N o t e s Introduction 1 . George Monbiot, “How These Gibbering Numbskulls Came to Dominate Washington,” The Guardian , October 28, 2008, http:// www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/28/us-education - election- obama- bush- mccain?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487. 2 . This context will be discussed in greater detail in chapter 2 , but it is worth remembering that this was the period that marked the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, which limited citizens’ rights. It was also the era of the creation of the No Fly List, which occasionally targeted people who happened to have similar names to suspected terrorists, and of “extraordinary rendition,” the CIA practice of abducting suspects and transferring them to other countries for interrogation and detention. 3 . For an overview of Giroux on public pedagogy, see: America on the Edge: Henry Giroux on Politics, Culture, and Education (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). 4 . See the Wikipedia entry on Stephen Colbert for an up- to- date list of his awards and honors. 5 . Anthony Crupy, “Comedy Colbert Report Gets 1.13 Mil. Viewers,” Mediaweek, October 18, 2005. http://www.mediaweek.com/mw /news/cabletv/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001307981. 6 . Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report , “The Wørd–Wikiality,” broadcast on Comedy Central on July 31, 2006, http://www.colbertnation.com /the- colbert-report- videos/72347/july- 31-2006/the- word- - wikiality. 7 . After the Obama election, Rahm Emmanuel, former White House Chief of Staff in the Obama administration, counseled Democrats not to speak to Colbert for fear that their words could also be similarly twisted. 8 . Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, “Public Knowledge of Current Affairs Little Changed by News and Information Revolutions What Americans Know: 1989–2007,” People-press.org, April 15, 2007, http://people- press.org/report/319/public-knowledge- of- current - affairs- little-changed- by-news- and- information- revolutions. 9 . For a breakdown of the responses to his announcement see: Nick Hezel, “Colbert for President. Is He Kidding?” ABCNews.com, October 19, 2007, http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=3747746&page=1. 184 Notes 10 . I’ll discuss some of the precursors to these comedians in chapter 3 , which focuses on satire in the United States. 11 . PostPartisan Blog , “Colbert Turns Truthiness into Truth,” blog entry by E. J. Dionne, in the The Washington Post , October 1, 2010, http:// voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/10/colbert_turns _truthiness_into.html. 12 . Nellie Andreeva, “Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert Rally Draws Total Audience of Almost 3 Million,” Deadline.com, November 1, 2010, http://www.deadline.com/2010/11/jon- stewartstephen-colbert- rally - draws- total- audience- of-almost- 3-million/. 13 . See Jonathan Grey, Jeffrey P. Jones and Ethan Thompson, eds. Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post- Network Era (New York UP: New York, 2009). 14 . There are a number of edited volumes that have studied Colbert’s work, most of which appear as citations throughout this book. But, as of yet, there is no book by a single author dedicated entirely to the various fea- tures of his show. 1 I Stand by This Man: Colbert Speaks Truthiness to Power 1 . Colbert at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner 4/29/2006. The full text is also printed in Stephen, Colbert, I Am America (And So Can You!) (New York: Hachette Book Group, 2007), 218–227. 2 . John Stewart referred to Colbert’s performance as “balls- alicious” on a segment on is show. For text see: BoingBoing: A Directory of Wonderful Things , “John Stewart Praises Colbert’s White House Gig,” a blog entry by Corey Doctorow, May 2, 2006, http://www.boingboing .net/2006/05/02/jon- stewart- praises- .html. 3 . “History of the WHCA,” White House Correspondents’ Association , http://www.whca.net/history.htm. 4 . Ibid. 5 . Frank Rich, “All the President’s Press,” The New York Times, April 29, 2007, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E1D712 3EF93AA15757C0A9619C8B63&scp=4&sq=frank%20rich%20all%20 the%20president%27s%20press&st=cse. 6 . White House Correspondents’ Association, http://www.whca.net/history .htm. 7 . Justine Schuchard Holcomb, “In the Culture of Truthiness: Comic Criticism and the Performative Politics of Stephen Colbert” (2009), Communication Theses , Paper 51, http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/commu nication_theses/51, 80. 8 . Rem Rieder, “The Party Is Over,” American Journalism Association, May 3, 2006, http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=4110. Notes 185 9 . Ibid. 10 . Scott McClellan, What Happened. Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception (New York: Public Affairs, 2008), 135. 11 . Ibid., XIII. 12 . Peter Daou, “Time to Revisit a Media Low Point (and to Heed the implicit Warning),” Huffingtonpost.com , April 27, 2006, http://www .huffingtonpost.com/peter-daou/time- to- revisit- a- media-l_b_19961 .html. 13 . Holcomb, “In the Culture of Truthiness,” 83. 14 . William Vitka, “Bush Lampoons Self at Press Dinner,” CBSNEWS. com , April 29, 2006, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/29 /national/main1561619.shtml. 