If you get all your news from mainstrean media, it has no doubt escaped your attention that Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, gave the keynote speech last weekend at the 2006 White House Press Correspondents' Dinner. And for 20 minutes he lambasted everyone in attendance, from the President of the United States and his administration to the media representatives in whose honor I suppose the dinnner was being given. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to give a speech where you shame everyone in the audience, the silence is deafening.

The speech was hilarious, if bitingly wicked satire that seemed to stun everyone listening. There were a few titters and a smattering of self-conscious laughs, but mostly it was embarrassed silence. Awkward silence. What Stephen Colbert himself characterized (ironically) as "respectful silence."

The mainstream media promptly ignored the whole episode. And when I say "mainstream media," I am talking about EVERYONE. The newspapers. The radio shows. The television networks. If I had ever doubted there was a conspiracy to silence the media when the government wanted, this went a long way toward validating my suspicions. By the middle of this week, a few media representatives quietly mentioned they didn't cover it because "he wasn't funny." But really, the way it works in today's administration-friendly media circles, if he had bombed, they would have ALL been talking about how badly he bombed. The American press loves NOTHING better than bad or embarrassing news. Unless, of course, it embarrasses THEM. Because actually, Stephen Colbert was frickin' hilarious.

You can find the video on line if you are curious. You can also find the transcript, which includes all the great jokes but naturally omits the embarrassed silence and chirping crickets from the audience.

Some of the great lines:

Colbert taking the media to task for complaining that the recent White House staff changes was only "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." Colbert charged that the Bush administration was not sinking--it was soaring! So it was more like rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.

Then he told the president to ignore the polls showing only a 32% approval rating because polls are just a reflection of reality and reality has a well-known liberal bias.

He also admonished the press corps for digging into stories too much, which was a departure from the last 5 years when they didn't do or say anything about nonexistent WMDs, for example. He told them that the president is "the decider" and they should just write down what he says and then go home. Write that novel about intrepid Washington reporters who stop at nothing to get to the truth. In other words, FICTION.

He also welcomed the mayor of New Orleans who famously called attention to New Orleans' predominently Black population by calling it the "chocolate city." He welcomed the mayor to Washington, DC, which is the chocolate city with the white marshmallow center, surrounded by a graham cracker crust of corruption.

Colbert also congratulated FOX News on always giving BOTH sides of the story: the president's side, and the vice president's side.

It was a tour du force performance, the likes of which we see all too rarely these days.