The Evil Petting Zoo

Well, I should have expected this. Stephen Colbert dragged the current administration, its leader, and the standards of the news media these days into the spotlight and beat them silly. He demonstrated just how they have all failed us. His most telling quote of the night was probably, "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."

So, of course, it's no surprise that Colbert is basically being ignored by the mainstream press in favor of gentler acts. Sure, they'll talk about excerpts of Colbert's act, but mostly the "harmless" parts ("Oh ho, does the government in Iraq suck!") and not the parts that had Bush and Laura looking like they'd just swallowed ipecac, likely thinking to themselves, "Have Sid Caesar killed."

Seriously, people. Colbert went into a place that everyone thoguht would be "safe"- the journalists, the politicos, Bush himself- and ripped them all new ones/. He told everyone what was wrong with America, when they'd expected cheap jokes. He had balls. And the only real place I've heard about this is from the blogosphere. Because the mainstream press is either so afraid to talk about just what Colbert said, or too proud to admit that they're still fucking this all up, and can't bring themselves to write, "Colbert owned us."

I'll agree, the press has roused itself. The wiretap scandal, the CIA prisons-- all these are signs of progress, of journalism doing what it's supposed to. But it's not going to stop there. There is discussion in the administration of prosecuting journalists as spies, bringing Bush's contempt of a free press out into the open for all to see. Bush is about to kick a sleeping dog. The question is, will it bark and bite, or will it whimper and go curl up in a corner?