Stephen Colbert is America's Tank Man. He didn't give a performance last night; he set an example. He had to know that he as well as the audience would experience extreme discomfort. Why did he do it?
Stephen Colbert embarrassed all who are failing to uphold America's Democracy, because this was the example America needed. He both demonstrated the problem and provided the initial course of treatment.
He didn't just show us the way; he led the way.
And who was in the audience? The military who are cowered by a seventy four year old bully. The media aristocracy who daily slop the hogs, and rewire the maze of fences that pen us in, lest we figure out our actual predicament before we are slaughtered. The reporters who, like us, needed to be shown how it is done in the very presence of their bosses. And us. Yes us. He wasn't just speaking for us he was speaking to us. And yes we too deserved to be embarrassed - no that's not quite it - we too had to be embarrassed.
The educated, white collar and professional class (that's most of us here I suspect) has been corporatized to the point of being anesthetized. We fail to do the right thing every day. We know it. We sell out every day. We sit in meetings every day where the wrong thing is done and never object. At best we are the Dilberts and only in our minds the fist of fury; our act of defiance is a loosened tie and a foot up on a table.
Everyone of us has been in situations like Colbert was in last night - with our families, in church, at work. What did we do? We compromised? No - we refused to even speak. We refused to do anything that drew attention to the issues or ourselves (we are the educated who are more afraid of public speaking than dying). And nobody will even have punched us in the nose. Nobody will even have threatened us. Nobody will have vandalized our property. They will cower us with looks or a snide comment, or not inviting us to their next function, or not laughing at our next joke, or not shaking our hand and saying goodbye when they left the room. And after several generations of this where are we?
Stephen, your lesson has been received - as they say in Medical School - see one, do one, teach one.
Lesson received Stephen - we will have Democracy in America or we will die of embarrassment trying. But we will not go along to get along, we will not sell out our dreams, we will not be reasonable. We are the angry and we will make sure everybody knows why. There will be no more "have a nice day" or "smiley faces" until this Prezident is replaced.
And the next newspaper that does a hit job on one of ours will have ten thousand Kossacks at their door chanting the foulest expletives they ever heard. Let Freedom Ring and that means EMBARRASSMENT is a weapon that is always on the table.