The president acted reasonably amused, and honestly by a segment that was not very amusing. In fact, that segment was downright SNLish...

Seriously, guys.... time to forget the idea in your heads that Colbert has revolutionalised discourse in this nation.

Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.

the Decider's reaction was a lot milder than I was led to believe. He actually does very little scowling here, and he does laugh a couple of times.

His standard blank expression has always looked a little like a scowl, but I think that's just because of his lopsided mouth. Really, there's not much of a story here. And no, I'm not a freeper troll, and yes, I thought Colbert was superb, and no, I'm not a Bush apologist.

A number of people have commented on how surprising it was that Colbert was even invited, and worried for the well-being of whoever invited him. But if you watch the Google video of the dinner from the start of the presentations, you see that Mark Smith (?), president of the Association, in beginning his remarks notes that last year President Bush had told him that he had a face for radio. Note, too, that he has been quoted in the aftermath as saying that he thought Colbert was pretty funny. Maybe it was just payback time.

But I too thought that Bush's reaction was pretty mild - have to give him credit for shaking Colbert's hand, which was certainly civil, particularly if he was as mad as they say.

When I click on the link I get this:

"This video has been removed at the request of copyright owner C-SPAN because its content was used without permission"

Now I know that $0.05 of my cable bill every month goes to C-SPAN because I am a regaular watcher of C-SPAN and I have seen Brian Lamb, Connie Dobele, and Susan Sloan mention that from time to time.

I'll be the first to admit that I consume C-SPAN for lot more than a nickel per month, but I still want access to this video.

Thanks,

Mark

Really wanted to see that one. Anyone know where I can find another copy?

I'd love to see the reaction feed. Does anyone know where else it can be found?

I unfortunately missed this video, but I did watch the whole Colbert video and you know, the audience were laughing all the way through that too. Maybe not as hard as at whatever the previous act was, maybe they were incredulous or afraid to laugh conspicuously at such blatent heresy, but they did laugh anyway.

I think Colbert may very well have had the impact he wanted to of waking up the DC press. You notice in high-level negotiations that no one admits when a subordinate wins; things just quietly change. If Bush were winning, no one would have been able to do that routine. If Colbert had made an idiot of himself, it would have been written up everywhere.

I think Salon has done a great service in letting so much more of the country know what happened. But I do think it's a shame you have to spin so hard to get people to look at things.

is there something wrong with youtube ? Or should I be paranoid and suspect censorship ?

The Bush reaction video has been taken off YouTube due to copyright issues. Any comments?

Thta's just nuts. What's the problem with us seeing Chimpy's reaction to the skit?

The youtube video you posted no longer works because of C-Span restrictions. But I found this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-oMlBSiX3g

Jaibe is right:

You notice in high-level negotiations that no one admits when a subordinate wins; things just quietly change.

It WAS a long 7 minutes.

I thought he looked as though he was on a slow boil, and that his smiles were forced.

I don't think he was enjoying himself.

I eagerly look forward to the book one day by some staffer who witnessed his full reaction.

And I've noticed Colbert-isms from the speech creeping into the MSM the last few days...

Doesn't matter how Bush reacted anyway. Matters more how America did.

I for one, nearly wept with relief.

commander codpiece had the distinct look of a dry drunk who'd kill for a triple tanqueray, the clenched sphincter of a buggerer who's unaccustomed to being buggered. get used to it, widdle georgie. too bad petroleum jelly is so costly thanks to your fascist foreign policy.

CNN should immediately give broadcast permission for the Prez. reaction to Colbert truth skit if they truly want to hold dear our American rights to Freedom of the Press! It is not our fault that we have an IDIOT PRESIDENT! SHOW IT NOW!! That is what America is ALL ABOUT___FREEDOM TO CRITICISE AS WELL AS HONOR!!

DO NOT CAPITULATE!!

Is it possible that you could point me to this clip elsewhere, since YouTube has apparently removed it at the request of CSPAN?

Perhaps I don't understand the subtleties of this, but how does C-SPAN have a copyright on ABC's video feed? And if ABC has the copyright issue, why are we not criticizing ABC? Copyrights are be licensed for money, and if the demand exists, somebody should be offering ABC serious cash.

That said, though, I agree with the folks who say the reporters'--and the president's--supposedly affronted reaction to Colbert has been over-spun. He was biting, satirical, ironic and sarcastic. Every joke hit the mark. But he was not always laugh-out-loud funny. This was not stand-up.

As for the president, I would have liked to have seen this close-up video to judge for myself, but I never saw anything but the usual bewildered "what's that smell" look on his face in the wider shots. And what was he supposed to do, invite Colbert to dinner after being roasted like that? Pose for a photo? Would a liberal have done that after being skewered by a sharp conservative wit? He has a right to be upset. Knowing his dictatorial ways, the fact that Bush HASN'T punished The Daily Show or Comedy Central is the real story here. There is a precedent: Didn't the Smothers Brothers lose their highly popular show in the '60s for similar reasons?