Per aspera

It’s been a few days, but if you haven’t seen Stephen Colbert’s speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, it’s very important that you do so.  Colbert was invited to speak at the annual wank-fest where the Washington press and the people they’re supposed to be covering get together to celebrate their chummy conflict of interest, and he was merciless.  He looked the President dead in the eye, viciously mocked him, and didn’t blink.  He was no kinder to the press in the audience.  He had to know that the crowd couldn’t laugh at him, which has got to be like the scariest thing a professional comic can contemplate, but he did not punk out.

Anyway.  Balls of Steel.  I hope Kurt Vonnegut sticks around for a long time, but when he finally dies, I’m going to need a new hero, and Colbert made the short list this weekend.

See also John Rogers and Billmon.