‘Nuff Said

The NYTimes FINALLY reports on the best (and non-Administration Approved) routine at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last weekend, given by guest host Stephen Colbert — they had previously “overlooked” Colbert’s comments (focusing on Bush and his Mini-Me routine) because Colbert caused so much discomfort — the truth hurts no matter who says it (especially if it’s NOT a White House Correspondent who says it, and it hasn’t been run by Karl Rove).

From the article’s description of Colbert’s routine:

“Now I know there’s some polls out there saying this man has a 32-percent approval rating,” Mr. Colbert said a few moments later. “But guys like us, we don’t pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking ‘in reality.’ And reality has a well-known liberal bias.”

That line got a relatively warm laugh, but many others were met with near silence. In one such instance, he criticized reporters for likening Mr. Bush’s recent staff changes to “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” “This administration is not sinking,” Mr. Colbert said; “this administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.”

UPDATE 22 MAY 06: The NYTimes is now right on top of this story, today making the point that audio of the Colbert routine is the #1 paid download at iTunes, topping the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and even Paul Simon! In addition, the Times points out that their NON-coverage of this routine (as opposed to the Bush sanctioned routine, of which they did chuckle and cover) was probably a mistake. To quote their public editor, Byron Calame, “there should have been ‘a separate story that anticipated the reaction the routine generated and explained its political significance, rather than waiting to capture it after the fact.’ ” Duh.