Stephen Colbert, Satire, and Patriotism

This week Comedy Central will air its hit show The Colbert Report from Iraq where Stephen Colbert will receive a military style haircut and perform for the troops in Iraq. If you have seen the Colbert Report, you are familiar with Colbert's persona, a right wing megalomaniac who holds himself up to be the ultimate patriot while spouting all sorts of irrational arguments and, for some unknown reason, maligning bears. If you haven't seen Colbert's show, I urge you to watch it this week.

Thinking about Stephen Colbert performing over in Iraq this week brought to mind this little irony. The character Colbert plays is a false patriot, a prime example of precisely what patriotism is not. The real Stephen Colbert, the actor and comedian, is what true patriotism is all about.

False patriots are those who think they are patriots because they sing the Star Spangled Banner loudly at football games. They proudly display bumper stickers on their cars that say "Support our troops." They fly the American flag outside their homes. They continuously extol the virtues of God and country. They take any criticism of anything American by anyone foreign as a terrible, personal affront. True patriots might also do some of these things, but they recognize that these things are not what makes a person patriotic.

Mark Twain once said, "Patriotism is supporting your country all of the time, and your government when it deserves it." True patriotism means loving your country so much that you want it to be the best it can be. True patriotism means criticizing those in power when they are doing harm to the land that you love. True patriotism means loving and caring for the citizens of your country and defending their rights as well as your own. True patriotism means constantly striving to make your country a better place for everyone to live. And, yes, patriotism means showing respect and understanding for those who lay down their lives for us every day even if they were sent to war by a government with poor judgement.

So what is the real Stephen Colbert, the actor and comedian doing while his ludicrous persona is delivering his searing criticism of false patriotism, war, and intolerance through the use of satire? He is busy raising money for charitable organizations that support the troops, children, autism research and a variety of other causes.

In many ways Colbert reminds me of that other great satirist, Mark Twain. Twain used biting satire to rail against slavery and other terrible injustices of his time. He hated war and hypocrisy. If you read between the lines, you realize how much he loved the South and the people in it.

Interesting, isn't it, that we sometimes need to look to the most ingenious of men to find the genuine article?

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