A few months ago I was out for dinner with clients and relating my experiences in the UK. During the conversation I mentioned my challenge on newspapers. Every Saturday required the acquisition of the Financial Times, but I was confused around my secondary paper. I knew I did not want the Sun as it is exactly like the Sun at home, the kind of paper that shows up on the construction site. So I was going back and forth between The Times and The Independent.

You may laugh at this, but it is a difficult thing. Horror came across my dinner companions face, ‘The Times? That is a right wing paper! Think Fox news! You need to read the Guardian’ OK. So I switched to The Guardian and it has turned out to be the right secondary paper, not because of the political bias but because it is a great reflection of the UK culture (broad coverage and an insert that has great coverage of what is going on (theatre, etc.)). Think of it as a Toronto Star. You never buy The Star by itself, you need The National Post too.

Which lead me to a write up on Stephen Colbert and his new book, I am America (And so can you!). As a big fan of Jon Stewart, I had to laugh at his caricature of the right wingers. That lead me to what was called the event of 2006, Stephen Colbert hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner:

On April 29, 2006, American comedian Stephen Colbert appeared as the featured entertainer at the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, which was held in Washington, D.C., at the Hilton Washington hotel. Colbert’s performance consisted of a 16-minute podium speech and a 7-minute video presentation, which were broadcast live across the United States on cable television networks C-SPAN and MSNBC. Standing a few yards from U.S. President George W. Bush^[1]—in front of an audience filled with celebrities, politicians, and members of the White House Press Corps^[2]—Colbert delivered a controversial, searing routine targeting the president and the media.^[3] Cable television personality Colbert spoke in the persona of the character he plays on Comedy Central‘s popular The Colbert Report, a parody of a conservative pundit in the fashion of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity.^[4][5]

Colbert’s performance quickly became an Internet and media sensation.^[6][7] Subsequent coverage has seen commentators debate the stand-alone humor content of Colbert’s performance, the political nature of his remarks, and whether there was an intentional cover-up by the media in the reporting on the routine. Time‘s James Poniewozik noted that "days after Stephen Colbert performed at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, this has become the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006—like whether you drive a hybrid or use the term ‘freedom fries‘."^[8] Writing six months later, New York Times columnist Frank Rich called Colbert’s after-dinner speech a "cultural primary" and christened it the "defining moment" of the United States’ 2006 midterm elections.^[9][10]

It is worth reading the entire wikipedia entry here, as this event took on a life of its own. And for your enjoyment, watch the video, I am amazed that Bush did not get up and leave, the discomfort in the room is unbelievable.

As his buddy Jon Stewart said the next day on the Daily Show (on which Colbert had been a correspondent) ‘We’ve never been prouder of him, but holy shit!"^[28][29]