Kamikaze Satire

I am devoid of sympathy for W...but I felt the same discomfort you did.
Colbert was the best choice for a speaker at WHCD because he's one of the leading political satirists of our time. When I feel uncomfortable watching something like that, I try and figure out why. In this case, I can't help but think that it's largely due to how serious the issues are beneath Colbert's quipping. He wasn't making fun of Bush's ears or intellect - and if you watch the whole thing, there are actually very few low blows. Colbert addressed policy - and that should be fair game. If it feels icky, it's because the truth is icky.
One interesting criticism I've heard in a few places, is that at this event, speakers traditionally take shots at both the press and the prez equally, and that Colbert's routine was a bit lopsided. That particular straw man is a foolish one indeed - because if you can't see that the whole Stephen Colbert thing is first and foremost a shot at the press, you can't tell the difference between a trial lawyer and a quail.

It is an unbelievable sight to watch Bush being forced to sit still with a smile on his face while a list of his failures is intelligently and accurately read aloud to him. We genuinely live in a great country where you can not-so-covertly tell a sitting President he is a screw up to his face and not end up on a CIA hit list. As my friend Dana said to me "it will make you laugh, it will make you cry. enjoy!" If you want to watch the video in full I have posted it on my blog

Call me heartless but I felt no pity or discomfort. I adored it. The only way it could have been better is if it actually woke GW up to the fact that he is making things far worse for us in the long term.

Colbert did not exaggerate anything he said which made it all the more poignant imo.

"The big print giveth and the small print taketh away"

I was laughing my ass off way too hard to think much about the others in the room, until I noticed the uncomfortable silence and laughed even harder. Yes it felt mean, but that feeling is symptomatic of Bush's appeal against the Democratic nay-sayers actually working, even when you are a vehement member of the opposite camp. I feel about as bad for Bush as I did when he stood up in from of America and said that being president is [url=http://quotations.about.com/od/georgewbush/a/BushHardWork.htm
]hard work[/url].
My favorite joke was actually his most direct shot at the press, which was nasty and well-deserved. But I was not so into the video at the end, which I thought went too long and played to old jokes.