The Perfect Setup

Many in the blogosphere (possibly including you, dear reader) were wondering aloud if Stephen Colbert's performance at last month's White House Correspondents Dinner was intentionally omitted in several mainstream media accounts of the event. Dr. S is wondering if such omission was less motivated by politics than politeness. And politeness would dictate that Mr. Colbert send thank-you notes to those reporters who did him the courtesy of refraining from mentioning his performance. Fact is, he bombed — happens to the best of them. If you haven't already seen it, click below to see the obviously well-rehearsed and very funny skit that directly preceded Colbert's speech:



Now go back and look at the Bush reaction shots during Colbert performance (or the ABC feed of the camera trained on Bush). W isn't glowering — he's gloating that he just upstaged the headline act. He had a ringer, and he knew it; the whole thing was his idea. W just figured out what professional comedians have known for ages: there are few better setups for a comedy routine than a failed presidency.