David Gregory gets a sly working-over from Colbert
Meet the Press' new host, David Gregory, was on The Colbert Report last night, and had to keep repeating how Teh Awesome the White House press corps really has been these past eight years, because Colbert somehow kept puncturing it:
Colbert: Are you proud of the questions the press asked the administration? Because I'm proud of the questions they didn't ask.
Gregory: I actually do think that the right questions were asked. I think this criticism is certainly out there of the press corps, and I try to be thoughtful about it, reflective about it. But I do think that the right questions were asked. I think that people view our job through their own ideological prism. And they've made some judgments along those lines.
Colbert: Well, you've said yourself that you wished the president had been more reflective.
Gregory: Look, I think in his last press conference -- I think he's reflective to a point --
Colbert: I think he's completely reflective, because the questions just bounce off of him.
Gregory: Look, you're a great defender of the president, and I respect. I do think he's reflective to a point. I think that he is not -- in terms of mistakes that he has admitted, there's been some tactical -- I don't think he wants to engage with the press corps about mistakes, I don't think there's much to be gained from all that.
Colbert: Do you think -- what is the press' relationship going to be with Barack Obama, as opposed to what it was with George Bush? Do you think there's going to be a different kind of press to meet?
Gregory: No, I think the press will do a good job. I think the press will ask the right questions. Look, we're in a time of crisis now and --
Colbert: I think you ask the right questions too. I mean, you ask questions like, 'Why are we in Iraq?' That's the right question. Not, 'Why would you want to go to Iraq?' You wait until we're there.
Gregory: I think that's a misreading of the kind of questions that were asked.
Colbert: But shouldn't you prove you're not asleep at the wheel with the Obama administration? I mean, just bring it hammer and tongs to this guy. Honeymoon over! OK? Honeymoon over, let's get straight to the divorce with this guy! Shouldn't the supposed crimes of the Bush administration be paid for by Barack Obama?
Gregory: I think you will see this press corps -- I certainly will ask the same kinds of questions to this administration that I asked to the last.
David Gregory is like a lot of the Beltway Village journalists: He's a centrist who's come to believe that centrism is functionally non-ideological and therefore the ideal place for a journalist. But centrism itself is an ideological bias, one that blinds journalists from reporting the truth -- which is what we're supposed to be doing.
Anyone who actually thinks the press asked the right questions of the Bush administration ought to just spend a little time scrolling through the Daily Howler archives -- especially from that 2002-2003 period before we actually invaded another country under false pretenses.
Press Corpse.
The press corps is a corpse.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
Hate him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYZre8kEsuw
I can't believe David Gregory is only 38. He looks 58.
"David Gregory is like a lot of the Beltway Village journalists: He's a self centrist." Italics mine. Minor improvememnt.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
Perfect in every way.
When it counted.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8691...
2006 White House Correspondents Dinner
flat.
Colbert's got more balls than a lot of bloggers do. He skullfucked that whole room multiple times over an extended period.
Its not about whether it was funny or not. (It was) Its about how this comedian stuck everyone's face in their own BS to get a good strong whiff of it. He did it do their faces. To the face of one of the most powerful people in the world.
He should get some kind of humanitarian award for it.
Two nations in ruin, ours and Iraq, hundreds of thousands of innocents killed or maimed for life, and those responsible for it are getting off scott free save a roast from Steve Colbert. But hey, a comedian put it in their faces by telling some flat to moderately funny jokes about it so justice has been served!
I guess it's the best we can hope for though.
Its cause he was busting their asses. His audience wasn't in that room. He was trying to wake up the viewing nation. To show them how to confront these assholes and make them look powerless. He was basically screaming, in his own way that night, in front of the emperor, how important it is to end this madness and trying to show the people how it is done.
He made a fool of the incompetent media. Which was and is completely necessary if we are going to avoid these types of disasters in the future.
I get what your saying though. Ultimately it was just a comedic performance that mostly got ignored. Sad how hard it is to wake up a nation. It just doesn't happen for a lot of people until they are personally effected and that is going to be happening more and more soon.
Although we did elect Obama when we could be inaugurating Clinton or McCain and Palin. We succeeded on that one.
My favorite line from that performance was (and I'm paraphasing):
"....and you write down what he says. Then you'll have more time to write that book about the intrepid reporter who digs into a story and uncovers corruption. You know.....fiction."
Suh-NAP!!
He demolished them.
(Referring to Bush) "He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday."
Though for pure stickin it to the man nothing tops: "I stand by this man, because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things, things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo-ops in the world."
He said that to his face!
The glass isn't half empty. It's three quarters empty and I wouldn't drink that last third.
In reference to the approval ratings. Like don't drink that koolaide. You'd be a fool to.
