All Hail Stephen Colbert (You Have to See It to Believe It)

If there was any doubt about Stephen Colbert's genius, it evaporated at the White House Correspondents dinner.

Jon Stewart, God bless him, serves up the clip that shows you the President is an idiot. He works in the noble tradition of satire, and he can do it for years and years so long as there are white men in brogues who are stupid and powerful.

Colbert, God love him, goes much further. His is a high-wire act that could go down in flames at any moment. For he doesn't satirize our idiot government and gutless media, he becomes the biggest idiot of all. He's the true believer, the guy totally on message, the loyalist who would give his all for the Commander-in-Chief.

And he never breaks the character. Which is amazing. We're rolling on the floor, wetting our pants, weeping with laughter, and he's still hammering home views that make Hannity and O'Reilly sound like moderates.

No wonder Bush left in a snit. He got shown up for what he is --- by someone who pretends to love him.

See for yourself: Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.