around 1982) David Letterman would skewer whomever happened to be the sitting President of the United States, regardless of party affiliation. Sure, it's probably a safe assumption that both hosts were politically left-of-center. However, Carson was not hesitant to joke about President Jimmy Carter in the '70s nor was Letterman regarding President Bill Clinton in the '90s

Ah, but the days of bipartisan comedy seem to be a distant memory. 

Apparently late night host Stephen Colbert's screed in response to President Donald Trump's tacky behavior towards CBS news guy John Dickerson is what passes for comedy these days. 

“When you insult one member of the CBS family, you insult us all!” Colbert began. “Mr. President, I love your presidency, I call it ‘Disgrace The Nation.’ You’re not the POTUS, you’re the ‘gloat-us.’ You’re the glutton with the button. You’re a regular ‘Gorge Washington.’ You’re the ‘presi-dunce’ but you’re turning into a real ‘prick-tator.’”

“Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine,” the host continued. “You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign-language gorilla that got hit in the head.” And then the kicker: “In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c**k holster.”

Because Colbert is no longer with Comedy Central, he can't use the excuse that he was merely "in character." No, Stevie is showing his true colors by revealing he's just another in a long line of show hosts who are little more than vile, smug leftist kooks looking to bring comfort to the thumb suckers still traumatized by the Trump presidency. Not to mention the likes of Colbert, Seth Myers, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon likely use their respective platforms for self-catharsis as well.

In the end, I highly doubt there will be any repercussions from CBS regarding Colbert's "monologue." Apparently I'm behind the times because I'm being told by regular late night TV viewers that this kind of stuff has become almost commonplace.

Hot Air's Ed Morrissey noticed this, too.

It’s a measure of how far CBS has fallen that this passes for entertainment in the first place, but outrageous outrage has become more exhausting in direct proportion to the decline, too. If we want, we can all fire Colbert by simply choosing to do something else with our time — either on another network, or by turning off the TV entirely. Maybe they could rename the show … “Displace the Nation.”

Since Colbert is now free to be his true self, perhaps "Meet the Repressed" is more apropos.


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