Image Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesStephen Colbert testified in front of a House subcommittee this morning about immigration policy. He was in character, so it was brilliantly sarcastic and funny, but also scary — is it that easy to turn Congress into a farce? Yes? Yes, it is? Oh.
“At the request of Congresswoman [Zoe] Lofgren, I am here today to share my experience as an entertainer-turned-migrant worker and to shed light on what it means to truly take one of the millions of jobs filled by immigrant labor,” he told the committee. Colbert spent 10 hours on a farm in Upstate New York as part of the United Farm Workers of America’s Take Our Jobs campaign, which highlights the need for domestic agriculture reform by encouraging out-of-work legal residents to apply for farming jobs typically held by undocumented immigrants. “I’ll admit, I started my day with pre-conceived notion of migrant labor,” he said. “I have to say and I do mean this sincerely – please don’t make me do this again. It is really really hard.”
Colbert tried to submit his colonoscopy video into the Congressional record, and said he didn’t want to eat tomatoes “picked by a Mexican.” Instead, “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,” he testified. Ah, Congress. You can watch the full testimony here, or part of if right here:
Colbert’s commitment to staying in character, even when being peppered with questions from Congressmen and Congresswomen? Unreal, PopWatchers. Are you as floored as I am? [ABC News, CNN, Washington Post]
I love Colbert, but this makes me sick. This is what Congress chooses to do with their time? That’s extremely frustrating.
Colbert does great political and social satire. Congress has become such an incompetent and impotent joke that they probably didn’t know who he was nor that he was joking around. Shame of modern politics.
I found his “testimony” highly awkward and not funny. I like Colbert, but he made the situation about him, not the immigration issue. Epic Fail.
Isn’t it always about him….
Uh, @Ed, you just described why Colbert does his act — to point out how then entire political system works. You may want to check out the definition of “satire”…
Why are you floored because he stayed in character?
That’s a good point Matthew. I have no idea why they are floored by it.
Today in South Carolina, where Colbert is from, there’s a sad story about lack of funding canceling a much-needed program providing audio books, magazines, etc. for people who are blind or sight-impaired — with volunteers doing the reading. If only Colbert had made a splash by bankrolling this program, instead of making U.S. taxpayers fund his latest (admittedly funny) exercise in egomania!
If you watched The Colbert Report, you would have seen that he funded the whole trip. US tax dollars went to his glass of water and the electricity in the room during the hearing.
You should also watch the last minute of his testimony where he broke character and spoke from his heart.
There are a lot of things in need, but I wouldn’t fault him for what he did here. It brought a lot of attention to an issue (it might not be YOUR issue, but Colbert did shine a light here)
WORD
so you think that it doesn’t cost the taxpayer any money for Congress to be in session? There is a time and place for his comedy act. Not in Congress, not on our dime. Wish I had the 100K this stunt cost the us taxpayers. I have been out of work for over a year, believe me, I could use it.
Totally agree, what these comedians do is highlight how this process should be less about partisan politics and more about helping real Americans, and what an utter failure the political process is at making such changes – regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum. Thank you Colbert and Stewart.
I honestly can’t believe he got away with it.
My favorite part isn’t attached here, but you can see it in CNN’s clip about Stephen showing his serious side in which he was answering questions from Congresswoman Chu was more interesting to me than his speech. The most interesting question and answer was why this is the cause that he has chosen to take up.
I also loved the end of his speech where he started citing statistics showing that Americans just don’t want to do these jobs and there is farmland throughout the US that is not actually being farmed because there’s no labor to tend to the crops. It was smart, while still being funny, and made the point beautifully. The beginning was awkward and more comedy than on point for me though. I kind of wish he would have gotten to the point more quickly, or had maybe taken the time to make another serious point or two in his satirical way. Either way, I agree with him that something needs to be done and that maybe by allowing more of these workers the ability to come here legally, then they would have some rights and the ability to improve the generally terrible working conditions.
hmm….i love Colbert, but seriously, this is the crap congress wastes it’s time on when everything else is going to hell?
