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TwitterStephen Colbert shaves head for U.S. troops in Iraq. Funny or off-base?
Comedy Central's faux pundit Stephen Colbert has declared victory in Iraq and shaved his head to show support for the troops.
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In front of about 300 U.S. troops who had gathered for the taping of "The Colbert Report" in Baghdad on Sunday, Colbert declared: "By the power vested in me by basic cable, I officially declare we have won the Iraq war!"
Colbert got loud applause from the troops when he poked fun at the fact that many of them have been deployed to Iraq multiple times.
"It must be nice here in Iraq because I understand some of you keep coming back again and again," he said during the taping of the first show on Sunday. "You've earned so many frequent flier miles, you've earned a free ticket to Afghanistan."
But the loudest roars came when his first guest, Gen. Ray Odierno, accepted a videotaped order from President Obama to shave Colbert's head.
The general started the close shave with an electric razor, although a professional was allowed to finish the job.
Funny or tasteless? Your thoughts?
UPDATE: To readers who seem confused by my question of Colbert's taste, here's an explanation. I like Stephen Colbert. I watch Stephen Colbert. Still, call me crazy but it seems like a calculated and meaningless show of "solidarity" with the troops to stage a publicity stunt of shaving one's head during Colbert's week spent in Iraq to boost his ratings.
Kinda like if someone wanted to show "solidarity" with Jews who survived Hitler's concentration camps by getting numbers tattooed on the arms. To me, it feels meaningless and downright demeaning to those soldiers who sacrificed their lives and those who still fight in Iraq and will continue to fight in Afghanistan.
But maybe I'm totally wrong and am just being too sensitive.
Photos: Newsweek, AP
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If the Repor(t) is not your thing, maybe not funny... but tasteless ? He's bringing attention, and letting troops know they are not completely forgotten over there, even when a lot of the time latey they are (unfortch). How are you getting tasteless ?
Is the playoff beard that hockey players sport, funny or tasteless?
Is the basic military crew cut funny or tasteless?
Seriously, who asks this???!!!
NO, it's NEITHER!
He's doing it in SOLIDARITY WITH THE TROOPS - you out of touch relics of yellow journalism!
I agree w Jeff; at least Stephen is drawing more attention to the WAR, which many have conVENiently forgotten.
Funny, of course! He's bringing the national spotlight back to the troops, where it belongs. He's not shaving his head to mock them, either -- he's made it part of a gag that's inclusive to the military.
Calling it tasteless is just aimed at getting chatter going about the media in general, and is silly. Time to stop being so meta, people.
Maybe Snead was saying it was tasteless for letting a non-stylist touch the Flowing Mane of Man-tatiousness that is Colbert.
There's no way she can be calling Colbert tasteless, after all, the title of one of her last posts was "Carradine killed by ninja assassins...."
I am really confused about how this could possibly be construed as tasteless at all. This sounds more like a writer needing attention. Well here's a little for your troubles, sweetie.
Tasteless? How about brilliant? I was wondering how Colbert could bring his brand of humor to the troops, but he did it--making the troops laugh while at the same time putting the troops front and cener, reminding all of us that they are still out there.
Tasteless?
Showing solidarity with deployed soldiers is tasteless?
Lets make sensationalism off the back of anything.
Quite frankly honey its your brand of journalism that is tasteless.
"Tasteless" = sensationalizing your article title to give the baseless impression that there are those who think Colbert in Iraq is tasteless.
Real grade A journalisim there. Your sense of irony was fine tuned when you were studying journalisim at the univeristy of phoenix.