Did I say the Right had no sense of irony?

Stephen Colbert spoke last night at the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner. I really don't know how a media and PR machine as saavy as the Bushies could have made this kind of error. The only thing I can visualize is a conversation that goes like this:

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Bushie #1: Who will we get as the last speaker for the Correspondents' Dinner?

Bushie #2: How about Stephen Colbert? He's like Bill O'Reilly except he's funny!

Bushie #1: Done!
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I mean, did these guys ever watch Colbert's show? Or did they think that Stephen Colbert did silly things like the "Threat Down" that listed "Bears" as one of the top five threats to America every week in order to mock the scare tactics of the Left?

Or maybe when Colbert said "Mr. President, it's time to hire the folks who've never let you down. Limbaugh at Health and Human Services, Hannity at State. Then, give Rummy the Medal of Freedom and install Bill O'Reilly as Secdef. Only problem--you might find yourself invading Vermont." They've had it coming!" they thought he mocked the Left for their accusations of cronyism (quote courtesy of The Colbert Nation).

Seriously.

But the single best thing about Colbert's performance in front of those gathered media representatives, and the high officials of the Bush regime, and the President himself is the fact that he did not flinch. He spoke with the same deep irony fueled by the same heartfelt rage that he displays every night on his television show. He stood six feet from the President and spoke his mind, if not plainly, then without altering his standard tone or curbing the acid burn of his comments. Stephen Colbert will likely never be invited back to another White House function, but at least he walked in and walked out of that hall like a man.