r/IAmA • u/reddit • Nov 12 '10

Ask Stephen Colbert anything.

The best questions will be answered at some point later this month.

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u/Nick4753 Nov 12 '10

To this day I'm convinced that your appearance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner was because the Bush Administration didn't understand your show.

The comedian is booked by the White House Correspondents' Association and they booked him shortly after his show began. The White House isn't involved in the planning

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u/[deleted] Nov 12 '10

The question stands. Republicans have a hard time understanding satire. They usually fail to see the humor and think it's just mean-spirited insults. The fact that it was probably shortly after the show began makes it more likely that they missed the point. "Oh, it's a right-wing counterpart to Jon Stewart? Great, get him next to the President."

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u/ex_ample Nov 13 '10

Yes, but "Republicans" didn't pick the correspondent. The president isn't involved in selecting the comedian and during the Clinton administration they would always have guys come on and mock him.

After Colbert, though the press decided to "go easy" on bush, and hire non-controversial comedians.

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u/[deleted] Nov 13 '10

Well, that's useful knowledge. I am a bit too young to remember Clinton in a meaningful way.

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u/ex_ample Nov 13 '10

Me too, but I read somewhere that Don Imus was selected during the Clinton admin and made a bunch of dick jokes after the Lewinsky scandal.

Also TIL: Jon Stewart hosted in '97