NYT on Colbert

The New York Times on The Colbert Report:

Self-deprecation is often in short supply in Washington. But Mr. Colbert, playing the deadpan reporter in his "Better Know a District" segments, is injecting a new levity into politics. Tongue firmly in cheek, he is on a quest to interview — or lampoon — all 434 members of the House. (The man who held the 435th seat, the disgraced California Republican Randy Cunningham, "is dead to me," Mr. Colbert declared.)

So Mr. Colbert is creating a litany of fools on the Hill. He drew Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican and seemingly boring white guy who once lived in Ethiopia, into a discussion of his "African-American experience." He tweaked Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, for proposing $300 million to stop school bullying: "Was that bill your idea, or did somebody bigger put you up to it?" He asked the Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, who is gay, about his wife. Mr. Frank was not amused. "Two Stooges short of a good routine," he complained.

Jeff