15 . Jacques Steinberg, “After Press Dinner, the Blogosphere Is Alive with the Sound of Colbert Chatter,” NYTimes.com , May 3, 2006, http:// www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/arts/03colb.html?ex=1304308800& en=6586b30be2b4067c&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss. 16 . Stephen, Colbert, I Am America (And So Can You!) (New York: Hachette Book Group, 2007), 218-227. 221. 17 . Ibid. 18 . Ibid. 19 . Paul Bedard, “Skewering Comedy Skit Angers Bush and Aide,” USNews.com , January 5, 2006, http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news /articles/060501/1whwatch.htm. 20 . Associated Press, “Bush in ‘Chipper’ Mood at Reporters’ Dinner,” msnbc .com , April 30, 2006, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12555176/ . 21 . Colbert, I Am America, 222. 22 . Ibid. 23 . Ibid. 24 . Ibid. 25 . Ibid. 26 . Ibid. 27 . It is interesting that Bush cited his approval rating as 36 percent. The actual number as cited by CNN was 32 percent. See for details: Opinion Research Corporation, “Bush’s Approval ratings Down to New Low,” CNN.com , April 25, 2006, http://articles.cnn.com/2006- 04- 24 /politics/bush.poll_1_approval- rating- opinion- research- corporation - gallup- poll?_s=PM:POLITICS. 28 . Holcomb, “In the Culture of Truthiness,” 94. 29 . Colbert, I Am America, 223. 30 . “George Bush and Steve Bridges at the WHCA Dinner,” YouTube video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDPAUi3VPSo. 31 . Geoffrey Nunberg, Talking Right. How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax- Raising, Latte- Drinking, Sushi- Eating, Volvo- Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood- Loving, Left- Wing Freak Show (Cambridge, MA: PublicAffairs™, 2006), 34. 186 Notes 32 . Ibid., 171. 33 . Colbert, I Am America, 224. 34 . Chris Cocoran, “A Conversation with Stephen Colbert,” Institute of Politics, Harvard University, April 1, 2006, http://www.iop.harvard .edu/Multimedia- Center/All- Videos/A-Conversation- With- Steven - Colbert2. 35 . Dan Eggen, “Justice Dept. Investigating Leak of NSA Wiretapping,” Washingtonpost.com , December 31, 2005, http://www.washingtonpost .com/wp- dyn/content/article/2005/12/30/AR2005123000538 .html. 36 . Colbert, I Am America, 224. 37 . Ibid. 38 . Ibid. 39 . Sachs’s name is misspelled as Sacks in Colbert’s book. 40 . Colbert ended the list mentioning Frank Rich (whom he would “bump” if the President came on his show). Rich has appeared on the show three times since Colbert’s WHCA speech: 5/19/2006, 9/19/2006, and 1/19/2006. 41 . Stephen Colbert, “Bob Schieffer,” The Colbert Report, broadcast on Comedy Central on March 6, 2006, http://www.colbertnation.com /the- colbert-report- videos/59958/march- 06- 2006/bob- schieffer. 42 . Transcript of the video available in Stephen, Colbert, “Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” Transcript, About.com , accessed February 15, 2010, http://politicalhumor.about.com/od /stephencolbert/a/colbertbush_4.htm. 43 . Colbert, I Am America , 226. 44 . Ibid., 227. 45 . James Poniewozik, “Stephen Colbert and the Death of ‘the Room,’ ” in Tuned In (blog), Time.com , accessed November 23, 2009, http://tunedin .blogs.time.com/2006/05/03/stephen_colbert_and_the_death/. 46 . Holcomb, “In the Culture of Truthiness,” 81. 47 . J. K. & S. S. M, “Media Touted Bush’s Routine at Correspondents’ Dinner, Ignored Colbert’s Skewering,” Media Matters for America , May 1, 2006, http://mediamatters.org/research/200605010005. 48 . Ibid. 49 . Elisabeth Bumiller, “A New Set of Bush Twins Appears at Annual Correspondents’ Dinner,” New York Times , May 1, 2006, http:// www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/washington/01letter.html?ex=1304 136000&en=11242248c2a671a1&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&e mc=rss. 50 . See, for instance, the response in William Vitka, “Bush Lampoons Self at Press Dinner,” CBSNEWS.com, April 29, 2006, http://www .cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/29/national/main1561619.shtml; and in “George Bush and Steve Bridges at the WHCA Dinner,” YouTube video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDPAUi3VPSo. Notes 187 51 . It is worth noting that others didn’t think the jokes were funny given the dire state of the nation and the disasters of his presidency. 52 . Amy Argetsinger, Roxanne Roberts. “The New Bush Twins: the Double Dubya,” Washington Post, May 2, 2006, http://www.washingtonpost .com/wp- dyn/content/article/2006/05/01/AR2006050101917 .html. Of course, that certainly wasn’t the case when Don Imus roasted President Clinton at the Radio/TV Correspondents Association Annual Dinner, on Thursday, March 21, 1996, leading again to controversy. 53 . Stephen Spruiell, “Reporters Are Shielding Colbert Not Bush from Bad Publicity,” in Media (blog), National Review Online, May 1, 2006, http://www.nationalreview.com/media- blog/37459/reporters- are - shielding- colbert- not- bush - bad- publicity/stephen- spruiell. 54 . Holcomb, “In the Culture of Truthiness,” 91–92. 55 . Bedard, “Skewering Comedy Skit Angers Bush and Aide.” 56 . Ibid. 57 . Ibid. 58 . Jacques Steinberg, “After Press Dinner, the Blogosphere Is Alive with the Sound of Colbert Chatter.” 59 .