Speaking Truth(iness) to Power

Wow! Stephen Colbert has balls! I just watched and read what he had to say at the White House Correspondent's Dinner, with Bush and his henchmen in attendance.

You can watch it too... at least for now. Check it out here and continued here. I think you'll be blown away... like the guy who made the decision to invite Colbert to speak will probably be. This stuff has just never been said on prime time. He touched on everything and he told it like it is. What a breath of fresh air.

I wonder what the fall-out will be...?

Update: A rough transcription of the text portion is here.
Update2: A better transcript is here.
Update 3: More video links here and here.
Update 4: Another video link here.
Update 5: CSPAN lets Google show it here.

Testimonials:

The belief that an American citizen is unpatriotic by virtue of criticizing and opposing the president is one of the most pernicious ideas to take hold in some time. What Colbert did took real courage and - like Savage - he should be commended for reminding us of the kind of country we are supposed to have, and the kind of country we aren't supposed to have and, until this administration, never had.
-- Glenn Greenwald

All hail Stephen Colbert --- the man who coined the word for what the Washington press have been feeding us for the last decade. The truthiness hurts, doesn't it kids?
-- Digby

Stephen Colbert is important and Glenn Greenwald is important. The people sitting in that room last night cannot be counted upon for either self-awareness — have you ever seen a room of people so stiff and uncomfortable at the specter of their own failings? It was like watching Lenny Bruce tell political jokes at the titty bar to a bunch of bored old pervs who just wanted to get back to the boobs.

They are going to need an awful lot of help to come to terms with the fact that the cowboy stooge they all clap and laugh for like a bunch of trained seals is, in fact, a grotesque criminal who most certainly thinks he has the right to spy on all of them. It gives me great hope to know that people like Colbert and Greenwald are willing to give it to them.
-- Jane Hamsher

Instead, Colbert was cool, methodical, and mercilessly ironic, not getting rattled when the audience quieted with discomfort (and resorting to self-deprecating "savers," as most comedians do), but closing in on the kill, as unsparing of the press as he was of the president. I mean no disrespect to Jon Stewart to say that in the same circumstances, he would have resorted to shtick; Colbert didn't. Apart from flubbing the water-half-empty joke about Bush's poll ratings, he was in full command of his tone, comic inflection, and line of attack. The we-are-not-amused smile Laura Bush gave him when he left the podium was a priceless tribute to the displeasure he incurred. To me, Colbert looked very relaxed after the Bushes left the room and he greeted audience members, signed autographs. And why wouldn't he be? He achieved exactly what he wanted to achieve, delivered the message he intended to deliver. Mission accomplished.
--James Wolcott