Reactions to Stephen Colbert’s Bush roast largely break down along lines of political affiliations. But there are exceptions. Check ’em out.

Also, watch Tucker Calson call it an “embarrassing public flop.“

The Moderate Voice:

The scene: The White House Correspondent Dinner. The time: right after President George W. Bush put in a boffo performance next to a top-notch Bush impersonator. It was a hard act to follow.

But Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert most assuredly followed it in his irony-heavy TV persona of a TV News talk show host that seems reminiscent of a Fox News host with the initials B.O. (or, rather B.O’R.)

What followed was a study in contrasting satirical forms ? the easier task with one form (the one-liner, the visual, the lines dependent on joke construction and timing)…and the tougher task with the other (heavy irony, which relies on shared assumptions)..

The result: Bush & his new performing bud brought down the house with a much “safer” and traditional form of self-effacing political humor, while Colbert’s edgier Comedy Central-style humor clearly turned off some members of the audience and ? Editor and Publisher suggests ? perhaps Bush and his wife Laura.

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