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The hardest thing for a comic to do is plow through his routine in front of a hostile audience. The Washington crowd that night was giving nothing back, but Colbert refused to let that stop him. He wasn't bombing at all; it's just that the vast majority of his appreciative audience wouldn't see the monologue until hours or even days later. He was playing to America, but the 2500 or so in the room just had better seats.
Just think what an opportunity he had that night. Imagine having the chance to stand fifteen feet from George W. Bush and take your time laying out each painful truth of his corrupt, incompetent, murderous administration in front of a Washington press corps audience.
I get a kick out of the righties (and even the lefties) who winge and sob that Colbert was "over the line" and "should have shown more respect." Why? Does the president who joked about starting a war over missing WMDs deserve respect? Of course not. He deserves a heaping spoonful of stealing truth every time he dares show his face in public.
