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#FireColbert Is a Terrible Idea
Many are infuriated with CBS Late Show host Stephen Colbert for his insulting and vulgar rant against President Donald Trump. Some have called it offensive, while others think Colbert has engaged in anti-gay slurs for calling Trump Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “c*** holster.”
Firing Colbert is a terrible idea. What good will it do? If you want to do something about people like Colbert getting late-night hosting gigs, you need to beat him. And that requires investing in and creating competition. I went on a bit of a rant on the issue Wednesday morning. You can watch the video here; below is a partial transcript:
Published in EntertainmentYou don’t fire Colbert; you compete with him. If you get rid of Colbert, what do you think comes in his place? And you still have Seth Meyers, and you still have Samantha Bee, and you still have Bill Maher, and you still have John Oliver, and you still have Rachel Maddow, and you still have Chris Matthews, and you still have Lawrence O’Donnell, and you still have Chris Hayes, and you still have, and you still have, and you still have.
Tell me what you get from being the reactionary sort of people who scream for people to be fired? No. You gotta scream for people to be hired.
You gotta start finding content creators you like — and people that you think can deliver a better message, a funnier message a more powerful message. Be more entertaing, be more out there, and garner a larger audience — and you have to financially support them and create the content.
You have to be someone who says, “I’ve had enough!” And you got to put your money where your mouth is, and then you have to go out and create the content.
We can compete on radio; why aren’t we competing with more television? Why aren’t we competing with more video? You don’t fire him, you compete with him. Start supporting content creators. If you want to know how, email me, tony@wibc.com.
You don’t fire Saddam Hussein, you compete with him. You have to offer a government that the people would prefer to his.
Hmm. I don’t think that works any better than not attacking Colbert. I don’t care about his joke. It wasn’t too funny, but it was a joke. What I do care about is that there is a disciplined and united movement in this country that is no longer the mere headache it was 100 years ago. We, those of us who love freedom and our Constitution, are at war with this movement. Anything that discredits a powerful person in that movement is okay by me.
In other words, it’s not funny anymore. This is war. It’s a war for our freedoms and we are losing it, despite the temporary reprieve of keeping Hillary out of office. We have a long way to go to convince even the republicans to stand up for freedom. Convincing them means turning around the terms of debate, changing the dominant culture of the left, and exerting power over our enemies.
Why does terrorism work in Iraq and other places? Because the people fear terrorists more than they trust sane people to protect them from terrorists. Why do elected republicans refuse to do what we elect them to do? Because they fear the likes of Colbert more than they fear our threats to not vote for them.
No, we have to take him down. And others like him too.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/04/sources-hugh-hewitt-in-talks-for-msnbc-show.html
If the likes of Hugh Hewitt are being considered for television shows, I’d say conservatives are having relatively few problems breaking into TV. Also, ratings can be very funny. Upwards of two million TV sets can be found to be tuned into rerun marathons of The Big Bang Theory on TBS on your average weeknight.
Scalp-hunting Stephen Colbert is fun. It’s also much, MUCH cheaper than having to do something silly like running a conservative comedian up against him on a nightly basis.
I always found it interesting that Stephen Colbert in his prime could never take down Bill O’Reilly in HIS prime, even though Colbert mimicked him to a T. What makes you think Colbert being vulgar can take down a vulgarian like Trump who is more than capable of taking care of himself?
If Obama were still President, Colbert would already be gone.
No double standards.
A conservative late night show would be a ratings bonanza for any network with the guts to do it. Look at how starved conservatives went after Fox news. Nobody has the guts to go against the Hollywood establishment.
Who is seriously saying Colbert should be fired? Don’t worry, h isn’t in any danger.
But what would be great , what I would LOVE, is to hear Omega abused in the same kind of language! And / or Clinton! Se we’ve had 8 years of nobody being able to make fun of the Prez Any reference, at all, to his physical characteristics -hair, ears, mouth–woulda been considered racist. Just like during the campaign Trump was mocked for his weight–but any remark about the fact that Clinton appeared to be wearing house coats over her huge belly-butt complex was just mean, sexist, “fat-shaming”…
We got anyone funny on the Right? Greg Gutfield is the only one I can think of. So far he’s been kind of an equal opportunity tweaked–but instead of firing Colbert, let’s mandate equal,time for Gutfield and turn him loose, free to talk about cock sucking,physical appearance, the whole panoply! No limits!
Let’s see if these prissy, sanctimonious gdf bozos on the Left can take it . Ambulances, therapy dogs, IV bubble juice standing by, of course….
As Rob Long has pointed out – nobody actually watches some of these shows. (Samantha Bee has a tiny audience.) But the zeitgeist in the entertainment business is skewed so far to the Left, the decision-makers don’t seem to care. It’s more important for them to be hip than to reach a larger audience.
What is sad is this: The Left, with it’s many absurd positions, is an easy target for humor. (Actually, the Left is so extreme, it might be difficult to parody.) But the entertainment business is too afraid to mock their own – I assume for fear of being ostracized.
Forcing them to live under the same dark cloud of fear that they would have the rest of the country live is cardinal good in and of itself.
I totally GET the white-hot hatred that fueled Colbert’s rant. I feel it for Clinton, Omega, Schumer and Pelosi. I’d just like to se somebody speak MY mind!
I don’t know about that. Many of the people who ran to Fox News go to bed before the late night shows are on so they can get up for work. Late night is a different demographic.
If Colbert had made the same “joke” about Obama, he would have been fired even before the episode aired that night (or more accurately, before the episode didn’t air that night).
There has to be one standard.
