The Stephen Colbert problem

While it is irrestistably tempting to giggle and assume that Tom Delay is a pop-culture illiterate who misses entirely the point of the mockery so inherent in Stephen Colbert's nightly show, I just don't think he is that stupid.

I do believe, however, he thinks voters are.

Perhaps, in this case, he might be right.

In the days after Colbert's legendary, jaw-dropping performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner, a search through the comments section on any political blog would reveal more than a few relieved lefties admitting that the speech had finally convinced them that Colbert was not actually a Bush conservative.

While Jon Stewart's televised reactions to Bush administration exploits --wide-eyed shock, rapid head-shaking, outbursts of maniacal laughter-- do little to mask his political bias, Colbert plays it stoic and aloof, giving absolutely no hint that he's just kidding.

He typically stares down liberal guests with that eyebrow arched to absurd heights, and uses interview techniques that, when read, could very easily be imagined happening on Fox news.

An excerpt from his interview with James Webb, a Vietnam veteran running for Senate as a Democrat:

Webb: The United States should not be bogged down as an occupying power in that part of the world [Iraq].

Colbert: But we're not an occupying power, we're a liberating power. Or haven't you been reading the newspapers?

..

Colbert: Are you saying we shouldn't have gone to war in Iraq?

Webb: I don't think we should have gone into Iraq, no.

Colbert: So you do not think we should have liberated the Iraqi people? You'd rather see them under Saddam? Saddam is good to you.

Webb: Umm...no...I..

Colbert: I'm just saying that's what you just said.

The audience laughs, as do his guests (albeit uneasily), but Colbert remains stone-faced and firmly entrenched in his character: a loyal, sincere patriot, determinedly marching on to do his part to save our threatened nation from the america-hating, patchouli-wearing, Democrats.

Americans are, by nature, direct, straight-forward people. The subtlety and nuance in irony is not widely practiced and revered here, as it is in, say, Great Britain. Therefore many Americans are simply incapable of detecting it.

So it would be advantageous for a badly-injured politician, like Delay, to try and capitalize on that gap in our collective psyche to not only regain some ground, but hopefully also soak up some of Colbert's desperately-needed "cool" factor in the process.

After all, the Bush administration was able to create a bizarre alternate reality for themselves for the last 4 and 1/2 years that we are still decades away from truly understanding.

We should not be surprised that, in these dark Republican days, they are still looking for fresher markets to twist and manipulate for their own self-preservation.

And the problem with Colbert, is that he makes it easier to be usurped by them because he is so fiendishly good at what he does.

Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are comedians. And their first loyalty is to their comedy and their audience. But we, those of us out here in bizarro-world, as sad as this is to admit, are looking at these two men as being amongst our brightest beacons of light to lead us out of this fog.

So when the enemy starts sniffing around one of 'em, it kinda gets the hackles up.

Bush and his guys have the three governing branches, they're stocking the courts in their favour as fast as they can, and they have got the press in a head-lock.

Funny that they should have all those bases covered, yet still need Comedy Central.