MSM to Colbert: "We Are NOT Amused"

I thought Stephen Colbert was hilarious at the White House Correspondents Dinner - and believe me, I know funny. "Rearranging deck chairs on the Hindenburg" and "Reality has a well-known liberal bias" are two lines that will be remembered for a long time to come. Other people, while still approving of his performance, have other takes. I think the best comment I've heard so far came from deb, a commentor on Adam Felber's Fanatical Apathy: "The jester looks the king right in the eye...and spits."

I wasn't even aware of the purported non-reaction to Colbert's performance from the mainstream media (or MSM, as it's popularly called by members of the "alternative media" - i.e., bloggers) until I started reading about it online - I saw some coverage on CNN and read some stuff in the paper. Still, the word is that there's been more silence than commentary, and there seem to be two reasons being given. Some people suspect that the silence is a reaction to the fact that many of Colbert's comments were directed at on-bended-knee members of the press, particularly a White House Press Corps that is eager to stay chummy with the administration so as not to lose what little privileged access they have. The other reason is being given by the conservative members of the "liberal" media, who are contending that Colbert just wasn't funny. (And what do they know about funny?)

The New York Times has broken the silence with an article on the Colbert Affair. Access it while you can - it's worth it for the picture alone. (Bush gives Colbert a look that suggests he has just tasted something that he finds very unpleasant.) In this article it is revealed that Colbert was booked for the event by the (soon to be former) president of the White House Correspondents' Association, and not a White House staffer as I had earlier surmised.