Wexler falls into Colbert's Trap - Front Page of Palm Beach Post

[bedazzled]

great article about Colbert's evisceration of Congressman Robert Wexler on Thursday.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/nation/content/nation/epaper/2006/07/22/m1a_wexler_0722.html

i don't know much about Wexler. he seems like a nice guy, but now i know he's not
particularly fast on his feet. i thought the bit about the cocaine and prostitutes was
hard to watch, actually

don't these folks know what they're getting into when they go on Colbert's show? be quick
or be dead!

[OKNancy]

1. I thought he was great!

Wexler is one of the most outstanding Democrats in Congress in my opinion.
I've never heard that he wasn't "fast on his feet".

[halobeam]

2. same here. I thought he knew exactly what was being done...

and participated for the entertainment value. Frankly, I thought he displayed an excellent sense of humor by playing along. Why would anyone think he didn't know about this? Rhetorical question, (sadly, maybe not..lol).

[bedazzled]

4. i didn't think it was funny to talk about doing coke with hookers

i thought it made him look rather foolish and easily manipulated.
i've seen for myself that he isn't fast on his feet!

i did say i don't know how well he does his job -- you might know best!

[halobeam]

7. He was playing along. Gees, how dumb do you think he is?

My fifteen year old understood the entire concept of what was going on.

[lonestarnot]

18. Oh for shit sakes. Colbert is the genius of political satirical comedy

The key is "comedy."

[bedazzled]

20. i enjoy colbert very much

i think it is very admirable the way he takes on both
sides equally

i just didn't think watching wexler was very funny
in this instance!

[lonestarnot]

22. Unfortunately I missed it. I am going to watch it to see what all

the fuss is about.

[babylonsister]

3. Wexler wasn't 'eviscerated'. He was playing along, a good sport. nt

[Catchawave]

5. Those district segments can sometimes be painful to watch....

and I didn't realize those tapings took 90 minutes!? Of course, these are always much funnier when it's a repug in the hot seat :rofl:

Sounds like Wexler did just fine and his young staff should have better prepared him!

Good article :hi:

[bedazzled]

9. you're right - i think he wasn't prepared properly and that's a shame

i was surprised that the interviews are that long - they
have plenty of footage to edit into anything they want,
i guess.

i think the district segments are always kind of hard to
watch. if you don't watch out, colbert'll have you
admitting to eating babies.

[bedazzled]

6. well guys, you've got your opinion and are entitled to it

i think he came off looking pretty silly and i was sorry
about that because he seemed like a nice guy

[NVMojo]

23. I agree, bedazzled ...

[GrpCaptMandrake]

8. It's not that he's not "fast on his feet"

It's that he's a booby for doing the segment. 90 minutes of footage? For a 5 minute piece? No politician could win.

His eager young staffers who so wanted him to do the piece were perhaps the most misguided. There was an assumption that it would be "cool." They neglected to note that Colbert will skewer anyone for an ironic laugh. He's not a partisan.

[bedazzled]

10. i didn't mean to insult him

i guess i worded it badly. everyone seems to come off the worse
in those segments.

wexler admitted to not watching the show -- guess they didn't
prepare him properly.

[halobeam]

12. you just worried me bedazzled . maybe you just bedazzled me

in your own unique way.?? I can't believe you don't understand that he played along. Colbert is satire... please remember this isn't real. Not on either side of his interview desk.

I know you weren't flaming Wexler, but you showed you didn't understand,or give credit? that Wexler has half a brain.

[bedazzled]

17. i know it's satire.

i have a sense of humor and a functional brain. i guess
i don't think it's funny for a person in a position of
authority to make jokes about things like that. surely
he could have deflected it without looking like a prig.

the article i posted was on the front page of the palm
beach post, and had a somewhat negative tone. most of the
folks who read the post do not watch colbert, and have
no idea about the nuances of the exchange.

when the thugs are in power and 1/3 of the population believes
whatever it reads in the newspapers, and thinks george bush is
a godly man, i just don't think going along with that type
of joke was a good idea.

i don't know how well wexler governs. i do know that
randi likes him, so he's probably okay...i'm sorry if it
looked like i flamed wexler, but i do think he made a
mistake.

[AndreaCG]

26. Re the cocaine statement

He should have said, "Maybe if I drank Coca Cola 100 years ago I might have enjoyed cocaine but not now."

[bedazzled]

28. honestly! he could've said "what'll i tell the kids"

in a bombastic, self-righteous rethug manner. or "my wife will throw me out."

there were a thousand ways he could've handled the question

[ima_sinnic]

11. the article says he had never watched Colbert Report before

the interview. Now THAT's foolish! His staffers should have prepped him much much better, since they are the ones who encouraged him to go on and are known to love the show.

[halobeam]

13. You don't have to watch Colbert report to know it's satire.

you can know what type of show it is without ever watching it.

[riona]

14. Lighten up

He was just going along with a segment that was meant to be absurd.

[skipos]

15. ANyone have video on this?

[Contrary1]

19. Here you go...

http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/index.jhtml

[skipos]

25. Thanks for the link. I thought Wexler was fine. nt

[Totally Committed]

16. Wexler's a good guy, but.....

As I always say... If you insist on playing with someone carrying a blow-torch, you're gonna get burned.

