Earlier today, I read an article by Kyle Smith of the New York Post, entitled, "Colbert's 'Late Show' has become propaganda for Democrats."
Yes, this is the same conservatively-slanted Rupert-Murdoch owned New York Post, which has long been propaganda for Republicans.
Don't believe me? Here are the titles of a few other recent Kyle Smith writings:
- "For the love of God, de Blasio, start working and stop screwing around!"
- "A Democratic politician goes to jail, now advocates for prison reform"
- "How Ahmed's clock became a false, convenient tale of racism"
- "Pope Francis should take a vow of silence on capitalism"
- "Only Trump understands how angry the average American is"
- "Dear Michael Moore, America doesn't want socialism"
- "Hillary's desperate pitch: Did I mention I'm a woman?"
- "Wealth inequality isn't a 'crisis' - and the voters know it"
- "Benghazi hearings show that Clinton lives in a bubble of deniability"
- "Why do Democrats hate democracy?"
Yes, this man, who regularly provides propaganda for Republicans, is criticizing a comedian hosting a late-night talk show as providing propaganda for Democrats. How did the seemingly always angry Mr. Smith start his most recent piece?
"So Stephen Colbert turns out to be just as much of an a-hole as 'Stephen Colbert.'..."
I know, subtle, isn't he? Here are a few other gems provided by Mr. Smith in his article:
- "The pattern is familiar: When a Democrat is the guest, Colbert is Barbara Walters. When a Republican is on, he turns into Tim Russert."
- "Almost as if he was trying out a third personality - a parody of a know-nothing liberal pundit - Colbert made a complete ass of himself in front of Cruz by suggesting that the senator, being religious, necessarily equated his opponents with Satan."
- "Colbert is so unremittingly hostile to Republicans that he will shortly find conservative invitees declining to appear. (Except Ted Cruz, who would argue with a tree stump.) That means the Colbert show risks turning into an echo chamber in which viewers doze off as Colbert and his liberal guests beam lovingly at each other like a mother and child."
- "This can be a bit sick-making to watch..."
- "Cheap shots vs. wisdom. CBS made its choice, and now it is paying the price."
No, there's no question Stephen Colbert leans to the left, but guess who else did? His predecessor, David Letterman. While Letterman increasingly made fun of the Republican Party during the George W. Bush years (and beyond) through visuals, audio, and borderline rants, Colbert has relied more on satire. Not only that, but on Colbert's former show, The Colbert Report, his character was a parody of the conservative Fox News host, Bill O'Reilly. So Kyle Smith and his ilk can't be too caught off guard on the left-leanings through Colbert's comedy. They also can't believe Colbert is the lone left-leaning late-night talk show host. If so, as Mr. Smith wrote in a recent article, they may be living in a "bubble of deniability" of their own.
Also, while Colbert's comedy is definitely left-leaning, let's be fair for a moment: There are only 3 Democratic candidates running for president compared to 13 Republicans. In other words, there are over four times more Republicans running for the highest office in the land than Democrats. It's incredibly difficult to be 100% balanced in terms of time devoted to the two parties with those kinds of numbers. There have also been twice as many Republican debates (four, eight if you include all the JV debates) as Democratic ones (two). So once again, it'd be quite tricky to balance time between the two parties and their respective debates. Also, while Colbert has been anything but coy on poking fun at the Republican candidates, he's also poked fun at all three Democratic candidates, often referring to Martin O'Malley as "that other guy," Bernie as an angry old man, and frontrunner Hillary Clinton has received her fair share of jokes as well.
When it comes to interviews, it's felt like both die-hard conservatives and die-hard liberals have gotten angry or frustrated on multiple occasions. Many liberals criticized Colbert for going too soft on GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. Some even labeled his interview with fellow liberal Bill Maher as extremely "awkward." On the other side of the political spectrum, I've heard conservatives blast Colbert's interview with Ted Cruz and accused him of going soft on Vice President Joe Biden. In other words, I've heard complaints regarding the matter from both sides of the political spectrum.
There can be no denying Stephen Colbert leans left politically, but so did his predecessor, David Letterman. So is that the real reason for his recent drop in ratings? I think, while it may be one factor, it's definitely not the only one. Late-night talk shows are largely known for silly gags, pranks, and toilet humor - in other words, comedy one doesn't have to think about a great deal to get. Colbert's brand of comedy is more of the think-before-you-laugh variety, and sadly, I have a feeling that may have contributed to the drop in ratings as well. Also, let's place things in their proper perspective - there are currently over four times as many Republican candidates as Democratic candidates and we've been witness to two times as many Republican debates as Democratic debates (four times if you include the JV debates). Not only that, but let's be honest, these GOP candidates, Donald Trump and Ben Carson in particular, have been a late-night talk show host's wet dream. To not regularly poke fun of them would likely be seen as a felony in many comedians' eyes.
http://nypost.com/2015/11/21/colberts-late-show-has-become-propaganda-for-democrats/
http://nypost.com/author/kyle-smith/
Yes, this is the same conservatively-slanted Rupert-Murdoch owned New York Post, which has long been propaganda for Republicans.