These war criminals and their enablers are getting away with it, and only one person has had the balls to call them all out on it to their faces. He deserves credit for it. From what you wrote though I think you didn't get what he was doing.
I got it. John Stewart has done the same thing Colbert did, so has Letterman and countless others. I'm just tired of laughing at these criminals. They're still getting away with it. Ridicule isn't justice a prison cell is.
They hired him to come entertain them, instead he basically told them to their faces how much they've all fucked up. Why you insist the fact that they're getting away with it has anything to do with what colbert did, i don't know. We're saying what he did took balls. Everyone else does it safely out of range.
Colbert to the opportunity to entertain the rest of us, while telling everyone in the room 'gfys'.
Yes it would have been nice if he suddenly set up an impromptu court and tried the whole lot of them for war crimes, found em guilty and sent them all off to Leavenworth for life, but he tried it in rehearsal and it just wasn't that funny.
You think no one in that room knew what they were getting into when they asked Colbert to speak? the guy's show is about getting in people's faces. I think they knew what they were getting and they really didn't care.
I don't know about that. Some of those beltway insiders are so shielded from reality, they are clueless. Didn't DeLay have a link to Colbert's website until he found out he was all about satire (or is it parody?)
Life inside the beltway is incredibly insular.
A. As I said before, they hired Rich Little to play next year. Do you know who he is? He does celebrity impressions. Been doing them since at least the early 60's. Safe as safe can be. In other words, they didn't want it to happen again.
B. Did you see Bush's face? Did you see the crowd reaction shots? They were angry. Do you think they hired someone to make them angry?
C. Remember when Stewart was on CNN's Crossfire and told them how much they sucked? Tucker's reaction was to tell Stewart, 'come on, be funny. Tell some jokes'. People at the time did not know how seriously Colbert/Stewart took what they did.
To this day people go on Colbert, and don't get it.
...and that's the beauty of what Colbert does. He takes these jerks and exposes them for the egomaniacs they are. The ones who go on his show and DO get it usually have a hard time not laughing.
or Letterman and gets away with it.
It kind of makes me wonder where the 'Entertainment Coordinator' for that particular Correspondents Dinner is these days. Gitmo, probably.
Yup. I loved how Letterman eviscerated McCain for canceling out on him then going on Katie Couric's show.
Why can't we have REPORTERS with cojones like that?
Ah, one can always dream ...
Gunsandbigots
You can also add Afghanistan to the U.S.and Iraq as the U.S. military seems to have done its best to have blown apart as many wedding parties as it could locate with Obama now apparently determined to see if he can slaughter as many Afghans as Bush.
Colbert is one gutsy guy. His performance that night was truly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.
He probably had to arrange protection for himself and his family afterward, judging from some of the disapproving faces in the audience. Suzanne Malveaux from CNN didn't look too pleased. I'll never forget the look of disgust on her face.
I agree.
was the fact that Helen Thomas was Colbert's partner-in-crime, so to speak. Good for her. Two disses in one! HAH!
Sweet.
That the next year they hired Rich Little to do the dinner just to make sure nothing like that happened again.
That's true success.
Colbert makes mincemeat out of the poor, vapid guests who have proven themselves to be in the tank for the Rovian right. Gregory (Dances-with-Rove) needs a good hedge fund manager like Madoff to bring him down to the level of the rest of us. Screw him and the broom he rode in on.
Colbert truly showed his skills here.
Got to figure that the people who booked Colbert were disappeared to some black site prison.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Nobody I know has a kind word for him.
got the job after his stint on Dancing With Karl. I am looking forward to his many books about his father, Big Greg, and the terrific job he will do mentoring the little Russert boy who by now is Executive Jr. Producer of Meet the Press.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
There is no way you can back up the claim that the press 'asked the right questions' regarding the lead up to the war in Iraq, given what the Bush admin pulled off, specifically a war of choice based on lies.
Of course that willingness to bullshit to cover your own ass is why I was sure he'd get the MTP job. Corportate bosses needed the right tool for the job.
So what Gregory is saying is that the press can only question the president when the president has something to gain? This might be OK if they considered themselves to be working for the White House Press Secretary, but to my knowledge that is not the source of their income.
"In theory theory and practice are alike. In practice they are very different."
"Sly" could be this man's middle name.
And anyone who walks around with their pants around their ankles all the time - and pretends to be unbiased - deserves to be lampooned for it.
If he fell in the ape pen at the National Zoo, he would be greeted like a returning relative.
I would hoped they mauled him
..but he is his own whore. He sells himself to the corporate media and is handsomely paid for it.
Second-guessing myself, perhaps I should have said "Call-Tool"...
