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Today is the third anniversary of Bush's aircraft carrier photo-op. On May 2, 2003, I posted these pics:
I mentioned at the time that "[t]he photo above and left is an Agence France-Presse photo. As documented here, the AP story changed the wording of the banner to make the protesters sound more violent, or desperate: 'Sooner or later US killers we'll kill you.' Hardly any US media ran the above photo, only AP's altered description."
Amazing and sad that after so many Americans and Iraqis have been killed, Bush is still in power and the press is still covering for him.
Matt Stoller at MyDD:
Stephen Colbert's incredible roast, where the room of pompous DC-tards wasn't laughing but everyone else was, has been seen several hundred thousand times on YouTube. The stupid and hackish Bush impersonation, replete with such witticisms as Laura Bush is "hot," isn't even listed. The people choose Colbert.You can thank Stephen here.
And on cue, Elizabeth Bumiller's article on the evening in the New York Times doesn't even mention Colbert, and talks about how Bush stole the show. Amazing. Ridiculous. In a few months, the insiders at the dinner will be claiming that they thought Colbert was terrific, that they were the only one laughing. That's how these people work. They'll hear about the legendary Colbert performance, and they'll rewrite history to make themselves seem savvy enough to "get the joke."
Anyway, it doesn't matter. This is the gasp of the royal pretensions of the punditocracy. And Colbert laid them bare, brutally. Thank you, Stephen.
Update: The New Pravda, I mean, the New York Times, mentioned the Colbert roast five days after the fact, but didn't convey that it was insanely popular on the Net, only that it was generating "controversy" in the "blogosphere."
Update 2: the blackout squad ramps up the aggression level: "public affairs channel" CSPAN claims "copyright" and YouTube pulls the Colbert video. I removed the link I had here to YouTube. It's still floating around--eventually I'll post links.
Paper Rad - teaser for Alfe "fake tv show" cartoon from their upcoming DVD from Load Records.
"There is a nucular war going on and you have the gall to dispute last week's fork audit?"
In other news, RV passed United 93 for box office sales this weekend. When it's all said and done, Americans still have their hearts in the right places. OK, on the strength of that I think we can start saying that the first big 9/11 exploitation film FLOPPED!
Steven Colbert's appearance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last night was courageous, and great. Using heavy irony in the form of his "Fox News blowhard" persona, he told off Bush to his face, for Iraq, for Katrina, and for spying on U.S. citizens. From Editor & Publisher:
Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged the Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, “and reality has a well-known liberal bias.”The audience was NOT into it--reactions ranged from nervous titters to chilly silence. Bush was visibly displeased. The major news outlets are already spinning that Colbert went "too far"--wrong, he said everything we wished we could say.
He attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. “This administration is soaring, not sinking,” he said. “If anything, they are re-arranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.”
Colbert told Bush he could end the problem of protests by retired generals by refusing to let them retire. He compared Bush to Rocky Balboa in the “Rocky” movies, always getting punched in the face—“and Apollo Creed is everything else in the world.”
Turning to the war, he declared, "I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq."
[...]
Colbert also made biting cracks about missing WMDs, “photo ops” on aircraft carriers and at hurricane disasters, melting glaciers and Vice President Cheney shooting people in the face. He advised the crowd, "if anybody needs anything at their tables, speak slowly and clearly on into your table numbers and somebody from the N.S.A. will be right over with a cocktail. "
Observing that Bush sticks to his principles, he said, "When the president decides something on Monday, he still believes it on Wednesday - no matter what happened Tuesday."
Also lampooning the press, Colbert complained that he was “surrounded by the liberal media who are destroying this country, except for Fox News. Fox believes in presenting both sides of the story — the president’s side and the vice president’s side." He also reflected on the alleged good old days, when the media was still swallowing the WMD story.
Addressing the reporters, he said, "Let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know--fiction."
Update: so-called public affairs channel CSPAN claimed "copyright" and YouTube pulled the Colbert video. I removed the link I had here to YouTube. You can find the speech elsewhere. I'll get a link up eventually.