Colbert Recalls The White House Dinner; Says He "Can't Climb Glenn Beck"

Stephen Colbert recalls the White House Correspondents dinner at which he uncomfortably gibed President Bush to the horror of some in the room, and to the president's obvious displeasure, at a Second City forum; James Warren gives a rundown at his Atlantic Correspondents blog.

Colbert had much more aggressive material prepared, but decided to back off it. "We felt like we were throwing joke Molotov cocktails, and then the room burst into flames," he said.

Colbert also expresses some worry that media figures who don't take themselves seriously are impossible to parody. Specifically, Glenn Beck:

"I worry that if we use that as a model....if somebody doesn't believe what they're saying, it's very hard to out-stupid them," said a decidedly analytical Colbert. "Because then there's no place to sink our hook into, there's no mountain to climb there. I can't climb Glenn Beck since there's nothing there."

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2009/12/colbert-recalls-the-white-house-dinner-says-he-cant-climb-glenn-beck/32555/