TC

[bedazzled]

21. thanks for the input, guys.

i'm off to do my daily errands. i didn't mean to insult
wexler, or to insinuate i don't understand the meaning
of satire or colbert's modus operandi.

i do think that ma and pa unenlightened voter, seeing
the article i mentioned, might understand the situation
a little differently than we do. i obviously worded
my post badly, because i do support our party and want
them to do well more than anything (especially NOW!)

catch ya later!

[Vickers]

24. OK, I have the paper in front of me...it looks like you AND the PB post

are the ones who didn't quite get it.

[bedazzled]

30. my point is, it's what the palm beach post says that "matters"

It’s not what those of us in the “reality based community” think. We are somewhat aware of what’s going on politically, and enjoy watching the daily show and colbert because they reflect what’s really going on (somewhat.)

My point in this instance is that the thugs own the media. They are able to endlessly spin any statement to their advantage. This is especially useful when their victims don’t fight back when they are slandered and maligned. “Jokes” like Wexler’s are providing ammunition that can be used against him, and all democrats, now and into the future.

The Post, like most newspapers, has a somewhat “conservative” front page and a more liberal opinion page. On the opinion page of the same issue of the post is a remarkable op-ed piece on the hypocrisy of Bush’s speech at the NAACP. I posted it in the General forum, where it sunk, alas.

However, the general audience of the post is probably not into colbert. If they read the article, they’ll probably think wexler’s a bumbling fool. If they just read the headline, printed above the fold, they’ll be sure of it. A lot of people will see the headline on every newsstand in every supermarket. Wexler’s supporters and folks who watch colbert will know differently, but they have been won over already. Democrats are shooting themselves in the foot if they are not aware of the situation we are in, and make an effort to make themselves as bulletproof as possible. To the non-reality-based community (who vote too, alas) it is the appearance of propriety that matters, not propriety itself. How else could they trumpet murderers and thieves as godly men?

It seems that criticizing dems isn’t encouraged on this board. I assure you i am not a troll. I don’t post much because i don’t have much to say. I do know that, if dems don’t accept criticism graciously, consider it carefully, and even act on it if warranted, we’ll never get anywhere. If that’s the case, i can understand how we ended up in these dire straits and can’t imagine how we’ll ever get out of them.

[Vickers]

34. I find the Post to be fairly balanced overall.

You mention the headline about Wexler, but the REAL headline (and above the fold where it will be seen), is "Israeli troops at the border" which underscores George's pathetic ME policy failures.

Also, you mention the opinion page...how did you like the McEvoy opinion headline? "Hero or goat? W. picks goat every time"
:rofl:

[DURHAM D]

27. A couple weeks back Nancy Pelosi suggested that

Democratic congressman should not do these segments on the Colbert Report. She indicated they would be edited for comedy effect.

I assume Wexler advised her as to what was coming and she tried to get out ahead of it and warn-off the other Dems.

[otohara]

29. Dems Should Stay off Fox News

that would be my suggestion Ms Pelosi - and stop being so paranoid about The Colbert Report.

One of the reasons I am a democrat is because I like art, humor, music (except country) and those Hollywood liberals who make movies. Everyone knows the best art comes from liberals.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

35. Ugh. Colbert Report is probably the only place many people have HEARD

of these politicians. For the most part, I don't see people thinking "that person is an idiot" for looking flustered at some of the ridiculous questions.

[Eric J in MN]

31. It's comedy. He was showing he has a sense of humor. NT

NT

[Eric J in MN]

32. Does anyone like Wexler less after watching the segment?

I like him just as much.

[bedazzled]

33. well i'm glad he didn't offend those who like him

and hope that others didn't get the wrong idea about him, which was my concern.

i thought there were several other ways he could've answered the question that would've made him look even wittier, but maybe i don't have a sense of humor.

i guess i'm a bit bruised, because i had the pleasure of watching the nj governer thrown out of office because he gave his boyfriend (who wasn't even a citizen) a high profile homeland security job and god knows what else. we were lucky we didn't lose the governship of nj because of him. i don't care who sleeps with whom (i'm a DEM!) but i do care if you can't control yourself enough to keep yourself in office. that's just an extreme example.

in five years, wexler could be running for senate, and the thugs have a great sound bite. most folks can't be bothered checking these things out, they'll think it's real. if wexler's okay with that, that's cool, but not if he loses the seat.

[Lisa]

36. he seemed rather sweet!

He didn't get snippy during the segment, which is what can easily happen when you go up against Colbert (who seemed to like him as well -- he really goads the politicians he wants to show up).

Anyone in "the fighting 19th" want to swap him for my current Member of Parliament (who has no sense of humor and is both arrogant and mean)?

There is a TV show in Canada which manages to get politicians to do way more incriminating stuff ...

http://www.cbc.ca/22minutes/video.html


Carolyn Parrish, Jean Chretien, Danny Williams, Belinda Stronach, Stephen Harper, Jack Layton, and Gilles Duceppe are all prominent politicians up here. (Unfortunately they don't have the clips up from several years ago where several prominent politicians, including some conservatives, actually got into bed together in a skit about same-sex marriage.)


http://www.cbc.ca/mercerreport/backissues.php

One of my faves has the current Environment Minister, Rona Ambrose, being way more foolish than Wexler. And then there's one where "Paul" (then Prime Minister Paul Martin) goes to Canadian Tire and fixes up his house -- he looked like quite inept at the home repairs -- and this isn't the first time he's been skewered with this candid stuff on CBC.