Everyone see last night's "Colbert Report"? What's amazing is that, in addition to delivering a spot-on satire of Bill O'Reilly's ludicrous Fox "News" show, Stephen Colbert actually gets more real journalism done on his Comedy Central half-hour than most hosts on CNN or MSNBC.
Last night, he had on noted scumbag Bill Kristol, and proceeds to absolutely rip the man to shreds. And this is not some Ben Domenech weenie, a kid who figured out that if you spout mean-spirited enough misinformation about liberals and Muslims David Horowitz might loan you some money. This is one of the shining stars of the neoconservative movement. This is one of the Right's big thinkers.
And he gets decimated by a comedian who wrote and produced "Strangers With Candy." That's not a diss on Colbert, who's a hilarious guy with a great show. But he's a comic. Shouldn't one of the more influential political writers and editors in America be able to keep up with him for a five minute TV segment.
I agree with the suggestion made on Crooks & Liars, that Kristol's caught off guard by Colbert's incisive, direct questioning. He never goes on TV shows and gets challenged with actual information. It's always softballs and vague assaults on the other team..."Bill Kristol, just what can the Democrats do to prove to Americans they can be tough on national security."
Colbert, on the other hand, goes right after Kristol where he's vulnerable...His membership in the Project for the New American Century, the evil group of shitheads that tried to get us to invade Iraq during Clinton's term in the 90's. Essentially, this group that included Kristol along with Donald Rumsfeld, Doug Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney and others wanted to set up a democracy in Iraq (it'll be easy! they'll love us!) and use it to bully around all the other Arab states in the region. As soon as they got an easily-manipulated dumbshit in the White House, they set about their plans, using 9/11 as a convenient excuse to do what they had wanted to do anyway.
Kristol never gets asked about PNAC on TV. I don't know that I've ever seen it mentioned on a broadcast. I only know about the Project for the New American Century via left-wing blogs. And yet here's comedian Stephen Colbert calling the man out on national television:
COLBERT: Speaking of thinking alike, you were a member, or are a member of the Project for a New American Century, correct?
KRISTOL: I am
COLBERT: Were or am?
KRISTOL: Were and am.
COLBERT: How’s that Project coming?
KRISTOL: Well it’s…
COLBERT: How’s the New American Century? Looks good to me, right?
KRISTOL: I think it, I…I’m speechless.
COLBERT: Really?
KRISTOL: Yeah, we’ve sort of, the Project for a New American Century, we’re one of the few people…
COLBERT: Come on, it’s a terrific New American Century, right?
KRISTOL: Well, I think we’re doing ok.
COLBERT: You, Rummy, Wolfowitz, Cheney, Pearle, Feith, all you guys, right?
KRISTOL: Well, we fought back after 9/11 and I’m proud of what we’ve done in Afghanistan and in Iraq, yes.
COLBERT: Well, this is pre-9/11, you guys had the Project in the 90s?
KRISTOL: Absolutely, and we thought we should have been fighting back more in the 90s.
COLBERT: Right, we should have invaded Iraq, you know, then you said.
KRISTOL: We should have, actually.
He's speechless. Adorable.
COLBERT: A lot of people are bailing on this whole Iraq war idea. But you’re not, right?
KRISTOL: Correct.
COLBERT: You’re still onboard?
KRISTOL: I am onboard.
COLBERT: The grand experiment?
KRISTOL: No, it’s not a grand experiment.
COLBERT: It’s not? It’s a little experiment?
KRISTOL: No, it’s an unfortunate necessity that you cannot allow dictators to kill their own people and you cannot allow dictators to threaten their neighbors.
COLBERT: Which dictator do we take down next?
KRISTOL: Well, I wish we could take down more, actually. You know, it’d be nice to…
COLBERT: Wait a second, we cannot allow dictators to kill their own people. That’s a very simple statement sir, which I support wholeheartedly. Back it up!
KRISTOL: I’m with you.
COLBERT: Who do we go after next? Iran? Come on!
I mean, is this it? Can they just stop publishing The Weekly Standard now? Kristol either has to step down or turn his position over to Stephen Colbert. His entire career's work has just been made a laughing-stock on a fake news show. How can he face people today?
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