This was hilarious. Despite the fact that he took it too far, which he often does, he made legitimate points about the hypocrisy that is immigration and the reform thereof. Seriously though, who cannot laugh when he talks about the genetic engineers at fruit of the loom? In a way, it reminds of A Modest Proposal.
Who invited this moron and allowed him to testify? One of the representatives asked him to remove himself from the floor- Colbert actually looked embarassed at that point. Contrary to what he said many people I know would not be opposed to doing harvest work.
Do you know anyone who has participate in the take our jobs campaign?
He went there to make a mockery of Congress: the Stephen Colbert in the video is not the Stephen Colbert of real life. In fact, quite the opposite. Real interviews with Colbert have proven that he loves to play around with his audience, since he is extremely left-wing and neither racist nor very egotistical. I’m SURE the statement about Americans not wanting to do harvest work is a satirical statement. I found this quite funny, and the fact that Congress wasn’t laughing at most of it proves how messed up they are.
The representative that asked him to remove himself revoked his request after Colbert’s opening statement and later referred to him as “profound”. His purpose was to bring attention to the issue and he did it as well as it could be done.
Alex .. you lie! YOU know people that would not opposed to doing haverst work??? REALLY?!! Sweetie, as a former migrant worker, yes I said former .. I HATED THAT JOB!! I still HATE that job!! There is not a day that goes by that I ever think ‘ hhmm that was not really bad ‘ … So please spear me the ‘ I know people that wouldn’t mind working in the fields’.
Then I’m guessing those people either haven’t done harvest work before or come from farming families in which the feel as though they HAVE to continue farming because it’s been done in their family for generations and they feel like they can’t NOT farm. My husband grew up on a farm, and while he still comments as we drive through the fields on trips about what they’re doing, he says it’ll be a cold day in hell before he ever feels any genuine nostalgia about wanting to return to the rural farming lifestyle. He’s fully embraced the yuppie lifestyle, but it was easier for him to walk away since the rest of his family also gave up farming due to an inability to make money.
16 people have done it so far. 16 have taken the chance to do it. People don’t want to do migrant farm labor.
Even if there were not a single legal resident who was willing to do harvest work (which I’m not completely convinced of having seen what some legal citizens on Dirty Jobs subject themselves to in order to support their families), I wonder what the undocumented migrant workers get paid. I assume not the same as a legal resident with an I9 on the books. I am not for the vigilante immigration reform that people like John McCain support, and at times I wonder if the immigration issue is blown way out of proportion. (I’ll take it more seriously when I hear McCain and others calling for a wall to be built along the Canadian border. In the meantime, I’ll call a spade a racist spade.) Still, how are legal workers supposed to compete when employers can so easily exploit undocumented workers?
Alex, there are 14.9 million Americans currently unemployed. Of that number, only SIXTEEN have signed up so far.
Therefore, the chances that you “know” someone who would actually “do” harvest work is .0001%. But heck, maybe you beat the odds???
So does that mean you’re volunteering to do farm work?
THEN HAVE THEM DO IT! Instead of telling us how you “know people who wouldn’t be opposed to” doing farm work, BRING THEM TO THE FARM AND HAVE THEM DO IT! Let’s have you come back here and tell us about these friends of yours. Don’t forget pictures!
Even in character he always makes good points if you listen for them. People who tend to dislike him want their humor served up sit-com style.
with a laugh track.
He appeared at the request of Democrat Congresswoman [Zoe] Lofgren.
Thanks Zoe! It’s not like you guys need any help wasting the tax money I send you. I think you do a fairly good job on your own.
What a bunch of Morons……. Vote to Re-elect NO ONE!
There was actually a brief moment near the end of his testimony, when asked why he chose this issue that struck me. He seemed out of character, and not looking for laughs, and he seemed genuinely sincere in how he felt. It was nice to see that he takes the matter seriously, even though he has a strange (but hilarious) way of showing it.
I agree. His comment on speking up on behalf of the least powerful was indeed moving.
Humorless bunch that congress is.
The real reason that Repugnants are against immigration reform is outlined in his closing statements: granting amnesty for migrant farm workers will give them the same rights as citizens and the same labor protections that citizens enjoy. This would raise the cost of production for the farming corporations that employ them.