I traded emails over the White House Coorespondent’s dinner with a friend. My last thought was that whether Stephen Colbert’s routine was appropriate or not in some ways it struck me as a kind of political karma. George Bush has been in his famous bubble for so long that it seemed he had completely tuned out his critics. Keeping that frustration pent up as he did it was bound to burst out somewhere to restore the equilibrium and Colbert took on that assignment.
Lots of Colbert’s admirers, and I’m one of them, applaud him for having the courage to dish it out. I’m sure it did especially as the laughs petered out. On the other hand, beating up on Bush meant beating up a defenseless man. Decorum dictated that Bush take Colbert’s pummeling without complaint of the ability to defend himself. Picking on a defenseless man is never considered particularly courageous.
So there you have it. Karma.
