Awfully decent of you to drop in today. Do you realize our army is facing disastrous defeat? What do you intend to do about it?

Via the Chicago Tribune I am reminded that the President's fine performance at the Correspondent's Dinner has been lost in all the chatter about Stephen Colbert:

• Liberals are attacking the New York Times and other outlets for ignoring or underplaying Colbert's monologue, and instead focusing on the president's gentler, self-deprecating interplay with a Bush impersonator. "It's insane journalism not to write about Colbert's appearance," playwright Christopher Durang wrote on Huffington Post. Seems to me a complete story would have given ample play to both. Colbert is clearly what everyone was talking about. Bush and his friend deserved coverage because, well, just about every public act the president commits is newsworthy, whether it's funny or not.

http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/mmx-060503-colbert,0,2112129.story?coll=mmx-home_bottom_hedsh2o

By all means let's not forget that the President of the United States in the midst of his ruinous war in Iraq, record budget deficits and a complete breakdown of the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans, took time out of his schedule to practice a comedy routine for a bunch of self-important hacks.

I was worried his priorities where out of whack or something.

I will motivate you, Private Pyle, if it short-dicks every cannibal on the Congo.

Yes, I've seen the Steven Colbert White House Press Correspondent's Take Down. I just haven't written anything on it because I really had nothing else to add to the number of observations around the net that the press doesn't like being the object of ridicule, the President (and conservatives in general) don't have an inkling of the sense of humor they seem to think they have and that Colbert has balls somewhere the size of cantaloupe other than to point out that the reason the conservatives and press corps have reverted to pearl-clutching mode and progressives are standing up and cheering Colbert's routine has very much to do with absurdity of the current relationship between the press and the President.

The White House Correspondent's Dinner was BUILT on the adversarial relationship that has traditionally existed between the Executive branch and the Fourth Estate. The idea was that for one night a year they would drop the daggers and come together to laugh and share the things they have in common (disdain for the little people.)

That adversarial relationship doesn't exist under this President. Period. What's the point of putting the knives away when they're not out to begin with.

Colbert showed the Press (under the guise of comedy) what they should be doing on a daily basis.