Defending Colbert, Stewart calls a FOX ASSHOLE an 'arrogant douche

and Jon was being overly kind in his remarks.....

By David Edwards

Expect to feel the wrath of Jon Stewart if you trash one of his fellow Comedy Central hosts.

Many pundits and politicians -- most of them conservative -- criticized Stephen Colbert for testifying in character Friday before a House immigration subcommittee after being invited by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). Stewart came to Colbert's defense Monday.


Lofgren asked Colbert to tell the subcommittee about his experience working for a day in a job typically done by undocumented workers.

RAW STORY reported:

Most of the committee's questions were directed at the more serious witnesses, but Colbert did get in a few laugh lines, including, "I don't want a tomato picked by a Mexican, sliced by a Guatemalan, served by a Colombian at a spa while a Chilean gives me a Brazilian."

In his final chance to comment, however, Colbert briefly broke character to explain that he had gotten involved in the issue of migrant farmworkers because "I like talking about people who don't have any power. ... 'Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers.' ... Migrant workers suffer and have no rights." Following the hearing, Republicans pounced on Democrats for allowing the testimony.

"It's a serious issue," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). "This is a broken system and they call in Colbert as the first guy?"

"I think it's an insult to the time and an insult to the intelligence of the American people that Congress is conducting themselves in this fashion," grumbled Steve King (R-IA).

Even some Democrats complained. "I think it was an embarrassment to Mr. Colbert more than the House," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).

But one conservative pundit got Stewart's attention. "Any comic who says I'm here to speak for people that have no voice is no longer a comic but a pompous jerk," Tucker Carlson said on Fox News the evening following Colbert's testimony.

"Yes, pompous jerk as opposed to an arrogant douche who apparently gets to decide who is and is not a comic," Stewart shot back.

Stewart's dislike for Carlson was first apparent when he appeared on CNN's Crossfire in 2004. Ars Technica noted:

Yesterday Stewart made his case not on the Daily Show, but instead on CNN's Crossfire (transcript here | streaming video here). Crossfire is a partisan show that pits two sides against each other. Stewart came on the show, and it's rather clear that Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala were expecting a jovial Stewart to trade barbs with them, but that's not what happened. From the beginning of the discussion, Stewart took aim at Crossfire and other media shows, saying (at first with a smile) that they "hurt America" by making politicians' lives easier by failing to "hold their feet to the fire."

The gist of Stewart's complaint was that shows that were purportedly "hard" and "cutting" were really only theatrical performances of talking points and sensationalism—an accusation made eerily true when Carlson tried to ask an irrelevant and stupid question about Bill O'Reilly's current sex scandal. Carlson's rejoinder amounted to nothing more than asking why Stewart himself didn't ask the likes of John Kerry tougher questions, at which point Stewart noted, "If you want to compare your show to a comedy show, you're more than welcome to."

"Tucker and I can talk like this because we already have a visceral negative reaction to each other. Not an ounce of friendship or respect between us. Truly one of the only people in the world I feel that way about," explained Stewart Monday.

This video is from Comedy Central's The Daily Show, broadcast Sept. 27, 2010

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Colbert tells GOP questioner ‘one day of me studying anything makes me an expert’

By David Edwards and Muriel Kane

GOP lawmaker blasts Democrats over Colbert testimony

The plan for Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert to testify "in character" before a House of Representatives immigration subcommittee on Friday did not initially go as planned.

By 10 am, the hearing had become such a spectacle that Rep. John Conyers asked Colbert to "leave the committee room completely and submit your statement [in writing] instead." The comedian did, however, return a few minutes later at the insistence of committee Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), who had originally invited him.

Colbert proceeded to shake up the committee by delivering an opening statement that Conyers described as "significantly different from the one he presented" in advance.

Taking on his television persona as a conservative political commentator, Colbert said he was qualified to testify on the basis of his "vast experience" picking beans in a "farmworker for a day" program. "I didn't ask them for their papers but I had a strong urge to," he said of his fellow workers.

"I believe one day of me studying anything makes me an expert," Colbert explained when challenged on his credentials as a witness.

At one point, Rep. Steve King of Iowa commented that although Colbert had claimed he packed corn during his one day as a farmworker, in a YouTube video of his show he actually appeared to be unpacking it.

Colbert was given a chance to respond and insisted, "I was a corn-packer -- and I know that term is offensive to some people because 'corn-packer' is a term for a gay Iowan."

King had previously issued a statement charging that Colbert's presence at the hearing weakened the credibility of Democrats who were pressing for amnesty for illegal immigrants.

“Amnesty supporters frequently claim that Americans won’t do hard work, a claim which is insulting,” King said in the statement. “Maybe amnesty supporters should spend less time watching Comedy Central and more time considering all the real jobs that are out there that require hard labor and don’t involve sitting behind a desk. If they did, they would realize that every day American workers perform the dirtiest, most difficult, most dangerous jobs that can be thrown at them.”

Most of the committee's questions were directed at the more serious witnesses, but Colbert did get in a few laugh lines, including, "I don't want a tomato picked by a Mexican, sliced by a Guatemalan, served by a Colombian at a spa while a Chilean gives me a Brazilian."

In his final chance to comment, however, Colbert briefly broke character to explain that he had gotten involved in the issue of migrant farmworkers because "I like talking about people who don't have any power. ... 'Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers.' ... Migrant workers suffer and have no rights."

Several video clips from Colbert's testimony are below.

CNN had previously reported:

Stephen Colbert shined his comedic light on farm labor and immigration for his TV show. Now a House subcommittee is about to have him draw attention to the issues on Capitol Hill.

The Comedy Central funnyman, fresh off Thursday night's "The Colbert Report" episode showing him packing corn and picking beans on a farm as part of a challenge from a pro-immigrant-labor group, is to appear before a House subcommittee on immigration.

He is expected to relate his experiences during the "Take Our Jobs" campaign, in which he spent a day with immigrant farm workers.

"They say that you truly know a man after you've walked a mile in his shoes, and while I have nowhere near the hardships of these struggling immigrants, I have been granted a sliver of insight," according to his opening statement released in advance of his testimony. Conyers asks Colbert to leave hearing

As the House immigration hearing began, Rep. John Conyers asked Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert to submit a statement and leave instead of speaking live.

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