I guaranty you the Bush people who hired him to host the dinner, had
no idea he would say what he said. He brought up nearly every issue
the Bush administration would like not brought up. Colbert's whole
shtick is that he acts right wing conservative, to the extreme, and at
the risk of 'explaining' the joke, he's not really right wing
conservative. It's the old shakespearean adage of criticism being
spoken in jest, yet in this example, the criticism is big, the jest is
small, and the president is sitting right next to him. Sure he was hired
to do this, but no Bush official would have 'approved' what he said. I
wonder what they were thinking when they hired him? Did they really
get his act? Did they know anything about him?
Sure, speakers at this dinner usually do make jokes about the
administration, Bush spoke with a double standing next to him,
making fun of how poorly he talks, but that's not the same as
challenging this president on nearly every sensitive issue of the last
six years. Challenging his intelligence and decision making ability
directly. VALARIE PLAME for cristsakes! It's much more ballsy than
you've given him credit for, and the only reason he wasn't interrupted
is because this is the one situation where to have him taken off stage
in front of the entire press industry would have immediatly signaled
that Bush's presidency is hoplessly crooked, anti-constitutional, and
guilty of violating Colbert's first ammendment rights.
Watch it again. Colbert is nervous up there, and for good reason.