This is by far one of the greatest moments ever. Stephen Colbert testified in front of congress about the “Take Our Jobs” program where he was offered a chance to experience a career of choice of a “migrant worker.” Colbert worked a 10-hour day at a farm. So Colbert then spoke about his experiences in front of Congress and gave his opinion about American farms and migrant workers.
Comedian Stephen Colbert commandeered a hearing on migrant farm workers with lewd one-liners Friday morning, creating a public relations pile-up at the tail end of a legislative session that is limping into a pre-election recess. It was lost on no one that the Comedy Central faux news anchor delivered his off-color rant against the backdrop of the House canceling floor votes for the rest of this week as Democratic leaders struggle to reach consensus on how to move a simple stopgap spending bill that will prevent the government from shutting down on Oct. 1.
“I would like to submit a video of my colonoscopy into the Congressional Record,” he told mortified lawmakers at one point.
“Sorry for saying cornpacker, I know it’s an offensive term for gay Iowans,” he told conservative Iowa Rep. Steve King.
He made reference to getting a “Brazilian” — a wax-based hair-removal service in a very delicate area of the body — from a Chilean at a spa serving tomatoes sliced by a Guatemalan. Colbert’s comedic rant was also a sleight of hand – his “prepared” testimony was passed out to the media before he spoke, and it was a bland, seemingly straightforward speech on migrant workers in America.
An aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has met with Colbert in the Capitol in the past and even signed the cast on his broken arm a few years ago, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the hearing.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) defended Colbert’s appearance, noting that Republican-led committees had invited celebrities such as Elmo the muppet to testify in the past. But it’s not as if some Democrats on the committee couldn’t see the disaster coming. Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) implored Colbert to simply enter his testimony into the record without speaking. Some in the room gasped. Colbert muttered into the mic: “No hablo Ingles,” before straightening up and asking Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the subcommittee chairwoman, if she’d prefer if he left the room. She did not.
Colbert began speaking after Conyers withdrew his request — quickly moving past his somber prepared remarks in favor of the sort of comedy featured on his show.
“Please don’t make me do this again, it is really, really hard,” Colbert said of spending a day in the fields at the invitation of the president of the United Farm Workers union. “Most soil is at ground level. If we can put a man on the moon, how come we can’t make the earth waist-high. Come on, where is the funding?!”
Colbert’s comically aimed testimony missed its mark at points, making a mockery of Congress and perhaps also of the issue he claimed to champion. News that Colbert would be testifying on the Hill had some fans lining up as early as 6:30 a.m. for a seat in the committee room. Code Pink protestors turned out, as did a slew of TV cameras. Lofgren warned the audience to “maintain decorum” — and noted Capitol Police were on hand to remove hecklers.
Not surprisingly, the conservatives whom Colbert pillories nightly were unamused by his presence, with some complaining that it was a waste of government resources.
“A few years ago when debating himself on his show, he asked ‘Don’t we want to have cheap labor for all the jobs we don’t want to do?” Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) recalled. He responded “Yeah, unless you’re an American landscaper or an American construction worker.” Then he added “But I am an American TV host. My job is safe.”
“Millions of Americans wish they didn’t have to compete with cheap foreign labor and had such a safe job,” Smith said.
‘Maybe we should spend less time watching Comedy Central and more time looking for the jobs that are out there,” said Iowa Rep. Steve King, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee. He also argued that it was insulting to imply that migrant workers were taking jobs Americans didn’t want.
Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) shot back that there’s nothing in the UFW’s “Take Our Jobs” campaign that implies “Americans aren’t doing hard work, and if the gentleman from Iowa were deeply concerned about the conditions on the farms and the wages, I would have noticed more activity to makes sure that a number of the laws that apply to all Americans apply with equal force to all Americans who pick fruits and vegetables in our country.”
It’s clear Colbert succeeded in drawing attention to his testimony — whether that advances the cause of migrant farm workers or the Democratic lawmakers who asked him to appear remains to be seen.
The thing that cracks me up is you see how hard ass these congress people are. I mean Colbert was hilarious and I mean if you farted in that court room you would be banished. There were rarely any smirks of laughter at all. One woman was so annoyed she was playing on her phone. I mean come on people, it was funny. Just because Congress does shit and ruined most of this country doesn’t mean you cannot make fun of yourselves for doing so.
