Is the anticipation of Bloomberg’s announcement to run as an independent causing him to bomb? Now that Kerry’s officially snubbed Edwards, will his endorsement catapult Obama ahead of Hillary (who needs Oprah)? This week’s best story, though, has to be Huckabee’s profound indebtedness to celebrity endorser and new Baristaville running-mate, Stephen Colbert. From LATiimes:
Colbert, who abandoned his mock presidential run last fall after South Carolina Democrats barred him from the primary ballot, started hinting to the ex-governor about his willingness to join a Huckabee ticket, citing his extensive foreign policy experience as trips to Sandals resorts in both Jamaica and the Bahamas.
“Stephen,” he said, “please be my running mate.”
“Yes,” replied Colbert, “a thousand times yes.”
And according to an AP report, without Colbert, we might never have known the huckaburger.
“The only reason I’m the front-runner now is because of the Colbert bump,” a mostly straight-faced Huckabee told the host of “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central. “If it were not for that I would not be sitting in this chair, I would be probably somewhere serving hamburgers at a drive-in restaurant.”
Yeah, celebrity power may be the ticket for Huckabee: Colbert as V-P, and don’t forget Chuck Norris to kick some major butt as Secretary of Defense…
Will there be a post today about the Giants?
(The prof understands that regulars know what he wants to post. So for the sake of your time, he will bow out gracefully from discussing Colbert.)
You know, I’m a big fan of both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but at some point, this is frightening to me. This is an election for THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD, not a ‘haha who can get the best bump from a talk show host’ contest. It scares me that Colbert can interject himself enough that it becomes this much of a topic of conversation. Then again, this is America, and a lot of stuff scares me these days.
Becky…I posted a comment in the Got Plans Header…time for the Eliability to step up or get out of the way.
don’t forget Chuck Norris to kick some major butt as Secretary of Defense…
But, Mr. Norris is never on the Defensive. We’d have to re-name it the “Department of Kicking Ass.”
Of course, havign Chuck Norris as its leader *would* dramatically lower the war budget: We would only need to fund one person.
I’m me, I couldn’t possibly agree with you more. These are serious times we’re living in. When I see idiots driving around with “Stewart/Colbert 08” bumper stickers I think to myself “now there’s someone who doesn’t follow politics”
The world is facing a changing global power structure, and major environmental threats. This isn’t a cutesy time for a comedian to stage a phony run for president. I love Colbert.. but give me a break.
I’m me, I couldn’t possibly agree with you more. These are serious times we’re living in. When I see idiots driving around with “Stewart/Colbert 08” bumper stickers I think to myself “now there’s someone who doesn’t follow politics”
The world is facing a changing global power structure, and major environmental threats. This isn’t a cutesy time for a comedian to stage a phony run for president. I love Colbert.. but give me a break.
I’m me, I couldn’t possibly agree with you more. These are serious times we’re living in. When I see idiots driving around with “Stewart/Colbert 08” bumper stickers I think to myself “now there’s someone who doesn’t follow politics”
The world is facing a changing global power structure, and major environmental threats. This isn’t a cutesy time for a comedian to stage a phony run for president. I love Colbert.. but give me a break.
Oops.. sorry. Didn’t mean to post multiple times– the server was not responding I assumed it didn’t make the post. My bad.
That’s okay! I see it as MORE agreement with what I said. Truthyism, if you will. LOL!
When I see idiots driving around with “Stewart/Colbert 08” bumper stickers I think to myself “now there’s someone who doesn’t follow politics”
No, wrong, on multiple counts.
First, surveys have shown that viewers of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are generally well-educated, more so than the typical viewer of say, The O’Reilly Factor or Hannity & Colmes. So, to refer to anyone who has such a bumper sticker (not that I’ve seen one), and really, those of us who enjoy the show, “idiots”, is just you being smug and insulting.
I would wager that the typical viewer of Stewart and Colbert are much more aware of current events and political issues than the typical American, otherwise the topical humor of these programs would not appeal to them. Instead, they would be watching one of those contrived “reality” shows that serve as popular entertainment these days. (Whaddya wanna bet that someone who subsists soley on a diet of “American Idol”, “Survivor” and/or “The Amazing Race” is largely clueless and apathetic about what’s going on in the world today?)
I mean, have you even watched either of these shows at least a few times? Yes, they are basically comedy and political satire, but both shows have now become required stops on any book tour, introducing their audiences to topics and issues that they otherwise may never have become aware. The guest list for both shows has been very diverse and eclectic, ranging from current dictators, um, heads of state (Pervez Musharraf, hawking his autobiography on Colbert) to various current and former politicians, journalists, scientists, philanthropists, among others. Just last night Colbert had on Muhammed Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist and banker who implemented microcredit in Bangladesh in an effort to help the poor pull themselves out of poverty, for which he as awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Hardly the guest to have if your audience doesn’t “follow politics”!
