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HOST: And no one is safe. Ladies and gentlemen,
with a special edition of Colbert Report.
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Stephen Colbert!
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Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
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Before I begin, I've been asked to make an announcement.
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Whoever parked 14 black bulletproof S.U.V.'s
out front, could you please move them? They
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are blocking in 14 other black bulletproof
S.U.V.'s and they need to get out.
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Wow. Wow, what an honor. The White House correspondents'
dinner. To actually sit here, at the same
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table with my hero, George W. Bush, to be
this close to the man. I feel like I'm dreaming.
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Somebody pinch me. You know what? I'm a pretty
sound sleeper -- that may not be enough. Somebody
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shoot me in the face. Is he really not here
tonight? Dammit. The one guy who could have
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helped.
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By the way, before I get started, if anybody
needs anything else at their tables, just
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speak slowly and clearly into your table numbers.
Somebody from the NSA will be right over with
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a cocktail.
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Mark Smith, ladies and gentlemen of the press
corps, Madame First Lady, Mr. President, my
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name is Stephen Colbert and tonight it's my
privilege to celebrate this president. We're
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not so different, he and I. We get it. We're
not brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We're not
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members of the factinista. We go straight
from the gut, right sir? That's where the
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truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do
you know you have more nerve endings in your
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gut than you have in your head? You can look
it up. I know some of you are going to say
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"I did look it up, and that's not true." That's
'cause you looked it up in a book.
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Next time, look it up in your gut. I did.
My gut tells me that's how our nervous system
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works. Every night on my show, the Colbert
Report, I speak straight from the gut, OK?
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I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational
argument. I call it the "No Fact Zone." Fox
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News, I hold a copyright on that term.
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I'm a simple man with a simple mind. I hold
a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number
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one, I believe in America. I believe it exists.
My gut tells me I live there. I feel that
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it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
and I strongly believe it has 50 states. And
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I cannot wait to see how the Washington Post
spins that one tomorrow. I believe in democracy.
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I believe democracy is our greatest export.
At least until China figures out a way to
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stamp it out of plastic for three cents a
unit.
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In fact, Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong, welcome.
Your great country makes our Happy Meals possible.
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I said it's a celebration. I believe the government
that governs best is the government that governs
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least. And by these standards, we have set
up a fabulous government in Iraq.
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I believe in pulling yourself up by your own
bootstraps. I believe it is possible -- I
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saw this guy do it once in Cirque du Soleil.
It was magical. And though I am a committed
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Christian, I believe that everyone has the
right to their own religion, be you Hindu,
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Jewish or Muslim. I believe there are infinite
paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal
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savior.
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Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it's yogurt.
But I refuse to believe it's not butter. Most
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of all, I believe in this president.
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Now, I know there are some polls out there
saying this man has a 32% approval rating.
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But guys like us, we don't pay attention to
the polls. We know that polls are just a collection
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of statistics that reflect what people are
thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known
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liberal bias.
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So, Mr. President, please, pay no attention
to the people that say the glass is half full.
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32% means the glass -- it's important to set
up your jokes properly, sir. Sir, pay no attention
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to the people who say the glass is half empty,
because 32% means it's 2/3 empty. There's
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still some liquid in that glass is my point,
but I wouldn't drink it. The last third is
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usually backwash.