Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents Dinner

This is probably totally over, but thought I would put it up to see what happened





Stephen Colbert at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner



On April 29, 2006, American comedian Stephen Colbert appeared as the featured entertainer at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, which was held in Washington, D.C., at the Hilton Washington hotel. Colbert's performance consisted of a 16-minute podium speech and a 7-minute video presentation, which were broadcast live across the United States on cable television networks C-SPAN and MSNBC. Standing a few yards from U.S. President George W. Bush[1] ? in front of an audience filled with celebrities, politicians, and members of the White House Press Corps[2] ? Colbert delivered a controversial, searing routine targeting the president and the media.[3] Cable television personality Colbert spoke in the persona of the character he plays on Comedy Central's popular The Colbert Report, a parody of a conservative pundit in the fashion of Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity.[4][5]



Colbert's performance quickly became an Internet and media sensation.[6][7] Subsequent coverage has seen commentators debate the stand-alone humor content of Colbert's performance, the political nature of his remarks, and whether or not there was an intentional cover-up by the media in the reporting on the routine. Time's James Poniewozik noted that "days after Stephen Colbert performed at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, this has become the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006?like whether you drive a hybrid or use the term 'freedom fries.'"[8] Writing six months later, New York Times columnist Frank Rich called Colbert's after-dinner speech a "cultural primary" and christened it the "defining moment" of the United States' 2006 midterm elections.[9][10]



Colbert still occasionally references this performance on The Colbert Report and included the speech in the appendix of I Am America (And So Can You!).



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert_at_the_2006_White_House_Correspondents%27_Association_Dinner