Is Huckabee serious about Colbert being his running mate? Of course not! It’s just both of them having some lighthearted fun in a domain that is otherwise very serious (and often dreadfully boring to many people). And probably sparking an interest in current affairs in a few people along the way.
As for the Stewart/Colbert bumper stickers, I’d say they are some folks’ humorous yet cynical statement of protest against the current field of presidential contenders. Although, I’d also wager that Stewart/Colbert would probably garner far more votes than Ralph Nader, a “serious” if not incredibly vain candidate, ever did in any of his quixotic campaigns
You shouldn’t be scared about Colbert injecting himself into the presidential race. You should be scared that so many millions of your fellow Americans are tuning it out.
A list of many of the guests who have appeared on The Daily Show.
“You shouldn’t be scared about Colbert injecting himself into the presidential race. You should be scared that so many millions of your fellow Americans are tuning it out.”
I AM, Pork Roll. I AM. That was exactly the point of my post. The press is saying that if not for Huckabee’s appearances on the Colbert Report, many people wouldn’t know who he is. I’m fine with that, except then he won the Iowa Caucus!?! THAT’S where my concern lies.
We’re in total agreement about the viewers of TDS and TCR–it’s the people who don’t watch but who see/hear names as a result of them and then vote simply because of it that worry me. Among other things.
So you’re afraid of:
———–
Person walks into voting booth on Election Day.
Looking at the many names arrayed before him (or her), the voter things to himself, “Wow! I don’t recognize most of these names. Who are these people? I still don’t even know who I should vote for! Wait, what was the name of that guy on Colbert, the one who wanted Stephen to be his running mate? He was pretty cool. What was his name…hmm…Huckleberry? Oh wait, here he is! ‘Huckabee’! He’s got my vote!!”
Our intrepid voter presses the button for Mike Huckabee, and the vote is cast!
—————
Is that it?
Pork Roll-
I’m well aware of the fact that daily show viewers are more news savvy than say, fox news channel viewers. My argument wasnt “Oh, since those idiots with those bumper stickers watch the daily show, they must not follow politics.” Rather that they obviously don’t realize the gravity of this upcoming election since they’re treating it like it’s a joke by “supporting” or supporting “candidates” who couldn’t possibly win.
I’d be less annoyed by it if there weren’t viable candidates in the field.
I have to say– unless you’re a paid daily show PR agent, I’m astounded how long you devoted to crafting your response. Especially since you obviously didn’t read the part in my post where I said “I love Colbert.”
Would you classify that more as a reading comprehension problem or classic knee-jerk thinking?
Enough about Colbert! I can’t decide who I am sick of more, him or Britney.
I have no reading comprehension problem. It’s just that you contradict yourself.
For example, in your reply to me you wrote,
My argument wasnt “Oh, since those idiots with those bumper stickers watch the daily show, they must not follow politics.”
Yet in your original post you wrote,
When I see idiots driving around with “Stewart/Colbert 08” bumper stickers I think to myself “now there’s someone who doesn’t follow politics”
So yes, your original argument was that they “don’t follow politics”. That’s what I read, hence my reply.
(Wow, this is like one of those Daily Show segments where Jon plays a clip of something a politician just said, and then plays a clip of something the same politician previously said that totally to the contrary, a la “I voted to fund the war!” v. “I never voted to fund the war!!”. Is this your version of performance art?)
Anyway, I’m not a paid Daily Show PR agent; I’m not even in the entertainment or public relations industry, although “PR” could stand for “Pork Roll”, but what’s a Pork Roll agent? I suppose if I was in the CIA or FBI, I could be “Agent Pork Roll”, but I digress. You write that you’re astounded over how long I “devoted to crafting” my response (I type fast!), but then accuse me of knee-jerk thinking? If I was so knee-jerk, I probably wouldn’t have been so thoughtful in my response. Really, you should be flattered that I took the time I did to respond.
Actually, I’ve just been procrastinating and putting off something else I really should be doing…going to the gym! So off I go!
Stewart/Colbert ’08!!
(Just when I thought I was out, you pull me back in…)
Funny, Stewart gets about half a million viewers, Colbert about 400,000.
Compare this to American Idol with about 30 million, Survivor’s at about 16 million and about 12 million for “The Amazing Race.”
So I bet you can find 500,000 “well informed” folks in American Idol’s 30 million as in Stewart’s viewers.
