BB--

Do you have a transcript for what Colbert said at the correspondents' dinner? If not, you are just operating on what Cohen said--which makes your thread premise perilously close to hearsay. As BIll has pointed out, "liberal hate" is your own formulation--not Cohen's words.

As such, it is (unsurprisingly) intellectually dishonest on your part.

I have watched Colbert's show several times. Have you? His MO is an (excellent) parody of a "conservative" fire-eater. By exaggerating the Bushite attitude, he lampoons it--often deftly.

You have no way of knowing if those who criticized Cohen's column will eventually vote Democratic or sit the next election out--and that is a far more significant question than real or imagined "rudeness". Cohen has to write columns. Columnists exaggerate--is this a revelation for you?

I read the column. It was pretty feeble--didn't have the horsepower to leap to Cohen's conclusions. Well, even columnists have bad days. But as has been pointed out, he did get response--and they always like that.

Possible subtexts: As other posters have suggested, Cohen didn't like Colbert's skewering of the press. Also, Cohen wants to be sure Bush invites him to the dinner next year. Mission accomplished.