"A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."....Muhammad Ali
Unfortunately, he doesn't do his job well.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
funny
Colbert's line 'I think he's completely reflective, because the questions just bounce off of him' .... hahaha.
Classic! How I love Stephen Colbert.
I could care less about ever watching MTP while this jerk off is host. What a pathetic excuse of a "journalist" this dumb ass is. He assured he will have his job for years to come. Just toss off real issues and ask some dumb ass, non-consequencial stuff to the biggest war criminal of our time.
This prick doesn't get it. The dumb shit has NEVER admitted making ANY mistakes. And you....along with the rest of the pathetic press corp, didn't hold him accountable for anything. You had a good time on the Colbert Show....that was sad. You need to be pied!
cuz he can't really admit he 'gets' the joke without admitting to the whole critique.
And yes, he's a worthless fuck...
that Gregory wasn't really wanting to laugh. He seemed strained.
He gets it, but he cannot laugh...he doesn't want to laugh, or recognize the joke, because by doing so, he' legitimize the critique...
Aside from the fact that everything the Bush administration touched over the last eight years turned into a disaster, the big story is how the press were completely asleep at the wheel. If they suddenly decide to wake up now it can only be a harbinger of very bad things to come.
I can almost guarantee the press will wake up at 12:01 pm Tuesday, because they won't have the scary neocon administration around to bully them. Then they'll pat themselves on the back and say, "See how brave and confrontational we are."
Pathetic assholes.
We all know that the press as a whole rolled (no, bent) over for Bush, over the Iraq War, terrorism, and many other issues. Colbert is right about that. But C&L's singling out of David Gregory for criticism seems an odd choice. While I have no personal interest in the man, Gregory stood out as perhaps the White House's chief antagonist in the White House press corps during numerous run-ins with Scott McClellan, over Rove/Libby/Plamegate and other matters. Hopefully, some of that fiery footage is available on YouTube to refresh your memories.
Or that gay prostitute poseur...
Gregory's a tool who may actually think he has done the very best he could do under the circumstances.
a fucking moron, but he tried...
I remember those 1/2 dozen time in 8 years. He even took on Tony Snow a couple times. You do remember it's been 8 long years.
even if it was only half a dozen times. Who else challenged Bush directly, to his face, even that many times? Helen Thomas? Anyone else? Again, why single out Gregory when he seems to be on the better side of an admittedly poor bunch? It's like singling out Ted Kennedy to criticize the Democrats in Congress for not doing enough on health, labor, and education.
Yeah, and as soon as that got him some notice, he comfortably settled down in the role of apologist/ignorer. When has he actually held BUSH'S feet to the fire? Never.
as well as those of Bush's press secretaries. Take a look at the first link, then some of the "related videos" on the right sidebar, such as this one. As I said before, the press as a whole bent over for Bush. I'm sure Gregory could have done better, and some people here would never be satisfied unless the press corps is actually shouting down the President. Nevertheless, I always felt when watching David Gregory that he was better than most of his colleagues at trying to hold Bush and his administration accountable on some crucial issues, and, while his appearance on Colbert is a convenient conversation starter, he's by far not the best example of an obsequious White House press to single out.
I used to respect David Gregory, Tom Brokaw, Bob Schieffer, etc, until they revealed their true colours. Now, I just feel betrayed by them. They are nothing but shills for their masters.
Well, someone was getting bent over, but I'm not so sure it was the media.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
I guess centrist if you call torture harsh interrogations and pretend that it's an acceptable practice. Centrist if you keep calling for boys will be boys instead of prosecuting war crimes. Centrist if you find hanging out with sociopaths is fun.
Can we please change that to far right tool?
That is true of the entire press corps. None of them had the guts to ask tough questions of the satanic bastard we had imposed upon us by the supreme court, they were all too worried about their jobs and the MONEY. Had the press asked tough questions, they would have been run out of town just like the Dixie Chicks were, and they all knew they had to tow the line OR ELSE!
This is what happens in totalitarian regimes, and the US under Bush was anything but a democratic republic ... we were closer to a dictatorship than we know!
Colbert seems to saying that the press corps is somehow justified going easy on the Obama administration because reporters did not ask the tough questions of Bush and Cheney. Let us hope that Colbert and the rest of the liberal media do not believe that Obama [and especially his foreign policy] should be let off the hook if he carries on any extension of American imperialism.
----
He's a centrist who's come to believe that centrism is functionally non-ideological and therefore the ideal place for a journalist. But centrism itself is an ideological bias, one that blinds journalists from reporting the truth -- which is what we're supposed to be doing.
----
Hi David Neiwert,
I highly recommend that you read Dr. George Lakoff's "The Political Mind" as I think you are unknowingly propagating the false frame called Centrism.
