USA - Stephen Colbert for President

[jerbles]

I don't know if any of you watch The Colbert Report or the Daily Show (comedy central) (I sure as hell don't), but I just heard that Stephen Colbert was running for president, so I read up on it (this is for the US '08 elections).

Apparently, he came on the Daily Show a while back (oct somethin), which airs right before his show, the Colbert Report, announcing that he was gonna consider whether to officially announce running for president on his show. Of course, he did. Clips can be seen probably on youtube or someplace.

I don't know if I can post the link or not, but just look up colbert 08 or something. He said he was gonna run only in South Carolina. I really don't know much about the elections, but he also said he would run as a democrat and a repulican, which I don't think is possible(?). I think he was actually denied or something, but it was obviously just some stupid joke or a publicity stunt.

If anyone knows more, please elaborate. I was just wondering what some of you swiys out there think would happen if a comedian actually became the president of the US (aside from us being mocked by every other nation).

[fnord]

[quote=jerbles;333755I was just wondering what some of you swiys out there think would happen if a comedian actually became the president of the US (aside from us being mocked by every other nation).[/quote]


well at least it would replace the current not so funny comedian we have now.im quite fond of Stevie's witty commentary,while i think he would be quite an entertaining pres i disagree with his silly political views quite strongly.

[jazzmetalguitar]

Moderately frightening. The guy is hilarious but he could potentially do an even worse job than the guy doing it now. In all seriousness not everyone can just do politics and I certainly can't even agree with many of his standpoints (which he doesn't make specifically clear, rather makes it clear what he is against).

In addition to the S Carolina Dem/Rep dual run that was mentioned (and obviously a joke and sure failure), I heard he was running as an independent as well. At this point I don't believe he would have any chance of winning, however he could pull enough votes (from some of my less intelligent and dimwitted peers) to alter election results...hopefully, people take politics more seriously than that but he could cause a vote pull (which I presume would be from the Democratic party).

[jux]

Originally Posted by jazzmetalguitar

In all seriousness not everyone can just do politics and I certainly can't even agree with many of his standpoints .

what he says on the show is just a performance, a character he plays to mock fox news type reporters... in fact, a lot of his show is a direct parody of bill o'rielly's show. i seriously doubt he holds any of those veiws in real life.

in any case, the whole presidential run is nothing more than a publicity stunt...it would be funny if he won though.

[jerbles]

yeah... I really don't like the show much, as he is TOTALLY FAKE. Extremely fake, and everything seems SOOO scripted.

Jon Stewart is much funnier and more real in my opinion, and isn't so damn full of himself.

And this may be a stupid question, but what does independant mean? Has any president ever been elected as an independant? I've never heard of it. I really don't know shit about the whole election thing. Does the second leading opposing party get Vice President or something, or how does the whole VP thing work? I mean like, how stephen said it could be Stephen/Huckabee. Does that mean he would be running against Huckabee, or that if he got elected, Huckabee would be VP?

The last election was like 8 years ago and I was only 15, so I wasn't paying much attention. I do wonder how the FUCK Bush got elected as president though. I mean, WTF is wrong with America?? I don't wanna bash the guy, but he's just a joke.

[jux]

Originally Posted by jerbles

Jon Stewart is much funnier and more real in my opinion, and isn't so damn full of himself.

i completely agree.

Originally Posted by jerbles

how does the whole VP thing work?

after the primaries, it is decided who will run for president for in the democrat and republican parties. the presidential canidate for each party decides who to pick as running mate (vp). this decision is likely heavily influenced by the political party he is running with.

Originally Posted by jerbles

I do wonder how the FUCK Bush got elected as president though. I mean, WTF is wrong with America??

easily manipulated by fear and religion among other things.