Don't believe me? Here are the titles of a few other recent Kyle Smith writings:
- "For the love of God, de Blasio, start working and stop screwing around!"
- "A Democratic politician goes to jail, now advocates for prison reform"
- "How Ahmed's clock became a false, convenient tale of racism"
- "Pope Francis should take a vow of silence on capitalism"
- "Only Trump understands how angry the average American is"
- "Dear Michael Moore, America doesn't want socialism"
- "Hillary's desperate pitch: Did I mention I'm a woman?"
- "Wealth inequality isn't a 'crisis' - and the voters know it"
- "Benghazi hearings show that Clinton lives in a bubble of deniability"
- "Why do Democrats hate democracy?"
Yes, this man, who regularly provides propaganda for Republicans, is criticizing a comedian hosting a late-night talk show as providing propaganda for Democrats. How did the seemingly always angry Mr. Smith start his most recent piece?
"So Stephen Colbert turns out to be just as much of an a-hole as 'Stephen Colbert.'..."
I know, subtle, isn't he? Here are a few other gems provided by Mr. Smith in his article:
- "The pattern is familiar: When a Democrat is the guest, Colbert is Barbara Walters. When a Republican is on, he turns into Tim Russert."
- "Almost as if he was trying out a third personality - a parody of a know-nothing liberal pundit - Colbert made a complete ass of himself in front of Cruz by suggesting that the senator, being religious, necessarily equated his opponents with Satan."
- "Colbert is so unremittingly hostile to Republicans that he will shortly find conservative invitees declining to appear. (Except Ted Cruz, who would argue with a tree stump.) That means the Colbert show risks turning into an echo chamber in which viewers doze off as Colbert and his liberal guests beam lovingly at each other like a mother and child."
- "This can be a bit sick-making to watch..."
- "Cheap shots vs. wisdom. CBS made its choice, and now it is paying the price."
No, there's no question Stephen Colbert leans to the left, but guess who else did? His predecessor, David Letterman. While Letterman increasingly made fun of the Republican Party during the George W. Bush years (and beyond) through visuals, audio, and borderline rants, Colbert has relied more on satire. Not only that, but on Colbert's former show, The Colbert Report, his character was a parody of the conservative Fox News host, Bill O'Reilly. So Kyle Smith and his ilk can't be too caught off guard on the left-leanings through Colbert's comedy. They also can't believe Colbert is the lone left-leaning late-night talk show host. If so, as Mr. Smith wrote in a recent article, they may be living in a "bubble of deniability" of their own.
Also, while Colbert's comedy is definitely left-leaning, let's be fair for a moment: There are only 3 Democratic candidates running for president compared to 13 Republicans. In other words, there are over four times more Republicans running for the highest office in the land than Democrats. It's incredibly difficult to be 100% balanced in terms of time devoted to the two parties with those kinds of numbers. There have also been twice as many Republican debates (four, eight if you include all the JV debates) as Democratic ones (two). So once again, it'd be quite tricky to balance time between the two parties and their respective debates. Also, while Colbert has been anything but coy on poking fun at the Republican candidates, he's also poked fun at all three Democratic candidates, often referring to Martin O'Malley as "that other guy," Bernie as an angry old man, and frontrunner Hillary Clinton has received her fair share of jokes as well.
When it comes to interviews, it's felt like both die-hard conservatives and die-hard liberals have gotten angry or frustrated on multiple occasions. Many liberals criticized Colbert for going too soft on GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. Some even labeled his interview with fellow liberal Bill Maher as extremely "awkward." On the other side of the political spectrum, I've heard conservatives blast Colbert's interview with Ted Cruz and accused him of going soft on Vice President Joe Biden. In other words, I've heard complaints regarding the matter from both sides of the political spectrum.
There can be no denying Stephen Colbert leans left politically, but so did his predecessor, David Letterman. So is that the real reason for his recent drop in ratings? I think, while it may be one factor, it's definitely not the only one. Late-night talk shows are largely known for silly gags, pranks, and toilet humor - in other words, comedy one doesn't have to think about a great deal to get. Colbert's brand of comedy is more of the think-before-you-laugh variety, and sadly, I have a feeling that may have contributed to the drop in ratings as well. Also, let's place things in their proper perspective - there are currently over four times as many Republican candidates as Democratic candidates and we've been witness to two times as many Republican debates as Democratic debates (four times if you include the JV debates). Not only that, but let's be honest, these GOP candidates, Donald Trump and Ben Carson in particular, have been a late-night talk show host's wet dream. To not regularly poke fun of them would likely be seen as a felony in many comedians' eyes.
http://nypost.com/2015/11/21/colberts-late-show-has-become-propaganda-for-democrats/
http://nypost.com/author/kyle-smith/
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