As I said elsewhere yesterday, what do you think would be happening if Colbert would have leveled the same angry rant at President Hillary wrapping it up by calling her Putin’s c***-holster? Fired immediately and out begging on the streets.
It’s not that I’m against free speech. I’m against the obvious double standard at play. When the left sees the right playing nice and upholding standards, they don’t think “gosh, we should be like them!” and start adopting more civil forms of behavior. They think “what a bunch of suckers!” and they carry on like always.
You know how to deal with bullies? You don’t stay silent while demonstrating proper behavior in the hopes that you shame them into submission. You punch hard and keep punching until they realize that you won’t give in to their bullying.
The left are a bunch of bullies. Punch them hard. Take a cue from Ronaldo Magnus: Peace through strength.
Yes, demand Colbert’s firing. Not with loud screaming but with reason. President Obama, was always using a rhetorical device by which he lectured us that “we aren’t like that.” Since that’s their language, then let’s patiently explain as often as we can that that “we” don’t broadcast stuff like that on television. And if someone does, then regrettably, there must be consequences.
Colbert must be fired. And it’s not those evil conservatives doing that to him. No, I’m afraid he did it to himself. He is fully responsible for his actions. CBS must take its share of the blame.
Colbert must be fired. “Not in anger but in sorrow.”
And then . . . that’s one down, several more to go.
Make the enemy live up to his own rules.
We need to be attacking Colbert, yes, but not for insulting the president. We needing be standing up and saying “How dare you, sir, use a homophobic slur! You’re a secret homophobe!”
The left always eats their own. Instead of slinging mud, we need to be slinging gravy and get the rabid SJW brigade to strip them to the bone for us.
So what if Republicans boycott Colbert in favor of a conservative? We don’t watch him anyway. Driving a wedge between him and his audience will be far more productive.
You know, an argument could be made that Colbert’s access to American homes is broadcast over publicly-owned airwaves – and thus subject to some standards of decency and fairness. And one would hope that the folks in charge at CBS might think Colbert went too far. But I’m not holding my breath.
Of course, I think it’s safe to assume any standards-based restrictions on free speech would be used far more often against the Right than the Left. So, conservatives would still get the short end of the stick.
You are so right! The cock-holster line was the equivalent of a schoolyard taunt: ” Vlad and Donald! GAy for each other!” Where’s the LGBTQ outrage?
I would fire Colbert not for his rant against Trump – he’s got a right to do that – but for his disgusting language: “Vladimir Putin’s “c*** holster”???? That is beyond acceptable decency. I can’t think of ever agreeing with Colbert, but I had some sense of respect for him, a sense of respect based apparently on poor knowledge. I don’t watch him but I’ve seen a few clips over the years that led me to think he was an upstanding person. Anyone that uses such a graphic indecent image and profanity is no upstanding person. I’m embarrassed I have to repeat it and embarrassed the ladies here have to read it. Such language has no place on the public air waves.
We already know they can’t STAND to be mocked. Look at the WH Correspondents Dinner when Norm MacDonald hosted. Those pompous wind bags could hardly crack a smile every time the lens of satire or sarcasm was pointed their way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyKLXQ6g6ys
Right. But you can’t stop there. I was surprised to hear some broadcasters criticize Tom Perez for the foul language he has been using publicly in his role as the head of the DNC. Broadcasters who are staunch Democrat allies.
So let’s shame Tom Perez, too. Remember, Hillary had that “think of the children!” ad last year where she tut-tutted over Trump’s foul language. Well, fine. Let’s take a cue from Hillary. Do we really want a DNC that talks like that? Do we really want a talk show host who uses such language on the public airwaves?
There’s precedent, after all. Martin Bashir was forced to apologize and “retire” from MSNBC when he made this horrific comment about Sarah Palin. Does MSNBC have a greater sense of propriety than CBS? It would appear so.
So yeah, let’s force CBS to act because it’s right and good and promotes general decency. Tom Perez should be gone, too. And then let’s not stop there.
I’ve got a little list, and they’ll none of ’em be missed.
Tony,
Yes, but you wouldn’t have Stephen Colbert. That’s one less grotesque idiot on late night.
Works for me.
Regards,
Jim
I might agree in normal times, but these aren’t normal times…..the beating that everyone is taking at Fox for example – this would never stand there for a second if it were made on the other side. He doesn’t deserve a talk show.
Mr. Katz,
I enjoyed your commentary!
Sincerely,
Jerome Danner
Colbert? Leave the talentless little idiot to twist in the wind.
Beat up the network that cleared this tripe to go out under their aegis.
Oh, who cares about Colbert? Let him make his little jokes.
I agree. Colbert is a good man with bad ideas. He’s a funny man that let politics interfere with his ability to be funny.
This tendency to freak every time someone says or does something stupid is juvenile. Not laughing at bad jokes is plenty good. Making good jokes is even better.
In an ideal world, I’d agree with you.
But we all know what would happen if Greg Gutfeld had said something similar about Obama.
No more double standards.
You know who I think could do a splendid job hosting a Tonight Show-type program? @andrewklavan. The guy writes a very funny opening monologue for his podcast five days a week. He’s got connections in Hollywood, which I think would help get some show business guests. There’s no way he wouldn’t be superior to the likes of Seth Meyers. Maybe @roblong could produce it.
I feel about comedians mostly the same as I feel about journalists. They’re trying to shape my opinion so that I’ll vote their side into power.
Fat chance of that.
The problem with that is that you’ve accepted the standard which is being doubled.
No, it’s making the opposition live up to the standards they profess. Int his case, no “homophobia”.
So for those so inclined to share their mind with CBS go ahead and leave some feedback, Colbert is listed under the Late Night category, companies love feedback.