"But, listen, 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. Just put 'em 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!"
Bush and the audience were squirming throughout the whole thing, with just a few nervous giggles here and there when Bush was targeted. Afterwards Bush mutely shook Colbert's hand and quickly left.
The next day the event was all over the liberal blogs, but the mainstream media only reported on Bush's own performance with a Bush impersonator, completely omitting mention of Colbert, who was the headliner at the show. Even the New York Times, that "bastion of liberalism", didn't so much as mention Colbert's presence.
Editor and Publisher did justice to the event here
Media Matters has analysis of the lack of critical mainstream media coverage of the dinner and a comparison with past White House Correspondents' Dinners.
CSPAN's video feed of the dinner
Some other videos and transcripts of it here.
This reminds me of a recent "die-in" protest that was held during Hillary Clinton's speech at our school. A couple dozen students layed down to symbolize the dead in the Iraq War, in protest of Clinton's hawkish pro-Iraq War stance. A reporter for one of the student papers saw a man photographing the protestors and went over to ask him who he was... turned out he was a photographer for the New York Times. She asked him what he though of the protest. "Think?" he answered, "I don't think. I've learned to stop thinking on this job a long time ago."
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