Colbert Report

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I haven't actually seen this in a while, but another thread reminded me that he's soon to take over for Letterman.

Do you think he will lose his edge now? I thought he was hysterically funny even though I sometimes didn't agree with him. But the one thing I appreciated about him was that he encouraged you think for yourself.

It seems like shows like Letterman just cater to boring movies stars plugging movies. Letterman himself used to be one of the funniest sharpest comedians alive, then he took over that slot and lost it all.

i so hope he remains an activist, but my understanding is that his new contract does not allow itl

[Moved from Autism Politics, Activism, and Media Representation to Television, Film, and Video on OP's request]

I think he'll at least try to stay politically active, but it might just ultimately cost him his job when he moves from Comedy Central to the big time. The major network execs and their sponsors like to play it safe, after all.

People like him are entertainers. I put no stock in anything they have to say.

Much of American political illiteracy is the result of taking people like them seriously as if they represent the actual news events with any accuracy.

But thanks to Colbert and Stewart, many younger people for the first time had actually become interested in politics and national and international affairs, and from there watched legitimate news programs.

Zero, which news outlets do you put stock in?

Honestly, none of them.

Even "fringe" news sources have bias...at best, you know their bias and can at least take their coverage from that angle.

The Blaze has some interesting news stories, but so much of it is fluff pieces that I don't bother with it.

There was PropagandaMatrix, but it's gone downhill. Both it and PrisonPlanet share the same stories, and they tend to harp on one viewpoint when stuff happens. Their virtue is that they cover stuff that's actually in the MSM, but buried so deep most people don't think twice about them. Newspapers and other mediums put what they want you to see in prominence, but the other stuff is buried where you might not even read it. As I used to tell people, "The screw up makes it on the front page, but the retraction is buried in the obituaries."

I have a radio show "Politics and Religion." It's a prophecy show, but it does follow world events, and the host is diligent in reporting stuff as accurately as he can. It sees events from a biblical perspective, but I know more about what's going on in the world WITHOUT spin from this guy's show than I ever get from the MSM.

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I used to listen to the Alex Jones show a fair bit, just because during the Bush years, when a lot of worrying police state legislation was getting passed, AJ was one of the few people who gave it attention. I therefore continued to tune in as he made unsubstantiated and wacky claims. I currently have zero confidence in AJ's ability to filter stories for accuracy.

Jon Ronson, the BBC journalist who broke into Bohemian Grove with Alex gives a much more objective analysis on similar kinds of stuff, I think. He's also a very good writer. He tackles important subjects in a humorous way. His writing persona sort of comes across as a cross between Hunter S Thompson and Woody Allen.

This is a great interview of JR by AJ from a few years ago. The rest of it is up on youtube.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqNMsz_hh34[/youtube]

Does that guy have something to do with Art Bell?

I read the mind reading book Ronson wrote (Can't remember name), it was pretty good. It was not technically mind reading, but the CIAs distance sight or something like that.


Colbert - I don't think he can maintain his edge without his activism. It's his balls out guts that makes him so funny - that Press dinner in the White House, HOly COW!

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The Men Who State at Goats.

As far as I know, JR's only association with Art Bell was in researching some of his guests, and people who had been influenced by some of the stories Bell ran (e.g, Heaven's Gate).

stephan colbert's current job is to host a satirical TV show and poke fun at politics and media. his future job is to host an variety/talk show. they are two different genre and i am not expecting there to be much carryover. (won't be surprised if he still has them chanting his name though, because hey... )

of course he will still make political jokes; all the late-night shows do.