It's been 10 years since Stephen Colbert ripped into President George W. Bush and the media at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner. Watch how, in Colbert style, he held no punches.
It's hard to appreciate from this vantage point 14 years later, but at the time this routine was gutsy as hell. The country and press were still in post- 9/11 lockstep authoritarian mode, and Cheney and Co. were spooky af.
doesn't take much for a hollywood lib to take shots at a republican neocon. going after obama as a lib, on the other hand, would take balls. that's why no one did it. check out norm macdonald's clinton roast to see some real comedic satirical balls
Ehm, he didn't crash the stage, he was invited... Or did you take the first 2 minutes seriously? As Stephen asked, the hit man was off that night. Jeez, you liberals... Colbert is a talented guy. Pity he has Trump derangement Syndrome now. This speech took place in a time where comedy was still used to make fun of taboos.
C-SPAN actually edited Colbert's speech out in 2006, and not a single media outlet dare to mention anything about his performance, and now 10 years later, he's suddenly a "classic" for CNN.
my recollection was there was a big controversy over the speech. It got media attention, though it was mostly the press defending themselves, mostly missing the point. People ask why there is not much laughter. Maybe it is not meant to be funny, but serious?
This is only half of the act. The bit with the great questions from the audience, and Colbert running and being hunted down by Helen Thomas is entirely missing.
They thought that Stephen Colbert was actually a conservative. They didn't realize that it was just a parody character he played. They literally hired a satire of themselves to sling jokes for ten minutes.
imaloony8 My fave is the one guy who kept his camera on Bush the when time. To his credit, old Dubya tried to laugh along a first. But man did that wear out fast!
imaloony8 - Um, no. The White House Correspondents Association booked Colbert for this gig, not the president or anyone in his administration. So, while it’s possible that Bush was unaware of Colbert’s satirical persona before that night, the people who booked him almost certainly knew, and _still_ booked him. Which, if you ask me, is hilarious in and of itself, because they were essentially trolling Bush. That’s also why the WHCA booked a Muslim comedian for the 2017 WHCD; to troll Trump.
@@orgasmatron4296 he's a loser he's not even funny in the least bit not even a slight smile from his stupid horrible jokes I wouldn't even call him jokes they only joke is him he's a joke and any loser who thinks he's good
@@plutomond- LOL we all know its you hilalry fans who went all postal and have had trump derangement syndrome for 3 years!! yoju're all butt hurt and sissy sore loser cry babies! you embarrass yourselves daily!!
Not anymore. Find that Russian collusion yet? It's in the same place those weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were. I wonder when people will realize both the parties are shameless liars.
@@fuzzywzhe no Russian collusion. True. But you can't deny Russian election meddling. The FBI and CIA agree that Russia played a part in getting Trump elected.
Alex.....The FBI and CIA have to be the most corrupt agencies in the US if not the west. Hillary was more disliked than Trump in the "rust belt" and that was the election. The hacked DNC emails revealed corruption so that only helped really if anything. I know Hillary blamed the Russians for revealing the emails - it's a little like a burglar blaming the security cameras for getting them sent to jail. I didn't realize people still quoted the FBI and CIA as reliable sources so that's news to me.
'...stand on a bank of computers and order men into battle...c'mon!' greatest ever truth-to-power joke. it made a silent room more silent...how? turn up the volume and yes, the room becomes more silent. amazing. what a set colbert did...where has that colbert gone?
The uncomfortable silence was brutal but he went SAVAGE mode in this one I'm surprised secret service didn't football tackle him straight off the stage
everything after the 'rearranging the deck chairs on the hindenburg' joke is gone. excised. omitted. edited out. butchered. so it's off to find a complete version of this video. it exists just not here.
No one that I know of before or since has ever equaled his flat out honesty , wit , humor , and courage to express his passion and beliefs . How he walked away from that dinner unscathed other than to be flipped of by the first lady is anyone's guess ? Maybe they cloned him ?
I confirm, Fox News has been a joke ever since sexual predator Roger Ailes created a propaganda channel. See _Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004)_ www.imdb.com/title/tt0418038/ But today's Fox news managed to become a caricature of itself, by going full Alex Jones
Fox News is a propaganda machine on the level of Goebbels in Nazi Germany. It is quite literally designed to spread misinformation from the top down, and has been since its inception. Moreso than the rest of America's shit tier broadcasting corporations.
