Give Him a Break, Folks...He's From Kazakhstan

Genius Brit comedian Sasha Baron Cohen, better known to the world as Ali G., Borat and Bruno, must be working on the third season of his hit HBO show. For those of you who don't get HBO, or who get it and (shudder to think!) aren't watching Da Ali G Show, Cohen puts on a costume and pretends to be either a raga British idiot, an idiot from Kazakhstan or an Austrian idiot fashionista and then interviews actual morons, celebrities and politicians. It sounds like another lame Tom Green rip-off, but Cohen is so fast, such a great comedic mind, that he turns these interviews into something approaching performance art.

Now, he apparently got into trouble at a rodeo in Salem, Virginia as his Kazakhstani reporter character Borat. You see, according to the New York Post, Borat went up to sing the national anthem and speak a bit on US foreign policy. To wit:

"I hope you kill every man, woman and child in Iraq, down to the lizards," Cohen declared. "And may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq." After warbling what he said was his own native national anthem, Cohen proceeded to sing a butchered version of the "Star-Spangled Banner," ending with the words, "your home in the grave."

See what I mean? It's just a silly prank, but it goes beyond "Crank Yankers"-style silliness with the social commentary. It reminds me of the time he interviewed the wine experts in Mississippi. When a black sommelier approached to pour them more wine, he asked, "He is your slave?" The reaction from the old Mississippi gentlemen? Priceless.