Stephen Colbert Visits Iraq, a Serious Point

He might not be serious, but his support of the troops is.

Kudos to Colbert, host of the Colbert Report, for visiting the U.S. troops in Iraq and boosting their morale:

But the loudest roars came when his first guest, Gen. Ray Odierno, accepted a videotaped order from President Barack Obama to shave Colbert’s head.

The towering, bald general started the job with an electric razor, although a stylist finished it off.

But as I was reading this article I was struck by the (unintentional) truth in the next sentance:

The back-and-forth was humorous, but it took on serious undertones as Colbert sought to cast a spotlight on the declining attention paid to the 6-year-old war in Iraq.

Colbert, who traveled to Iraq from Kuwait on Friday on board a military transport plane, has said he was spurred to make the trip when he noticed economic news coverage eclipsing reports from Baghdad.

The unsaid truth in this is the fact that security in Iraq is pretty good so, when the war the U.S. media loved to hate was going badly reports were all over (and several movies from Hollywood) but, now that things are going well the war is forgotten.

Were there suicide bombings every day and American troops were dying the media would be paying plenty of attention to things in Iraq.  That is the hypocrisy of it all.

Still, Colbert is to be praised for his trip, his motives, and his fundraising activities:

Both the character Colbert (silent “t”) and the real Colbert (pronounced “t”), a Catholic family man, are ardent supporters of the troops. He has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Yellow Ribbon Fund (a charity that assists injured service members and their families), and he’s a board member of DonorsChoose.org, which is raising money for the education of children of parents in the military.

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