Stephen Colbert Testifies Before Congress About Migrant Worker Conditions; Congress Whines About It.

How could he have made a mockery of Congress when Congress has already made a mockery of itself?

Stephen Colbert testified before the House of Representatives subcommittee on immigration today.  This summer he took up the cause of immigration, and to draw attention to the plight of migrant workers, Stephen Colbert invited United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez on to The Colbert Report.  Rodriguez discussed illegal immigrants and their willingness to do work that Americans don’t want to do.  He also discussed the UFW’s Take Our Jobs campaign, which urges unemployed [legal] Americans to go work the fields like them there Mexicans do.

Arturo basically called America out. He was all, “You think we’re taking yer jerbs? Why don’t you come down here and take MAH jerb, esse!”

And America said, “Erm.  No thanks.  It’s really hot out there.”

No seriously.  Only 3 people had signed up as of July 6.  (As far as I could tell from the Take Our Jobs website, the campaign started in June.)

And Colbert was all, “Hell yeah, I’ll do it.“  And he did!

And then Mr. Colbert Went to Washington!  And now people are shocked that he made a mockery of the system!  ::gasp::

Seriously?  I don’t know who the hell thought Stephen friggin’ Colbert would give Somber Testimony.  He submitted a written statement that was serious; it’s not like he thought the entire affair was a circus. He’s a satirist for Biebs’ sake.  Did no one catch his act at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner all those years ago?  C’mon, y’all, get real:

Stephen Colbert launched a comedy sneak attack on Congress Friday.

He submitted serious testimony to a judiciary subcommittee hearing on the issue of farm workers and immigration, but when it was his turn to speak, the talk show host slipped into character as a satirical conservative to make his points in support of more favored status for migrant farm laborers.

“This is America,” he told the panel. “I don’t want a tomato picked by a Mexican,” he said. “We do not want immigrants doing this labor.”

But Congress no likey.  Congress think Colbert make fun of them.  Colbert make Congress cry.  Wah Wah.  Congress feewings got huwt:

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was not amused. “Mr. Colbert’s submitted statement was considerably different from the one that he presented,” he said.

Before Colbert had started to testify, Conyers asked Colbert to submit his written statement and leave the room before testifying. The congressman later withdrew that request.

Colbert’s sarcasm continued when he was questioned by lawmakers. Asked by the panel’s ranking Republican, Lamar Smith of Texas, how many workers had joined him during his day on the New York farm, Colbert replied, “I didn’t take a count. I’m not good at math.” When Smith asked how many of them were illegal, Colbert replied, “I didn’t ask them for their papers, although I had a strong urge to.”

Smith asked Colbert if that one day on the farm made him an expert. Colbert replied, “I believe one day of me studying anything makes me an expert.”

And asked if he endorsed GOP policies, Colbert said, “I endorse all Republican policies without question,” prompting Smith to thank Colbert for his endorsement of the Republicans’ just-unveiled Pledge to America.¹

Smith asked if working in the apple orchard was hard work. “It is harder work than this,” Colbert shot back, referring to his appearance before Congress.

Oh snap!  No he di’n't!

Oh yes he d’id!

Well turns out that beneath the funny, Colbert actually gives a shit about this issue, and what some of the asshats in Congress can’t understand is that raising awareness about an issue is the first step towards resolving an issue.  Colbert draws crowds and laughs.  There are fifty-six THOUSAND people on Facebook who have RSVPd to Colbert (and Stewart’s) March to Keep Fear Alive/Rally to Restore Sanity — I’m one of them!  See you there! — Congress, on the other hand, draws scorn and tomatoes to the face:

Colbert did break character once during his testimony. He was asked by Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., why he chose this issue.

“I like talking about people who don’t have any power. And this seems to be [about] people without any power,” he said, arguing that migrant workers “don’t have any rights.”

“We invite them here and ask them to leave,” he said.

One prop to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for being sensible when asked whether Colbert was appropriate: “Of course I think it’s appropriate. He’s an American, right? He comes before the committee, has a point of view, he can bring attention to an important issue like immigration. I think it’s great.”

Damn straight!  I mean, when was the last time you watched C-SPAN?

¹ I really really hope he was being ironic.  Somehow, I doubt it.

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[image via the Guardian]