Originally Posted by jerbles

oh yeah, and Bush is gonna leave the US broke as fuck.

clinton left bush with a 127 billion dollar budget surplus....bush has turned that surplus into a record setting deficit (9 trillion dollars if i am not mistaken)...he has already left america broke

[BobTheGreat]

Originally Posted by jux

clinton left bush with a 127 billion dollar budget surplus....bush has turned that surplus into a record setting deficit (9 trillion dollars if i am not mistaken)...he has already left america broke

I loathe Bush but there are a lot more economics that come into play. One man cant totally destroy the economy(More or less people lost faith in the economy(biggest factor) + 9/11 + war + imports > exports + a crap load more.) Anyway the national DEBT is 9 trillion(5 nationally and 4 internationally). the deficit is 163 billion. Also I cant believe Im actually defending bush.

Furthermore Clintons policies alone didnt bring the US out of debt nor were the a big factor(and I am a Clinton fan). People just started spending like crazy which in turn caused the surplus.

If anyone want to know more about this, take a college level econ class. 1 semester and everything will probably be explained in great detail( depending on what school you go to.)


Anyway back to Corbert. He was going to run both D and R but R cost $10,000 to apply so he didnt. And he wasnt chossen for the D side(which cost a couple thousand dollars to apply). I only skimmed the thread but everyone does realize Corbert is just an act. It's satire people. His presidental run was a pretty good PR for his show since it cost him no money(aside from writers, ect).

[Coconut]

Originally Posted by jerbles

The last election was like 8 years ago and I was only 15, so I wasn't paying much attention. I do wonder how the FUCK Bush got elected as president though. I mean, WTF is wrong with America?? I don't wanna bash the guy, but he's just a joke.

Two words: Florida. Ohio.

I actually like Colbert's style and sense of humour. I was especially fond of the video he did on the Dept. of Homeland Security (Freedom Plus, etc.)

[jerbles]

oh yeah, and Bush is gonna leave the US broke as fuck.

[jerbles]

I don't see how no one in America sees this whole being broke thing as a problem...

[piddleton]

I'm a big fan of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart - Colbert has his talents but has done nothing to demonstrate his suitability for the post of presidential candidate

Whereas Jon Stewart is more than just a comedian, he is an observer of social inequities, a man with astonishing intelligence. Often he is brought in by respected organisations to give lecturers - although he does creep in the occassion joke, a normal weakness that drove him into comedy from the outset, his remarks and comments are still nonetheless very serious, politically always on que, cutting and thoughtful and makes an absolute farce of the contradictory policies laid out by the current serving government.

In essence if George W Bush can survive this long, being a two term president even in the face of all that calamaties that he has engendered through sheer lack of wisdom and proper guidance; all the deaths that his actions have lead to, nobody in this world can tell me that a person with astounding intelligence and social insight as Mr Jon Stewart can't do a better job from within the Oval ofice. America would become a better place to live in and people would certainly warm up to Stewart frank manner. I think Americans have grown tired of political spin, they want their views to be seriously and heard by people higher above; and most all, Americans desire to see, and be proud of, a transparent government that doesn't on the face of it push through own hidden agendas of their own while advancing the fortunes of their closest friends and allies. I'm constantly tired of major million dollars contracts issued by the republican party going to friends and family members of the republican party members themselves. What about the whole idea of meritocracy? A country that prides itself on its core democratic values should at least stand by their principles and award the contracts to the companies whose records are the most deserving. Such a practice will one day lead to the decline of America. To stay ahead you choose the best players you can find. Any football team will tell you the same thing. And yet the American government doesn't seem to adhere to that very simple logic, a logic which has gotten the Chicargo Bulls through same difficult scrapes, the better the side the more hope of winning and yet your elected politicians would rather scratch an allies back in the hopes that the gesture will be returned, in full.

But I believe a man with Jon Stewart's integrity would rise above all that and lead a country not just in the interest of corporate america, the billionaires and multimillionaires who seem to possess 75% of the entire wealth but for the little man as well, upon whom big industry is so reliant. Jon Stewart is not the type of person to veto a sick bill to redirect a tax funds generated by smokers to support poor sick children as George W Bush had so done. The man is a cartoon villian!! How many bribes did he accept from tobacco companies to pass that veto. It is shameful.