Yes, there are left and right political ideologies, where some people hold conservative views, some have liberal/progessive views, and some hold a combination of both (Lakoff refers to as "biconceptual").
As Dr. Lakoff points out, the left-CENTER-right spectrum is a false paradigm for political views. Left or Right, yes. Center, no. People can hold a mix of left and right views across non-overlapping areas of life, but there isn't a "middle" view that splits the difference for each individual issue.
It's appropriate to look at one's political views on an issue-by-issue basis. Some people are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Why try to average out a person's positions and label that person as centrist? Isn't that silly? What's the point of doing that?
Lakoff writes:
The left-to-right scale that political pundits love is an inaccurate metaphor--and a dangerous one, for two reasons. First it posits a political "mainstream," a population with a unified political worldview, which does not exist now nor has it ever. Because radical conservatives have so dominated political discourse in America over the past thirty years, conservative ideas are being passed off as "mainstream" ideas, which they are not, while progressive ideas are being characterized as "leftist" and "extremist," which they are not...The very use of the left-to-right scale metaphor serves to empower radical conservatives and marginalize progressives.
Imagine you have a serving tray with 6 cold drinks and 3 hot drinks on it. Now someone asks you about the beverages on your tray. Wouldn't it be silly to describe the tray as having drinks that are center-cold?
----
To illustrate the concept that there is not a linear scale, Lakoff holds up the brilliant example of Senators Joe Lieberman and Chuck Hagel. The popular press incessantly describes both as “centrists”, yet they share virtually no views. On social issues, Lieberman is consistently progressive and Hagel is solidly conservative. On the war, Lieberman is conservative and Hagel is progressive. They share views on nothing, yet both are branded as centrists. How can there be such a thing as a centrist, or a center, if these two agree on nothing?
http://language-grammar.blogspot.com/2008/07/...
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- Tom
David Gregory, will be sure to ask the questions under Obama's watch, he neglected to ask them under Bush's watch.
I've always thought of Gregory as a sort of "hanging on by his fingernails," last spot on the roster utility guy. And I've always been convinced that he's capable of talking, but not of heeding and responding as a real person rather than a guy shuffling through the note cards to find an approved response.
Re Gregory, nothing has changed. (Colbert made him look foolish.) What has changed is that I now have even less respect for his network and for his show than I did when Russert was providing, in Cheney's words, a good place to get out our message. The only question is which message the messenger boy will be carrying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_FkHLNrBBY
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
This guy has been defending the press corps for a few years now. What else can he do?
Dons Johnson
I am afraid that name would not work as the real Dick Gregory of the 1960s was an African-American comic icon who, unlike David Gregory, was not afraid to take on the establishment.
corporate media nut cuddler.
The MTP opening should include this asshole and Rove "bustin' a move".
/haven't watched MTP in weeks.
Press the Meat. Longest running "cooking" show on television.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
The kind in a can, not the kind bloked by the filter...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Piss off the Whitehouse and no more access. The clips Colbert showed before "Stretch" was on showed Gregory hammering Bush early on with Bush even about to go down and slug him then he became a Stepford Journalist. Probably a nice chat with the press office helped make the change.
...he uses big words like 'particularly' and 'delicatessen.' -- Jack
Gregory: Look, you're a great defender of the president, and I respect.
This from a man charged with leading the Fifth Estate for the last eight years who doesn't even have the wherewithal to remember that Colbert is an anti-Bush comedian.
This fucking guy never left the high school newspaper room. He reported in glowing terms of the performance of the hot cheerleader but conveniently forgot to lay out the case for her blowing the football team and the band at the Saturday night kegger.
No wonder the Murder Monkey and 5-Deferment Cheney were allowed carte blanche treatment as they roamed the corridors of power reeking havoc and thieving billions.
Frank Zappa - Make A Jazz Noise Here
God i hate this Lying Asshole!
Every time I see this guy I am reminded of this skit from SNL of Lord and Lady Douche Bag. Maybe someone will announce him as such at one of the Inaugural Balls if he's invited.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_b3oPslctA
he literally wet himself groping to an answer to a comedy question.
Some stuff you can't make up!
to go on the show. Was it an attempt to reach out to a younger crowd to drag them to MTP? If so, it was poor advice and badly executed by Gregory.
Rethugs DON'T DO FUNNY!
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
question" should spend a little time pouring over media misstatements, ommissions and outright lies common in the MSM and well documented by Media Matters! There has been a torrent of sewage during the last eight years of a wingnut administration. I'm afraid the election of a Democrtatic admininstration, and one led by the first Black president has opened up a floodgate.
But information is power, even bad information when it can be exposed as such.
Mr. Gregory is a bad journalist I don't like him at all.
Send BHO a letter asking for a special prosecutor.
That's it for today.
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