Did people see Colbert tonight? This show is getting so good it's making me simultaneously shiver and grin with deep satisfaction on a regular basis these days. It's really potent. Sort of like Jesus' General has his own show, but I'd argue it's even better because it uses the ugliest part of the traditional media--the screeching heads--to make its point, and thus make it more relevant than just any old insane wingnut. It's a show about a wingnut who has power, and it's scary good when Colbert's on.
But tonight was above and beyond. Colbert tore Packer and all of the "Liberal Hawks" a new one in the space of a couple sentences.
For those who didn't catch it I'll summarize briefly. Colbert began the interview questioning Packer's criticism of the war. For Stephen, it's an open and shut case--the Bush adminstration said they could drop the bomb on us in 45 minutes. Unmanned drones or something like that. And President Bush never lies, unless he has to and we should trust him either way. So it's "we had to go--hard slog--now things are good--we're winning--we're gonna win--U.S.A.! U.S.A.!"
Packer then begins to explain that while he initially supported the war, he never believed the administration when they talked about 45 minutes, and nuclear bombs, and un-manned drones. But he still thought it was a good idea to take out Saddam, blah, blah, blah.
Colbert then drops this on him:
"See here's why I don't like your theory. I'll tell you why. If your theory of why we should have gone to war is right, then we took American soldiers and we played craps with their lives, on a bet that we thought we would win. I think it's better to say that we had to go, and this is a noble job to keep Americans away from nuclear weapons that Saddam had. Then that's a war I can still get behind."
Awkward pause.
Packer:
"Yeah. Absolutely."
"You've convinced yourself. Give me another hour here and maybe you can convince me."
Colbert:
"Really? That's all it would take? [holds up Assassin's Gate] After this whole book?"
The audience didn't quite know how to react. Packer was visibly thrown off. Colbert's tone when he said "bet we thought we would win" was so biting, like he wanted to just stand up and bitch slap the smug little grin off of Packer's face. It was AWESOME. I mean I've read a thousand articles and posts and diaries over the past three years, and I haven't seen anyone put it that well and that succinctly. I'm sure Colbert had that line ready and waiting, but still. What a stud. Thank God Colbert is picking up the ample slack that the Daily Show is leaving behind these days.
And truthfully, that's STILL the problem isn't it? It's that even now after all of this senseless death, they still see it as "bad strategy." There's still no humanity involved in their analysis. So much so, that when you bother to point out that real human beings are being maimed and killed for this debacle, it's a arresting thought for the "Liberal Hawks." It's not a point they like to have to dwell on.
The next time some shithead like Peter Beinart opens his stupid fucking pie hole about how Democrats supposedly need to get "tough" on national security, we should say "umm, this war that you helped to make has risked American soldiers lives on a bet you thought you could win, and it came up snake eyes. Instead of treating our soldiers like they're plastic chips at a casino, we think we should start treating them like human beings, with families and lives of their own, who deserve better than to die for your dumb ideas."