Was it another Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer takedown? Another case of a faux newsman going where the mainstream media dared not go?
It was shocking last night to watch the usually pro-rightwing Colbert persona lay into Beck without an ounce of sympathy. Others have noted this but let me add: It came just one day after The New York Times' frontpage profile of Beck that failed to fully air his dirty laundry and mainly treated him as just another popular entertainer full of "moral lessons" and "passion" and "outrage."
Colbert, as you will read and see following this link, expressed (albeit with his usual twinkle and silly Halloween coda) all of the passion, and skill, shown by Stewart when he went after Cramer. He was not just foolin' around.
Something obviously got to him. Perhaps it was a part left out of the Times' piece, which covered Beck's new "9/12" movement without mentioning that Beck had attacked 9/11 families and said he was sick of hearing about it and them. The punch line: "The 9-12 project is not for families directly affected by 9/11 -- just people building their careers on it."
Now, will Beck go on Colbert's show a la Cramer? One doubts it. But watch tonight to see if he responds on air vs. Stephen.
Colbert earlier had mocked Beck's "war room" wankery.
And it all comes on the heels of the new Rasmussen poll (which I wrote about here last week) showing that 1 in 4 Americans now see the Comedy Central latenight shows as "viable" news outlets.
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Greg Mitchell is editor of Editor & Publisher. His new book is "Why Obama Won.", reviewed here by SusanG two weeks ago. He tweets here.
