Who else but Stephen Colbert would submit to a buzz cut by a four-star general after getting the president of the United States to make fun of his own big ears before thousands of U.S. soldiers and millions of late-night TV watchers? This definitely was not Bob Hope's USO show. Sure, during episodes of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" filmed in Baghdad and airing this week, Colbert carried a golf club in homage to Hope, the comic who entertained troops overseas for six decades. But Colbert's comedy wasn't a chuckle-fest morale booster with the obligatory babe trotted out for ogling. It was a patriotic embrace of men and women in uniform still doing the hard slog in Iraq, all right. But it was wrapped in the usual biting social and political commentary disguised as satire that's made the "Report" one of the smartest shows on TV. Yes, there are brains at work amid the rude and raunchy stuff that passes for humor elsewhere on cable.
For the uninitiated, Colbert the comedian portrays Colbert the blustery, self-satisfied TV commentator modeled on Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. It's a piercing parody. Or is it?
Ohio State University researchers concluded this year that strong conservatives were more likely than liberals to perceive that Colbert shares their political beliefs. The researchers interviewed 332 undergraduates after showing them a 2006 episode. Liberals, the study concluded, tended to believe Colbert was only joking, while conservatives tended to believe he only pretended to be joking and disliked liberalism. Of course the absurd notion that college researchers would study the science of late-night TV humor is one that Colbert might make up — or surely make fun of.
Part of the show's genius is that no one is safe from skewering. Colbert was merciless to Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who so obviously didn't get the joke or even try to play along when he was one of the first interviewees for "Better Know a District." That subversive segment sort of educates voters about congressional districts around the country while doing its best to embarrass their elected representatives. Even though Obama adviser Rahm Emanuel, when he was in Congress, told Democratic members not to go on Colbert's show, a number have. Obama has made several appearances, including one by big screen Monday night when he ordered Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of the multinational forces in Iraq, to cut Colbert's hair.
The soldiers cheered heartily for the hair-shedding show of solidarity and video of Colbert's abbreviated "basic training," which included him and a barking, straight-faced drill sergeant chanting during a run in fatigues and boots. But this wasn't all about safe guffaws; with Colbert it never is. He argued with himself about the don't-ask, don't-tell policy on gays in the military. He interviewed a female soldier and an Arab-American who enlisted after 9-11 and works as a translator.
It's not surprising that this wildly popular political satirist would venture to Baghdad. His Web site, www.colbertnation.com/home, links to donorschoose.org, through which contributors can help classroom projects in schools attended by children of military parents. And he's generated more than a quarter-million dollars for the Yellow Ribbon Fund's assistance to injured veterans through his WristStrong campaign, which turned a broken wrist into a fund-raiser by selling red plastic bracelets and auctioning his cast signed by celebrities.
Funny that Colbert isn't a favorite of the Washington press corps. They weren't impressed by the brutal irony and political incorrectness of his 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner antics.
"I stand by this man because he stands for things," he said about then-President George W. Bush. "Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares."
And there was this about the press corps: "Over the last five years you people were so good — over tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effect of global warming. We Americans didn't want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out."
The military will play along for the sake of the troops, but members of the national media can't take a joke.
Now, there's irony.
Linda P. Campbell is a columnist and editorial writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
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