But this idea that these shows have such “well informed” views in hilarious when you consider the percent of “young folks” who actually vote compared to those who watch(ed) Murder She Wrote. (About 51% of 18-34 year olds voted in 2004 versus 73% of 55-74 year olds).
But the dolts in the media either love Stewart/Colbert or want to be loved by them, so they fawn. I just wish someone would look at the numbers and realize Angela Lansbury or Dick Van Dyke could pull in more actual voters.
Wow.. Yet again you demonstrate your willingness to bore us to death with your long winded ramblings, as well as your poor reading comprehension. I said;
My argument wasn’t “Oh, since those idiots with those bumper stickers watch the daily show, they must not follow politics.” Rather that they obviously don’t realize the gravity of this upcoming election since they’re treating it like it’s a joke by “supporting” or supporting “candidates” who couldn’t possibly win.
Perhaps you actually read my full posts before reacting would better inform you for an argument.
Just a thought.
You literally took my words out of context and re purposed them to benefit your argument.
That doesn’t work on a message board since, ya know- everyones words are right there in black and white?
“Agent pork roll?” You’re pathetic.
Well, back from the gym! A short but good workout.
Let’s see who’s flamed me since I was last here, hmmm..
you demonstrate your willingness to bore us to death with your long winded ramblings
You’re new here, aren’t you? Contests of long-winded ramblings are a blood sport around here!
You literally took my words out of context and re purposed them to benefit your argument.
You must truly be high on something over there in Montclair. Here, repeated for your annoying benefit, is (again) the complete sentence I referenced from your original post, verbatim: When I see idiots driving around with “Stewart/Colbert 08” bumper stickers I think to myself “now there’s someone who doesn’t follow politics”.
Now, what part of that sentence did I take out of context when I challenged your assertion that people with Stewart/Colbert stickers do, in fact, follow politics? Yes, it’s there in black-and-white! But I tell you, with your weaving and bobbing skills, you should be working for Mitt Romney.
But if that’s not what you really meant to say, that’s fine. I just find it amusing that you deny you wrote that sentence when you did (it’s up there!).
Anyway, your point about trivializing the issues at stake in these elections is well taken. Yes, these are serious times we live in. Having grown up at the tail end of the cold war and the days of Ronald Reagan’s “Evil Empire” (remember “Red Dawn”?), I think the world just might be the most dangerous and unstable it has ever been in my lifetime. That’s why I feel that many in the media trivialize the challenges ahead with all their fawning over Barack Obama – and his supporters too (no offense to any of you). Yes, all the glowing, inspirational rhetoric makes me feel all warm and fuzzy (“Yes we CAN!!”), but with a rising China, a potentially nuclear-armed Iran, and a nuclear-armed Pakistan coming apart at the seams, I want my next president to have more than just hope and optimism.
(Just when I thought I was out, you pull me back in…)
Like you could stay out even if you wanted to!
You can’t resist. None of us can!
Hello, my name is prowilliams, and I’m an addict.
I started reading B-net, that’s what we call it in my house, a few years ago. Just reading… Then I posted, I think it had to do with the schools or was it Crisco? I’m not sure.
And one post lead to another and so on and so on…
Regardless, I was hooked. So from then on, every 5 or 10 minutes, I’m back.
It’s my home page. It’s where I go for news, laughs or just to feel “at home with my peeps.”
You see I can’t get enough of it. cathar, laserboy, ROC, Pork Roll, Jerseygul and even cro. All of ’em feed my addiction.
I could stop. I know I could. But really what harm is it? I have something to say, so why not post it. Hell even if I really don’t even know where the discussion is going at the very least, I can interrupt it with a youtube link.
Sure, I lost my job, got divorced and hardly see my kids. So what? They have never and could never provide me with the warmth I get from Baristanet.
So, yes. I’m back.
While there are many effective ways to wean oneself off an addiction, one of the oldest and perhaps the most effective is the old “cold turkey” route — to simply stop, “say no”, if you will.
Now I don’t know if this approach would work with the prof. If it could finally put an end to the jones. But I feel confident that I speak for more than just myself when I say that for the prof to push back the chair and let go of the mouse would make a lot of folks very, very happy.
But we’d miss him. Even cro.
I. Just. Can’t. I’m. Addicted!!
(But about to bake a lemon bundt cake, YUM!!)
Maybe an intervention is in order.
Post your address and I’ll have lasermikey stop by. That should do the trick.
Great comments, LOL!
Pork Roll, I agree with the points you made. And you know what? I’d rather have Stewart/Colbert for president than some of the clowns running on the Republican side! 😉