Honorary "Quote of the Week"

I was going to save this one for "Quote of the Week" next Tuesday, but after reading a couple of follow-up articles, I decided it deserved its own post.

Yesterday, Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert testified before Congress as part of a hearing entitled "Protecting America's Harvest".

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In case you were wondering, my "Quote of the Week" candidate comes around the 1:11 mark in that video:

"This is America. I don’t want a tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, then sliced by a Guatemalan and served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian.”

Colbert and Jon Stewart have been on fire lately, and this is no exception.

But of course, not everybody was amused. I noticed while watching the video that a certain humorless "Mr. King" didn't deign to crack a smile during the entire 5 minute clip. As it turns out, Mr. King had more to say on the issue afterward.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), the conservative ranking Republican on a House Judiciary subcommitte on immigration, says that the presence of Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert at a hearing this morning weakened the credibility of Democrats who support giving citizenship to illegal immigrant farm workers.

“Amnesty supporters frequently claim that Americans won’t do hard work, a claim which is insulting,” said King in a statement. “Maybe amnesty supporters should spend less time watching Comedy Central and more time considering all the real jobs that are out there that require hard labor and don’t involve sitting behind a desk. If they did, they would realize that every day American workers perform the dirtiest, most difficult, most dangerous jobs that can be thrown at them.”

First of all, I don't even know what convoluted point Rep. King is trying to make here. Is he insinuating that Comedy Central viewers are all unemployed? Or that they all perform desk jobs (like he does) and therefore don't actually work hard? Or is he trying to suggest that all of Colbert's testimony is complete B.S., and that Americans actually do perform the work that he spent 5 minutes pointing out is done by migrant workers (or shipped abroad)? I sincerely have no idea what he's trying to say--all I know is that it seems to come directly out of the "pissy partisan congressman" playbook. Big man needs to lighten up.

I don't honestly know why Colbert was invited to testify, except to bring some star power and attention to an issue that's largely ignored (or at least hopelessly obscured by political rhetoric). It's an interesting strategy, and given Americans' obsession with celebrity (see here, here, here, and here), it's probably pretty intelligent. But regardless of the reasoning, and setting aside the obvious humorous slant to his testimony, he makes some pretty fantastic points. His underlying argument is well-reasoned, and shouldn't be dismissed simply because he's "just" a celebrity. So was Al Franken, and now he's a senator.

And to pretend that this is by any means a Democrat-vs.-Republican matter is just insulting. Congratulations, Rep. King, for hijacking Stephen Colbert's "Quote of the Week". Your quote, not his, is the one worthy of recognition.

For your utter humorlessness and unwillingness to drop your own political rhetoric for even 5 minutes, you, Representative Steve King, are the winner of this week's honorary "Quote of the Week". Well done, buddy.

[Talk Radio News]