The comedian tapped to take over CBS’s Late Show is showing no signs of diversifying his political comedy to tackle both sides of the aisle, preferring to heavily mock conservatives and Republicans while holding prospective 2016 Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton virtually above reproach..
Take the May 15 edition of the Colbert Report, where host Stephen Colbert devoted a five-minute segment to lambasting Karl Rove for his statement about Mrs. Clinton’s health.. After Colbert praised her “mastery of the facts” and her “unshakeable confidence” at the Benghazi hearings, he lashed out at Rove’s exaggeration of the length of her stay in the hospital, asking “Has Karl Rove lost track of time because he has a serious brain injury?” [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
Colbert went so far as to say that Rove probably has “(bleep) for brains.” Just two days ago, Colbert’s Comedy Central counterpart, John Stewart, promoted a new hashtag “F*@kYouRush,” aimed at trashing the popular conservative syndicated talk-show host. While Rove may have carelessly worded some of his initial criticisms, including his erroneous statement that Mrs. Clinton was hospitalized for 30 days, remarks made by former President Clinton call into question just how truthful Mrs. Clinton has been about her recovery from a concussion. According to the former president, Mrs. Clinton needed a half a year to fully recover from her accident.
From Francesca Chambers of the Daily Mail:
Former President Bill Clinton divulged on Wednesday that it took former secretary of state Hillary Clinton 'six months of very serious work' last year to recover from a fainting spell in December 2012 that resulted in a concussion and blood clot.
Her long recovery is 'something she never low-balled,' Bill said.
But Bill's timeline contradicts the State Department's claims just after the conclusion of Hillary's treatment in January 2013 that 'she seems to be fully recovered.'
Hillary Clinton took ill at some point the week of December 9, 2012, just as she was supposed to testify before a Congressional committee about the terrorist attack that took four American lives in Benghazi, Libya three months before.
After falling in her home, Clinton incurred a concussion. The State Department did not say what day the accident occurred, but it described her concussion on December 13 as 'not severe.'
It was not until December 15 that State explained Clinton's accident was related to a stomach virus that caused her to become dehydrated and faint.
At that time, a State Department spokesman claimed that Clinton would be working from home the following week and would be 'staying in regular contact with Department and other officials.'
Clinton continued to stay at home for the following two weeks, and on December 30, a State Department spokesman announced that he had found a blood clot 'in the course of a follow-up exam' and that she was being 'treated with anti-coagulants and is at New York-Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours.'
The following day, Clinton's doctor's released a statement describing the location of the clot as in 'the vein that is situated in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear.'
'It did not result in a stroke, or neurological damage,' the statement said.
On January 2, doctors sent Clinton home from the hospital, and on January 7, Clinton returned to work.
It was on Clinton's first day back in the office that State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that 'judging by the woman we saw this morning and the workload that she's got she seems to be fully recovered.'
Clinton did not appear before Congress until the following month, leading some Republicans to speculate about the timing and seriousness of her hospitalization.
Left-wing comedians like Colbert can yuk it up all they want, further vilifying a man like Rove the Left love to hate. That said, there are some serious issues and concerns raised by the former Bush strategist that the media would do well to consider separate from any gripe about the source who first raised them.
A transcript of the relevant comments follows:
Colbert Report
11:41 p.m. EDT52 seconds
STEPHEN COLBERT: Nation, this is a serious scandal because Rove's conjecture is based on solid facts. Hillary Clinton did go to the hospital after a concussion in 2012, and she later exhibited some very strange behavior in her Benghazi testimony. She had a mastery of the facts and an unshakable confidence, all while wearing those stupid glasses. I mean, they're like-- these things are like orthopedic shoes for your face. You'd have to be brain damaged to wear those, or nearsighted, which I believe is caused by brain damage.
[...]
11:44 p.m. EDT
STEPHEN COLBERT: All Karl Rove is saying, is that Hillary is a public figure and we should be worried about her brain. Folks, this is another public figure who worries me even more-- Karl Rove. Because he said that Hillary spent 30 days in the hospital when in fact she was there for only three days. Has Karl Rove lost track of time because he has a serious brain injury? I'm just asking the question. I mean, for some reason, he is protecting his skull with a thick cushion of meat.
No, some say, now some, listen up! Now some people are saying he's just yanking these stories about Hillary's health right out of his ass, but because he wears those orthopedic pants at this point, we don't even know if Karl Rove has an ass. He could suffer from a rare condition where the body's lower intestinal track is rerouted to the cranial cavity. It's called "Coproencephalopathy" or in layman's terms,[expletive deleted] for brains. His mouth- I don't know, we don't know. We don't know. It's going to be an issue. It's going to be an issue. I got to say, his mouth exhibits all the classic symptoms. I'm just asking, what's up with that?
