The Yellow Badge of No Courage

Rarely do I find myself in agreement with Richard Cohen – that is, when I'm not so put off by his usual solipsism and general Leftishness that I will actually read him.

But today, in his column on Stephen Colbert's turn at the White House Correspondents Association dinner, he "speaks truth to power" about one of the Left's favorite bromides de jour:

Why are you wasting my time with Colbert, I hear you ask. Because he is representative of what too often passes for political courage, not to mention wit, in this country. His defenders -- and they are all over the blogosphere -- will tell you he spoke truth to power. This is a tired phrase, as we all know, but when it was fresh and meaningful it suggested repercussions, consequences -- maybe even death in some countries. When you spoke truth to power you took the distinct chance that power would smite you, toss you into a dungeon or -- if you're at work -- take away your office. But in this country, anyone can insult the president of the United States. Colbert just did it, and he will not suffer any consequence at all. He knew that going in. He also knew that Bush would have to sit there and pretend to laugh at Colbert's lame and insulting jokes. Bush himself plays off his reputation as a dunce and his penchant for mangling English. Self-mockery can be funny. Mockery that is insulting is not. The sort of stuff that would get you punched in a bar can be said on a dais with impunity. This is why Colbert was more than rude. He was a bully. [snip] He had a chance to tell the president and much of important (and self-important) Washington things it would have been good for them to hear. But he was, like much of the blogosphere itself, telling like-minded people what they already know and alienating all the others. In this sense, he was a man for our times. He also wasn't funny.

And if another person cites that Jefferson-quote-that-Jefferson-never-said, "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism," I will throttle them.

[h/t OpinionJournal]

Comments

[Tommy]

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism"

YOU asked.

Tommy, Athens Greece

[sonicfrog]

Is throttle good or bad... bad I suppose, unless you like that sort of thing.

PS. I hat tipped Volokh for pointing out the Non-Jefferson quote.

[Jim]

Still, someone finally had Bush in a room with cameras running, forced to hear why a majority of Americans think this has gone too far. This took balls. Not funny balls, strong balls. My hat off, whatever you cons will say.

[Malcontent]

I hat tipped Volokh for pointing out the Non-Jefferson quote.

And, of course, Volokh linked to Steyn. :-)

Jim: I am not "conservative," just not a reflexive Bush-hater.

[Malcontent]

Dan, it's called "hyperbole." Don't make me go back and dig up all of those links again showing just how humorless you are.

[blewsdawg]

...whatever you cons will say.

This statement, frankly disqualifies anything else you have to say, IMO. You either agree with me, or you are a "con".

Mindless and absurd.

Conservatives do the same thing to "libs" as well, and it is the kind of sophistry which places one on permanant ignore in my book.

Thanks for playing, Jim.

[Tommy]

Er, Mal - psssst - wrong thread.

[Malcontent]

NOW I know what happened.

[Queer Conservative]

You can't blame Mal for getting confused Tommy. Dan is so all over the place when he argues it's easy to lose track of him.

[kc]

It's satire at its finest. It's a slap on the face for Bush and his hard-line supporters broadcast to the world. No wonder they run around mad for the last few days trying to twist it into a non-event to save face for their poor Baby Bush. No courage? LOL People are saving the serious condemnations for the impeachment hearings. Colbert 1, Bush-lickers -10.

[raj]

What is amusing is that Colbert's performance has raised so much brou-ha-ha, first on the Web, then in the media. Who remembers the comedian's performance at this relatively obscure event from years past, or even talked or wrote about it in the week after?

From that standpoint, Colbert's performance was outstanding.

[Craig Ranapia]

So, while we're lining up to suck off Colbert what did everyone do to mark Press Freedom Day on the 3rd - or honour the 846 journalists who were arrested, tortured and killed during 2005 for doing their jobs? But I guess that would require looking outside the masturbatory narcissism of the American media-infotainment complex and the Dubya Ate My Baby crowd.

[Queer Conservative]

It's satire at its finest. It's a slap on the face for Bush and his hard-line supporters broadcast to the world.

Or maybe Colbert's performance was just a flopped comedy routine.

[Malcontent]

Attention moonbats: Richard Cohen does not like George Bush. So it is possible that Colbert was just both unfunny and rude. His show is usually funny; most of his jokes at the WHCA, however, were just clunkers.

Ten years ago, a very similar thing happened when Don Imus breached tradition and decorum in order to slam Bill Clinton. It was pretty universally believed at the time that Imus was way out of line. There weren't right-wing people running around saying that the pro-Clinton press was trying to "spin" the thing, or that it was actually funny or somehow acceptable or that Imus had "balls" or was taking some sort of principled, "courageous" stand. It was tasteless and rude then, as now.

Some of you people on the Left make the term "reality-based community" a perfect oxymoron. But such is a day in the life of a rabid Bush-hater.

[Chad]

I only watched the first part of Colbert's "roasting" (didn't laugh enough to make me want to finish the thing), but my roommate, who is no fan of Bush, did watch it in its entirety, and even he said he was getting uncomfortable with Colbert's performance.

Still, someone finally had Bush in a room with cameras running, forced to hear why a majority of Americans think this has gone too far. This took balls. Not funny balls, strong balls. My hat off, whatever you cons will say.

Jim, it would've taken balls to do that had Colbert run the risk of being carted off to the gulag and hung for what he said. Getting up in front of a group of like minded peers to publicly say what they're all thinking isn't guts. It's sycophantic.

[North Dallas Thirty]

I agree. I think the Left needs a good reminder of what would have happened if Colbert, Cindy Sheehan, or everyone else in the moonbat universe tried their spiel in Ba'athist Iraq, Taliban Afghanistan, or current Iran or Syria.

[Justin]

AWESOME POINT ONE

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/may2006/colb-m05.shtml

"Cohen and his ilk are not journalists, they are courtiers, part of the administration’s entourage. This insulated media world, where intermarriage is common, where reporters “cover” the activities of their drinking buddies.... Cohen personifies this ignorant, cowardly milieu. He is the type that has made “pundit” into a dirty word."

________________________________________
AWESOME POINT TWO

"I think the Left needs a good reminder of what would have happened if Colbert, Cindy Sheehan, or everyone else in the moonbat universe tried their spiel in Ba'athist Iraq, Taliban Afghanistan, or current Iran or Syria" - North Dallas Thirty

I love that line of thinking. It's like telling Rosa Parks that she should've just gone to the back of the bus cause in other countries THEY WOULD HAVE BEHEAD HER!!!

Dear Mr. King,
Stop the civil rights movement cause things are much worse in other countries.
Signed,
The dumbass right-wing false dichotomy believing Americans.

[Chad]

Justin.... when will you and the rest of the left stop using the civil rights movement in comparison to everything else?

Yes, it sucks that the price of stamps keeps going up, but goddamn.... I don't feel like I'm being doused with fire hose everytime I send out a Christmas card.

[Queer Conservative]

I love that line of thinking. It's like telling Rosa Parks that she should've just gone to the back of the bus cause in other countries THEY WOULD HAVE BEHEAD HER!!!

Dear Mr. King,
Stop the civil rights movement cause things are much worse in other countries.
Signed,
The dumbass right-wing false dichotomy believing Americans.

You're comparing the Civil Rights movement in this country - and a truly brave woman by the standards you're trying to apply to Colbert - to a flop of comedy routine at a "chicken or fish?" schmooze fest? Nice.

[Michigan-Matt]

Justin, you crack us up, sister.

Stevie Colbert is the new Rosa Parks --Gotta love those radical Lefties who will stop at nothing to play a race card... whether it makes sense or not. LOL