Bush Gives Shout-Out To Troops On "Colbert"; Mocks Stephen For Press Corps Dinner Performance (VIDEO)

Colbert broadcast his final show from Iraq last night and in it George W. Bush gave a "shout-out" to the troops, saying:

"Laura and I send our greetings to our servicemen and women. Your achievements in Iraq have earned you a special place in American history. You are men and women of great courage and endurance and that's gonna come in handy: I've sat through Stephen's stuff before."

His final quip is an obvious reference to the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner in which Colbert took searing shots at Bush over his handling of Katrina, the war in Iraq and his energy policy. He also mocked the president's approval rating saying:

"Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32 percent approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in 'reality'. And reality has a well-known liberal bias."

All week long, Colbert has broadcast politicians' messages to the troops. Senator Jim Webb, President Clinton, President George W. Bush, President Obama, Laura Bush, Vice President Biden, among others sent their best wishes and varyingly successful attempts at humor to the servicemen and women in Iraq.


WATCH:

Comments

[David Campbell]

A Bob Hope reincarnation? Cobert with a golf club? Now we know who Cobert really is. For those too young to know, Bob Hope, on USO tours, used the same prop. However, now he needs to add some bathing beauties to his show.

[gevan]

I thought it was a Nixonesque "Sock it to me?" moment. Unfortunately it come after he has left office. So he only seems the stupid bumbler from 2001 to 2008.

[fdrdemo]

I gotta admit, I thought this was the funniest political shout out of all those featured on the Colbert Report last week. Most of the other "punchlines" (Obama's, Clinton's, etc.) were so tame as to be nearly nonexistent. Bush is the only fellow who made me laugh out loud. But then again, he's probably got the best comic timing of the bunch. Hell -- I laughed at him all the time when he was president...

[sacrebleu]

I'm sorry, but it really PlSSES me off that my hero Stephen Colbert would aid and abet this criminal's efforts to make himself over into some kind of jolly and lovable hale fellow well met.

[wagthedog1001]

SHUT UP W.

[TomTheAlmostUgly]

Anyone notice, the troops aren't giving shout-outs to Dubya? Strange, isn't it?

[kdizza]

Bush is a much better ex-President than President. Colbert DESTROYED him at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. I have to give Bush credit for not hating him.

[OleLadySquawking]

That's because Republicans actually think Colbert is one of them. It's been established that Bush & Co. don't understand Colbert sarcasm when they hear it.

[thefooligan5]

one look at Bush' face during the correspondance dinner and you know he figured it out. He was none too pleased.

[Cye]

1005 agree with your post. Colbert did destroyed Bush at the Correspondents dinner. It was absolutely amazing!! One of the most memorable stand-up routines I've ever seen. Colbert has b*lls of steel. I can't believed he got away with it.

And yes, you gotta hand it to Bush for even speaking to Colbert after that utter roasting.

[purplecat1]

I think it is nice that Colbert is in Iraq entertaining the troops.

purplecat1
http://thefunemployed.blogspot.com/

[DubyaGump]

Looks like W has been hitting the tanning booth, he's looking a bit orange

[danonchalant1]

Been hangin with Boehner.

[icenzi13]

At least Obama can speak to people in public with opposing veiws. He doesn't have to have a preset puppet audience like dipsh*it!

[UncleMilo]

I think it is very classy of Colbert to play the shout-outs from everyone...
George H. W. Bush,
Clinton,
George W. Bush
McCain
Palin
Biden
and President Obama.

This event was for the troops... and no matter what else may be said, all of these people have respect for the men and women who put their lives at risk for our country...

Colbert is a class act.

[Balzac]

Yeah right. Bush and Clinton are distinctly lacking, especially Bush.

Let's see - Our military personnel were exposed to depleted Uranium during the military operations under both Clinton and Bush. There has been bi-partisan denial of "Gulf War Syndrome" and I'm thinking it emanates from the Bush/Clinton camp. Is that respect for our military?

Ok, so that's Clinton and Bush, but Bush has been the least respectful of any president so far in regards to our military. Colbert is losing something by allowing the Bush family to leverage his credibility. It was very "Clinton" of him to make nice with the Bushes.

[Jazzier]

What fairy tale have you been reading ---"Bush has been the least respectful of any president so far in regards to our military"?

Apparently you've forgotten the hate the military had for Clinton and the love and respect for both Bush's.

[Domo Tronic]

As an international user of the site, I'm fairly disappointed that the video cited is from Hulu - Poor form HP.

[Joe Moore]

Agreed. International users, ex-Pats such as myself cannot see Hulu...please don't use this again. You're not reaching your full audience when you use sites that only allow Continental Americans to watch.

[el krosa]

I third the motion.

[MiddleRiver]

I thought W was going to give a shout out to those brave Americans, "working, sweating, fighting, dying and being wounded in a war started on false pretenses by moi!"

[JohnSkookum]

I predict that Bush's approval rating will exceed Obama's within two years.

[starkcr31]

I second that.

[rini]

Obama would have to mess up pretty badly in order to even get close to W. He hasn't even begun to rack up a deficit with the speed that W did. He hasn't neglected an entire city that was flooded due to the fact that his crony was head of FEMA and had no experience. Obama has been the model of competence. He is addressing all the difficult and urgent issues. You may not agree with his politics, but you have to agree that he is competent. If you can't see that, you're more biased than I thought.

[DrJohnnySkeptic]

Why?

[UncleMilo]

I predict you're going to be making new predictions 2 years from now.

[starkcr31]

No, he's going to be right in 2 years. Probably even sooner.

[MiddleRiver]

Huh?

[thefooligan5]

it's easy to be liked when you have no responsibilities. That's why uncles are so cool.

[kfdan]

Colbert is being Colbert and Bush ... well ... you know is being slow behind the 8 ball as usual.

[ThirdSection]

I always thought Bush would be quicker after that 8 ball! (and maybe a little more nervous too)