Everyone knows, beyond doubt, that had a late-night TV show “comedian” opened his show with a “joke” implying that President Barack Obama had committed a homosexual act with a foreign leader, that host would be summarily fired.
Yet, when Stephen Colbert of The Late Show tells a graphic joke implying that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had committed a homosexual act together, the question is not whether CBS will terminate him, but rather, “Will his ratings go up?”
In fact, Colbert’s ratings had trailed those of NBC’s The Tonight Show, with Jimmy Fallon, for several months. NBC’s show, whether the host has been Johnny Carson or Jay Leno, has traditionally had better ratings than the alternative on CBS, now with Colbert, but previously with David Letterman. Colbert, however, has shot up in the ratings with nightly monologues that have centered on sharp attacks upon Trump, barely disguised as “comedy.”
An effort to get Colbert fired, with the hashtag #FireColbert on Twitter, erupted after Monday’s dialogue, which was mostly a response to Trump’s adversarial interview on Face the Nation with John Dickerson. Trump terminated the interview early, dismissing the CBS program as “Deface the Nation.”
That did not set well with Colbert, who makes no effort to disguise his very liberal political viewpoint. In the Face the Nation interview, Dickerson asked Trump if he still stood by his claim that former President Barack Obama had “wiretapped” him.
“I don’t stand by anything,” a clearly agitated Trump retorted.
Colbert used that as a take-off for his caustic remarks. “It’s true,” Colbert said. “He doesn’t stand by anything except the dressing room door at Miss USA Pageant … Who needs lotion?”
That turned out to be the “high point” of the monologue, which degenerated even further, as Colbert quickly pivoted back to the Sunday interview. Making use of the “Putin favored Trump” narrative that has been pushed by the mainstream media and the Democratic Party since the election, Colbert said, “You talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c*** holster.”
When pushback began on Tuesday from Trump supporters and others who just saw the “joke” as exceptionally crude, Colbert said nothing, not even addressing it on his show. But, when some began to denounce the remarks as “homophobic,” Colbert felt the need to comment in his opening monologue on Wednesday.
“Now, if you saw my monologue Monday, you know that I was a little upset at Donald Trump for insulting a friend of mine. So, at the end of that monologue, I had a few choice insults for the president in return. I don’t regret that. He, I believe, can take care of himself. I have jokes, he has the launch codes. So, it’s a fair fight.”
In other words, he felt no regret at a tasteless joke about the president of the United States. But, he did offer some regret about how he had insulted Trump — because it offended the “gay” community.
“So, while I would do it again, I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be. I’m not going to repeat the phrase, but I just want to say for the record, life is short, and anyone who expresses love for another person, in their own way, is to me, an American hero. I think we can all agree on that. I hope even the president and I can agree on that. Nothing else. But, that.”
Late-night comedy has certainly declined greatly from the days of Jack Paar, Steve Allen, and Johnny Carson. It is difficult to imagine even Jay Leno making such a “joke.” And while Leno was no conservative, he was an “equal opportunity” comedian — but none of his jokes ever descended to the level of Colbert’s — or even Letterman’s.
The CBS program has always been much more openly liberal than the more traditional NBC offering on late night. One might recall when David Letterman decided to make a “joke” that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s 14-year-old daughter had been raped at Yankee Stadium. Letterman later apologized, but honest observers will agree that had a late-night comedian made a similar sick joke about President Obama’s daughter, his career would have been over.
Letterman also thought the possibility that former Dick Cheney aide Scooter Libby might serve time in prison and get raped there made good joke material. It is odd that anyone would think getting raped is somehow “funny,” but the top brass at CBS must not mind such filth coming out of the mouths of their “comedians.”
Speaking on Fox News, former Bush adviser Karl Rove said that he considered the jokes by Colbert “lewd,” “obscene,” and “inappropriate.” Rove noted that Colbert had not just come up with the insulting jokes “off the top of his head.” Rather, the jokes were written beforehand, and Colbert chose to tell the jokes with premeditation. In reference to the attempted boycott of Colbert’s sponsors, Rove said, “I’m going to continue to do what I do with anything Colbert. I’m going to refuse to watch the ***.”
Fox News host Sean Hannity had a similar take, calling Colbert a “horrible human being,” but adding that his long-standing position is to oppose boycotts of advertisers. Instead, Hannity recommended to just “change the channel.”
No legal consequences are expected for Colbert or CBS for this incident. Ajit Pai, with the FCC, explained to Newsmax TV, “People are willing and able to say just about anything these days.” Pai was appointed by Trump to the FCC. He added, “It’s a free country. People are willing and able to say just about anything these days.”
Several years ago, a cartoon in a pornographic magazine that depicted Baptist preacher Jerry Falwell having sex with his mother in an outhouse led to a libel suit. Falwell failed to collect any substantive damages, however, because the magazine’s defense was that the cartoon was “just a joke.” As disgusting as the cartoon was, one should not have been surprised at what is put into a pornographic publication. Now, however, such pornographic “jokes” have made their way from such magazines to network television.
We can only expect more of the same — unless, of course, it is a joke by a conservative comedian about a liberal politician.
Photo: AP Images
