As anyone familiar with the Colbert Report knows that Stephen Colbert typically runs rings around his interviewees, leaving them befuddled, and sometimes even violent. Every once and a while, though, he has on a guest who is, in his own words, a formidable opponent, and judging by his appearance on the show this week, I’d say that George Will falls into this later category. No matter what Colbert threw at him, Will always seemed able to match him wit for wit, and by the end of the interview one can visibly detect the surprise turned admiration on Colbert’s face.
Will, though, did mar an otherwise stellar performance when, describing the conservative philosophy of government, he stated that the government should “deliver the mail, defend the shores, and get out of the way.”
The government should deliver the mail? Hardly. From the American Letter Mail Company to Fed Ex, from the American West to Sweden, whenever private enterprise is allowed to compete with the government in mail delivery, it wins handily. But, as they say, even Homer nods.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In