This is my first post about the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Actually, I could care less about the event. And, I was shocked that President Bush would show up at a gathering of liberal hate-mongers who are openly against his presidency and his policies regardless of fact. This is a group that fails to report the truth about the economy and the successes in War in Iraq, a war that looks to be won before Bush leaves office. (How will the Left explain that one?)
This is also a group that reports that Rep. John Murtha, who spoke out against the US in Mogadishu and against the War in Iraq for years, is really a hawk.
This is a group that won’t report that Joe Wilson is an ultra-Leftist, who was humiliated by two different international investigations… and tells “More Whoppers than a Burger King!”
This is a group that will report exaggerated numbers of displaced families in Iraq as fact when a US General two days earlier with maps and figures claimed the opposite.
This is a group that will report exaggerated casualty numbers when the Iraqi government two days warned the public about media exaggerations.
This is a group that honors scribes who disclose national security secrets.
This is a group that honors terror-linked photograghers.
This is a nut-job group that asks the president why he lies and attacks his press secretary daily and personally.
That is part of the reason that I was surprised that President Bush attended the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner last weekend.
And, with Iran ramping up their threats against Israel, the United States, and the West, daily; with terror attacks and peace talks in Kashmir; political scandal in France; battle victories in Iraq; democracy protests in Nepal; rising gas prices; gas dependence due to years of democratic policy; thugs with gas; terror tapes and terror arrests; illegal immigration protests and fence building… there may be other news that is more important than the White House Correspondent’s Players Ball(?).
But, not to the Left.
Here is a piece of the pouting on the Left that a non-funny hack did not get more press for his “bravery”(?) That’s like G. Clooney giving himself a pat on the back at the Oscar’s for ‘speaking truth (liberal smack) to power’.
This article by Peter Daou at Salon.com gets more laughs than Stephen Colbert’s rant on Saturday night:
The White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was televised on C-Span Saturday evening. Featured entertainer Stephen Colbert delivered a biting rebuke of George W. Bush and the lily-livered press corps. He did it to Bush’s face, unflinching and unbowed by the audience’s muted, humorless response. (Umm… it wasn’t funny.) Democratic Underground members commented in real time (here, here, and here). TMV posted a wrap-up.
On Colbert’s gutsy delivery, watertiger writes, “Stephen Colbert displayed more guts in ten minute of performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner than the entire Bush family. He, along with the ever-feisty Helen Thomas, deftly exposed the “truthiness” to the world (or at least those who were watching) that Bush AND the D.C. press corps are indeed a naked emperor and his gutless courtiers.”
Mash at dKos says, “Standing at the podium only a few feet from President Bush, Colbert launched an all out assault on the policies of this Administration. It was remarkable, though painful at times, to watch. It may also have been the first time that anyone has been this blunt with this President. By the end of Colbert’s routine, Bush was visibly uncomfortable. Colbert ended with a video featuring Helen Thomas repeatedly asking why we invaded Iraq. That is a question President Bush has yet to answer to the American public. I am not sure what kind of review Stephen Colbert’s performance will get in the press. One thing is however certain – his performance was important and will reverberate.”
This is the power of the media to choose the news, (delusion) to decide when and how to shield Bush from negative publicity. Sins of omission can be just as bad as sins of commission. And speaking of a sycophantic media establishment bending over backwards to accommodate this White House and to regurgitate pro-GOP and anti-Dem spin, I urge readers to pick up a copy of Eric Boehlert’s new book, Lapdogs. It’s a powerful indictment of the media’s timidity during the Bush presidency. Boehlert rips away the facade of a “liberal media” and exposes the invertebrates masquerading as journalists who have allowed and enabled the Bush administration’s many transgressions to go unchecked, under-reported, or unquestioned.
A final thought: Bush’s clownish banter with reporters – which is on constant display during press conferences – stands in such stark contrast to his administration’s destructive policies and to the gravity of the bloodbath in Iraq that it is deeply unsettling to watch. This may be impolitic, but wouldn’t refraining from frat-style horse
play be appropriate for this man? Or at the least, can’t reporters suppress their raucous laughter every time he blurts out another jibe… the way they did when Colbert put them in their place?
It’s been days since this pompous correspondents’ event. But, to the Left this is still the lead story!
Pathetic!
And, also pathetic is that you could have predicted three things from the Correspondents’ Dinner:
1.) That Bush would be attacked by some bitter Leftist.
2.) That this was the lead news of the week for the Leftists, claiming bravery.
3.) And that, the minute Bush stepped into the room last weekend…
No matter how funny, or cute or clever the president was that evening, the correspondents who have attacked him ruthlessly for the past 5 years were going to leave the hall that night and attack him for three more.
Bush was the brave one. Laura was gracious.
A Pathetic, but predictable display.