GW looked him in the eye and shook his hand. "Good job, well done". I disagreed with 90% of what he said and did as president, but at least he had basic dignity and manners. As terrible a president as he was he was leagues ahead of the current one.
"Although President Bush shook Colbert's hand after his presentation, several of Bush's aides and supporters walked out during Colbert's speech, and one former aide commented that the President had "that look that he's ready to blow".[30] Colbert recalled that "not a lot of people laughed in the front row" during the speech, and that "when it was over, no one was even making eye contact with me ... no one is talking to me in the whole damn room"; only Scalia came to him afterward, praising Colbert's imitation of a gesture the justice had recently been photographed making.[26] He also noted actor Harry Lennix gave him props afterwards."
This was such an EPIC moment. If politics in America hadn't gone away from the fact based reality "community"/ fucking bananas, then this little number would remain the most audacious thing ever. Now it seems like any given Tuesday. Nah its still EPIC. Its crazy to think the character Steven Colbert played on the Colbert report and his world became the reality we live in. First through the breech
The original footage cut to Bush quite often. He has laughing, but clearly way uncomfortable, pressed back in his chair like he was getting blown back.
There used to be a vid of some cameraman who kept focused on Bush’s face the whole time. And all I could think of when I saw it was the scene from Spaceballs. “Go past this part! In fact, never play this again!”
Went back to this video to see 1st lady tell him to f** off when he went to shake her hand, that was really funny, proof he did it right 😁. Sadly, that part seems to have been wiped out from the internet.
Yeah. Colbert 🤨 gave a blistering performance which apparently wasn’t appreciated by his audience at the time, but at least back then they didn’t whine about it and stop inviting comedians to speak because some people are offended by satire. I was never a fan of GW Bush but at least he took criticism like an adult, not a ranting spoiled toddler
People have the right to not listen to comedians just like the comedians have the right to poke fun of whatever they're satirizing. To think people have to have everything any satirist, writer, etc has to say rammed down their throats. That's the whiny, selfintitled grown infant mentality you spoke of.
fahim rafi - actually, only 16minutes. Full video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6ZnuYKKtpxg.html Edit: you're right. I found the 26min version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CWqzLgDc030.html
Amelia N - full video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6ZnuYKKtpxg.html Another version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CWqzLgDc030.html
Where did the original uploads go? This was much longer and had a whole filmed bit with Helen Thomas. Also interesting to note that Obama’s writers recycled at least two of these jokes- the one about America agreeing the First Lady is his better half, and how journalists actually holding power to account would be fictional.
New Wave Nancy - full video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6ZnuYKKtpxg.html Another version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CWqzLgDc030.html
Billy Akin - here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6ZnuYKKtpxg.html Another version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CWqzLgDc030.html
Raising Agent - yes. Full video here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6ZnuYKKtpxg.html Another version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CWqzLgDc030.html
What a classic, still relevant today, Bush was far better than Trump and he could take a joke, and It's sad that I wish we had GWB back in the white house.
Legend has it, when he does catch covid, he's gracious enough to not spread it to the entire Edward Sullivan Theatre, and gives an amazing podcast style performance in his bathroom instead. Guy's still a legend.@@rickysnow400
Can anyone picture thin-skin Donny getting roasted like that? He'd get all triggered, mean tweeting at the table like a hormonal preteen girl in need of a safe space. No wonder he cancelled the White House corresponds' dinner.
Back in the day when people of different political persuasions could laugh at themselves and not take every moment in life so seriously. Even comments in this thread are too serious. Libs clap at, what they perceive, is Colbert hating on sleaze ball GWB, and Cons feeling the need to circle the wagons and defend the honor of the Commander in Chief from a character assassination by a disrespectful, low life comedian. In reality, these two probably had a few good laughs before and after this event despite their disagreements. It’s because they could treat the other side as if they were fellow humans and Americans.
Where is the other half of the video? Thumbs down. WTF WTF WTF? The whole video IS GONE off of youtube! What the hell is wrong with you CNN? WHERE IS THE WHOLE ACT? The bit with him doing a whitehouse press conference, then running to avoid the question why we invaded Iraq and being hunted down by Hellen Thomas is entirely missing. BRING IT BACK!
i just scrolled through this platform and had no success finding the complete speech minus the helen thomas skit. the speech referred to here has the scalia joke, the generals joke, the mccain joke...ripper jokes. truth to power jokes. guess what gang? that speech will be uploaded to my channel posthaste. searching my own video files has proved most fruitful. yeaaaaah!
