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100% Legal and At Least 10% Ethical: God Bless Citizens United
Resolutely highlighting the gaping absurdities of so-called campaign finance laws - and entertainingly blurring the already-tenuous lines between politics and performance art - Stephen Colbert last night announced an exploratory committee to become "president of the United States of South Carolina." To make his campaign as legal as any other candidate's, he first handed over his Super PAC to Jon Stewart, who winkingly renamed it the “Definitely Not Coordinating with Stephen Colbert Super PAC." They've already bought air time, though in reality there's no way he can get on the ballot. But we wish.
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26 Comments so far
Show AllRemembr when we started mocking what was going on and laughing our way "out" of problems?
I guess another couple decades before it finally does anything to stop the slide?
Sorry to ruin the mood. ;)
Yup.
I don't know how old you are Matti, but I recall fondly my Virginia Tech days in the 1970's getting full of beer at Mr. Fooz (PBR $1.25 a pitcher - drinking age was 18 like the rest of the world back then) then retiring to the dorm to watch satirical send-ups of Carter, then Reagan By Akroid, Curtin, Radnor, Belushi etc. on Saturday Night Live.
It didn't do a bit of good.
I like Colbert, but like him less since he was so supportive of the troops and the war about a year ago. He is just another dem - but his delivery is good.
I agree about his troop support stuff, even though he is sincere on that, he is just plain wrong minded on quite a few issues. However, i do think it is a good way to teach people about campaign finance as well as citizens united. And actually, i learned more than i knew about superpacs from the show last night when he signed it over to stewart.
I think you read him wrong. He and Stewart are extremely smart. No one can safely NOT support the troops (he would immediately lose his show and his huge global audience). And his persona really would support them anyways. But by doing his show over there for the troops he just widens the audience considerably for his most important work.
Kane, yes, of course you are right. Thanks for pointing out a few subtleties to some of our literalist friends.
"You from Hawaii bro?" as Kane means man in Hawaiian. Bathrooms here have "kane" on men's side and "wahini" on woman's..... just in case when your visiting and in a emergency hurry, you don't get confused and have accident!
I agree it widens his audience, but he also did a great pr job for the generals he had on. He is a liberal dem. who almost never says anything negative about obama.
I think that he does seriously support the troops and he has done lots of charity work in that direction. It is part of his version of being a good Catholic. I happen to think he is naive in many areas, and savvy in others. And quite brilliant as well. However, he is not exactly a leftist.
Humor hammers home any variety of truths popping chinks in the armor for light to shine through. Observing from the perspective that darkness does not seep out of a closed space, but light when introduced literally floods it ... I'll take me chances with the two boys wearing mining helmets. Pick axes anyone??
Is there an "equal time" requirement on CD? Does Colbert have to bash Obama any time he bashes a Republican? It is true that the Republican field represents "low-hanging fruit," so it takes little effort to ridicule them, but why does he have to bash everyone?
Colbert doesn't actually 'bash' and i didn't use that term.
Answer to your question......Yes, equal time is required. Everytime you criticize a republican you must also mention somewhere in your comment that Obama is a lying bastard. ( a murderous one at that )
One must be very careful about what one does not say. ( I always thought it was the other way around )
Thomas Gilbert-
Mr. Colbert is probably very a very funny comedian, but in this case he has been completely outdone by the "serious" candidates. He shouldn't quit his day job.
Comment to Republicans and Democrats: When you make a farce out of our democracy, the court jester makes as good a President as the highest officials in the land.
Colbert's simple point is that he can do what corporate America tells him to do as well as anybody. So, if that's what our democracy has come down to, why not 'President'? Why not 'King'?
Being a right wing Republican, why can't Colbert run on the Republican ticket?
Compared to the laughable collection of clowns, charlatans, slick talking snake oil salesmen and bait and switchers, Colbert is absolutely brilliant - the most serious of all the so-called candidates. He should run under "C" party. Comedian. South Carolina
For those of you with a few more years, remember droll comedian, the late Pat Paulsen who ran in 1968, 1972, 1980, 1988, 1992, and 1996 (date check from Wiki where I found his son, Monty, is taking up the torch)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Paulsen
He actually got on some ballots and had real votes cast for him. It was always fun to have Pat Paulsen in the campaign swinging away against the "real" ones. Wow, has the meaning of "real" really, hugely changed!
His son's site: http://www.paulsen.com
wow... thank you dreamdancer. i crawled into the world in 1967 and would never have stumbled upon mr paulsen's comedy w/out your link. THANK YOU !!!!
Pat Paulsen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHYQ0XiMB34&feature=related
Pat Paulsen To America : Shut Up And Get Off Your Butt !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsU8_DSmlXY
...peace...
I second that emotion, dreamdancer.
When Colbert toyed with running in 2008, I had a deja vu of Paulsen and the Smothers Brothers.
They were the Stewart and Colbert of the late sixties.
dreamdancer - Thanks for this mind refresher. I'd completely forgotten about Paulsen's campaigns. Guess that's what happens when you've gotten those "few more years" on you.
Having lived through WWII and Korea, I am old enough to remember that it was the comedians (Paulson, Smothers Bros) who hammered away at the hawks long enough to make us all (well, most of us) see and understand about Vietnam. If their experience teaches us anything it will be at least another decade before we come to a realization about Citizens United. There might not be anything left of our democracy by that time. Aristophanes outlasted the Athenian democracy by about 2300 years.
Support of the troops is NOT support of the war. It is supporting the slaves who have been brainwashed and made to learn to kill, many against their beliefs, and I would have thought that here at CD many of you would get it that supporting the troops is just as critical as supporting the people who make up the 99%. If you have never walked the hall of a VA hospital, I'd recommend it. There are thousands of damaged and in pain human beings residing there because they did the bidding of the pigs of wall street. If you think they did it willingly, you are dumber than the dumbasses in Congress or the Supreme Ct. because their brainwashing has also affected your judgement. Many decades have served the warmongering rich bastards. Colbert knows that. Why don't you all?
I definitely struggle with my feelings about "the troops". I tend to use as my guide the Vets for Peace and the Iraq Vets against the War, the Winter Soldier testimonials. They remind us, as you have Stonepig, that the troops are very much victims of war and warmongering rich bastards. I didn't see the Cobert shows that may have given good PR to the generals, that is too bad, and why I can't stomach comedy central and SNL on a regular basis as i see them giving even more air time to the foolish political theater we have substituted for democracy.
the troops are brainwashed?
how can you wash what is lacking?
VDB I have to tell you in my N.Y. suburban area 50 miles out of N.Y.C.the H.S. dumb-bells are the only ones that appear to be going into the military.
Looks like we're going back to the employer of last resort.
I watched the Colbert show and learned what I should know about the Citizen United SUPER PAC . It was educational. I wish all Americans could understand and appreciate the absurdity of the Supreme Court Ruling that allows domestic/ foreign; dirty/ laundered; honest/stolen; drug/prostitution; gang/terrorist ; sweat-shop/exploited;corporate money to control our destiny in America without allowing us to know who the people are behind this circumventing of democracy.
If a corporation is person, I suppose he or she should use the same tax tables and rules that we all do. That would surely result in a big increase in their tax bills. But are they "single head of household", or what?
Forcing them to pay taxes like most of us do is certainly a lot easier to implement than passing a Constitutional Amendment. It could be a quick administrative ruling by the IRS. Either they are people or they are not.