Conservatives More Likely To Take Colbert Seriously

Posted by | April 27, 2009 19:33 | Filed under: Top Stories


An Ohio State University study reveals that many conservatives don’t understand that The Colbert Report is satire.

 

This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy.

 

Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements.

 

Now, could you possibly take seriously Colbert’s take on Florida Congressman Bill Posey, so concerned that President Obama wasn’t born in the United States that he introduced HR1503, which “would require future presidential candidates to provide a copy of their original birth certificate.”


And guess who didn’t think it was very funny when Colbert suggested a bill of his own:


COLBERT: I am demanding a DNA test to determine whether Florida Congressmen are part alligator. I have had enough of the reckless whispering. But the rumor is, that the morning after the great Okeechobee Hurricane in 1928, Posey’s grandmother got stranded with a gator, and fell in love. Now, obviously I don’t want to go into any details, but they say the swamp rang with her screams of ecstasy, mingled with the insistent but gentle hissing of her reptilian Romeo.

 

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bill Posey Alligator Rumors
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Gay Marriage Commercial

 

But Posey didn’t think this was a good joke.


“I expected there would be some civil debate about it, but it wasn’t civil,” Posey said. “Just a bunch of name-calling and personal denigration. … There is no reason to say that I’m the illegitimate grandson of an alligator.”

 

He now says that he has “no reason to question” that Obama – born in Hawaii to an African father and an 18-year-old American mother – is a U.S. citizen. Initially, though, he told the Orlando Sentinel that he couldn’t “swear on a stack of Bibles whether he [Obama] is or isn’t [an American].”

 

And, by the way, Colbert never suggested he was illegitimate.

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Copyright 2009 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

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