Colbert whores for the U.S. empire

[Col. Quisp]

I enjoyed his work in "Strangers with Candy."

[compared2what?]

I enjoyed his work in "Strangers with Candy."

Me too. I also especially like it when he dances.

[chiggerbit]

Absolutely disgraceful that Colbert would take on Don't Ask/Don't Tell while making funny with the trooops in Iraq. Wasn't there a more appropriate place and time that he could have done that????? Man, I bet the Iraqis won't waste any time in kicking us out against our will. Don't they realize that they NEED us????? Bad, bad, bad. And doesn't he realize that Americans are capable of taking on only one issue at a time? And did you see how the troops applauded him? Christ, it finally dawns on me that it's the fucking gays who are responsible for us being over there, not the fucking Jews, I mean neocons.

[§ê¢rꆧ]

.

It's kind of hard to believe we are discussing the same piece of media. We're talking about the Colbert USO piece on Hulu, right?

I could find very little that was redeeming about it, except, as said, it supplied some relief for the troops. I can think of much better and more meaningful ways of doing that with the same amount of money, like sending a copy of Sir Yes Sir! to every member of the armed services.

And the bit with Obama popping on the screen to command Colbert's HAIRCUT? wtf was that? That really makes the Commander In Chief look to be a tool, doesn't it? He's not presiding over anything, he's just the screen on the screen playing the role...

I don't see any art with a capital 'A' I'm afraid, but then, I'm not really much of a fan. I've seen some of Colbert's other better skits, and it's ok. Maybe those who are defending this piece by Colbert are themselves projecting a bit of their fandom onto this nasty bit of psyops.

Not that I know anything. FWIW. Etc. Etc.

.

[Nordic]

Well, if you've ever seen any of these USO shows, they all sort of "whore it up" for the troops. I mean, how else CAN you do it? You're there as the guest of the U.S. military, and they are the ones literally protecting you, feeding you, driving you around, making you feel as safe as possible in a freaking war zone. To most people, and this includes people like Colbert and Jon Stewart (who almost always polite to a fault) it would seem to be very bad form to go into a place like that and trash talk (satirically or otherwise) all the people of whom you are a guest. Also, the soldiers are literally a captive audience, and they're certainly captives to their tour of duty, what the hell are they supposed to do? Mutiny? Most of them want the honorable discharge so they can milk their experience as much as possible, which is probably one of the major reasons they signed up in the first place.

It's kind of a tricky situation. How would inciting seeds of mutiny really be beneficial to the people you're trying to help?

Maybe because I grew up in the military I'm way more familiar than most with the actual human element of it. My Dad was an Army officer, my Mom was the "officer's wife" with the whole Officer's Wives Club thing going on, I lived on bases, and everyone we knew was in the military and they were all, surprisingly, human beings. And this was during Vietnam.

[IanEye]

Colbert is a total pansy...

Dino Ironbody knows how to relate to our boys overseas!
_ _ _
Khalid didn't get much USO, he was dug in too deep, or moving too fast...

[chiggerbit]

No, §ê¢rꆧ, this one:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colber ... don-t-tell

[Penguin]

Mutiny does sound like the honorable and, actually, legal thing to do.
How do you fight a war if your army mutinies?

I suppose thats why they have the mercenary backup.

[chiggerbit]

They don't have to mutiny--all they have to do is say they're gay.

[chiggerbit]

I suppose thats why they have the mercenary backup.

Weren't there some reports that Latinos had been promised citizenship in exchange for signing up?

[beeline]

I suppose thats why they have the mercenary backup.

Weren't there some reports that Latinos had been promised citizenship in exchange for signing up?

Actually, my understanding is that a foreign national can join the military and gain citizenship upon completion of a 2-year tour of duty. A Turkish girl I know told me that, though, I cannot vouch for the veracity of that information. I had heard, prior to that, of Mexicans joining up.

I fact, now that I think about it, I believe that many Irish joined the Union Army literally straight off the boat during the Civil War years.

[Penguin]

Yep, I think that citizenship promise is one of the largest drivers at the present (recall reading about it sometime). And the promises of free schooling, which often fail to materialize later...

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorder ... enship.htm

If you are a member of the U.S. Armed Forces and are interested in becoming a U.S. citizen, you may be eligible to apply for citizenship under special provisions provided for in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Recent changes in the relevant sections of the INA (Sections 328 and 329) make it easier for qualified military personnel to become U.S. citizens if they choose to file a naturalization application.

In addition, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has created a stream-lined process specifically for military personnel serving in active-duty status or recently discharged.

Eligibility Requirements

Normally, a non-citizen wishing to become a United States Citizen must have five years of legal permanent residency in the U.S. to apply. Non-citizens married to a U.S. citizen for at least three years can apply after three years of residency.

Followed by a few pages of requirements and blah.

[compared2what?]

Colbert is a total pansy...

Dino Ironbody knows how to relate to our boys overseas!
_ _ _
Khalid didn't get much USO, he was dug in too deep, or moving too fast...

Total.** He is the pansiest. It's a psychology of the right-wing male thing. Which often leads to dancing. So I like it.

** Or anyway, "Stephen Colbert" is. I don't know barely anything about teh guy who plays him. Although the only episode that I can recall during which the latter volunteered any significant, previously unknown real-life personal information while in character as the former was pretty much the single-episode high point of the series, imo.

My point (other than to post amusing videos illustrative of the themes I seek to highlight) being: That was a year-and-a-fucking-half ago. It hasn't been a straight line downhill since then, but it's been trending that way for so long that -- despite being his biggest fan -- before this thread prompted me to tune in again, I don't think I've watched the show since....maybe a year ago or so? I don't remember. The Christmas Special excepted. That was fucking awesome.

In any event. That the show's intermittent moments of lameness have been getting more frequent and lengthier for some time now did suddenly strike me as worth considering as another plausible reason that the shows from Iraq aren't him-at-his-best. Now that I come to think of it.

[chiggerbit]

I hate to ask this, because it shows how abysmally ignorant I am, but who is "Jody"?

[AhabsOtherLeg]

...it also works well as what you'd have to call art-with-a-capital-A. And in that form it's a pretty intricate and sophisticated commentary on, inter alia, American political culture in general and the psychology of the far right male in particular, with an emphasis on the role played by sexuality, celebrity, fear of personal inadequacy, and the will to power (and much, much more) on both of those things.

Sorry, when I said I'd seen bits of it on Youtube, I meant the Colbert show itself. I don't watch it regular. I haven't seen his recent army work, though I don't expect to be shocked or repulsed by it, since he's a pretty trasgressive comedian to all sides.

Colbert really is an artist, though, in my view, more so than Jon Stewart - he's closer to the likes of Beppe Grillo, Bob Dylan, Screaming Lord Sutch, Chris Morris, and Donald Rumsfeld. I sometimes honestly wondered if Rumsfeld was serious though!

He's kind of a cerebral artist, as an artist. However, as I kind of already said, noticing that isn't essential to the enterprise. A case could be made that the enterprise is conceptually predicated on the assumption that most people won't notice, in fact. I'm not sure I'd make that case, personally. But I could! So let's pin a rose on me! Whee!

No, I hope to God (and maybe that makes me one of the dafties who don't get the joke) that even the Right, and the folk who either knowingly or unknowingly follow their tune, can tell when Colbert is having a laugh at them. The generals who hired him seem to be unaware of his work, or it's meaning, I suppose - and so did the White House - but I have faith that a good proportion of the audience are far smarter than anyone in positions of power in the Pentagon or the White House.

My faith in the future depends on that belief, so don't go kicking it about!