Reputation Comments on this post:

well said

[lulz]

Originally Posted by jerbles

I think he was actually denied or something, but it was obviously just some stupid joke or a publicity stunt.

First off it was a joke candidacy, he was only running in South Carolina, and to have seriously run for president he would have had to run in the primaries of all states in the US. Secondly, it wasn't a stupid joke candidacy, it was in form with his style of political satire, which whether you find funny or not, is certainly intelligent.

Anyhow, he did ended up getting "denied". He initially presented himself as running for the primaries as both a Republican and a Democrat. He decided not to run as a Republican when he found out that he had to pay 35,000 dollars to get on the Republican ballot just to run for the primaries. The cost to run as a Democrat was 10% of that cost, so he decided to run as a Democrat instead.

It was clear from the beginning that he wasn't seriously trying to run for President. I downloaded his interview on Larry King, and he said that if he won the primary in South Carolina, he would give up his victory (or something to that effect, I'm not 100% familiar with the American electorate system), if he was allowed to speak at whatever ceremony they have to announce the winner.

But he was doomed from the start. He had to be approved by the members of the Democratic National Committee in South Carolina. One of the conditions to be approved for the ballot is that a person has to be clearly attempting to run for the presidency - since he was only applying to run in South Carolina, this meant he was pretty much disqualified from running from the start. But apparently some members of the DNC committee have zero sense of humor:

Another council member, Charleston Democratic Party Chairman Waring Howe, was more blunt: "Over my dead body will Colbert's name be on the ballot."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/31/colbert.sc/

And so it came to pass. He was blocked from the ballot, and he's out of the presidential race:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...ck=1&cset=true

[Coconut]

Originally Posted by lulz

And so it came to pass. He was blocked from the ballot, and he's out of the presidential race:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...ck=1&cset=true

In fairness, he pretty much started the race without any legs.

It was a hilarious lack of legs though.

[AirO]

The Stephen Colbert you see on his TV show is COMPLETELY different than the real Stephen Colbert. Everything on his show is an act, a satire based off Bill O'Rielly and other people. So yes the character he is playing on his show if full of himself, and his political views are crazy, and that's what he's going for, to mock people who actually think that way.

Hope that clears Mr. Stephen C up cause seems like you all don't understand his show.

[lulz]

^

One of the greatest TV moments I've ever seen involved Colbert.

The first part is a clip of Colbert, as a guest on O'Reilly's show. Apparently O'Reilly didn't realise that Colbert was a satirist, and on top of that, O'Reilly even suggested that Colbert owed him money because he thought Colbert was simply imitating O'Reilly.

In reciprocation, O'Reilly agreed to be a guest on the Colbert Report. About one minute into the segment, O'Reilly realises that not only is Colbert a satirist, but Colbert is satirising O'Reilly. I forget the joke that made it blatantly clear, but the look on O'Reilly's face was priceless. He straight away said that he regretted coming on the Colbert Report, and he wasn't joking around when he said it.

Fox News type pundits truly live in the land that irony forgot.

[jux]

i think it was even pitched to comedy central as a direct parody of o'rielly's show.

in any case i am surprised at how popular he has become...it seems like the daily show is the new launching point for comedians.... just look at steve carell

[BobTheGreat]

Originally Posted by jux

i think it was even pitched to comedy central as a direct parody of o'rielly's show.

in any case i am surprised at how popular he has become...it seems like the daily show is the new launching point for comedians.... just look at steve carell

Actually a lot of these comedians have been around for a while . Look up the dana carvey show on youtube. You should see Colbert and a few other now well knowns. It just takes time for the networks to catch an eye and give them a chance.

[jux]

yeah they were around, but without the daily show i doubt colbert would have his show and i doubt carell would be in any movies.

i think the daily show is becoming what snl used to be for comedians.