Colbert embarrasses Dems; Conyers asks comedian to leave
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
www.washingtonexaminer.c om
09/24/10 10:59 AM EDT________________________
________________________
__________
Actor Stephen Colbert testifies alongside several other witnesses before a U.S. House committee on farm labor
The appearance of comedian Stephen Colbert before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law has turned into an embarrassment for the Democrats responsible for the hearing.
The subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, but Rep. John Conyers is chairmen of the larger Judiciary Committee. In that role, he has a seat on the subcommittee, and he spoke up early in the hearing. To the surprise of many observers, Conyers used his time to ask Colbert to leave.
"I'm so happy that you've helped us fill the room," Conyers said to Colbert. "I haven't seen this many cameras since -- when?"
"Maybe since impeachment," said Lofgren, to pained laughter among the lawmakers.
At that point, Conyers thanked Colbert for showing up and asked him to leave the room. Colbert seemed confused. Was Conyers asking him not to speak? No, Conyers said, he was asking him to leave altogether.
"You run your show," Conyers said. "We run the committee."
Colbert said he was there at the invitation of Lofgren and would do whatever she asked. Seeking a moment to think, Lofgren asked Republican Rep. Dan Lungren to speak for a few moments while she decided what to do.
Colbert stayed in place as the other witnesses made opening statements. When Colbert's turn came, Conyers briefly interrupted to say that he was withdrawing his request for Colbert to leave.
Then Colbert began his testimony, which was an in-character schtick based on a one-day visit to an upstate New York farm. "This is America," Colbert said. "I don't want a tomato picked by a Mexican." As the hearing went on, Colbert said things like, "I was a cornpacker&hellipcornpacker is a derogatory term for a gay Iowan."
At the end, Lofgren proclaimed the hearing "helpful." She thanked the witnesses, who she called "volunteers to help make a better country." But the presence of her star witness, Colbert, had cause a number of strange and awkward moments, ones that could come back to some of the Democrats on the panel in the campaign ahead.
________________________
______________________
What a complete ass.
