Stephen Colbert did a clever bit last night, prompted by a study that found most pet dogs are descended from wolves first domesticated by Middle-Easterners. Colbert took an adorable puppy into his arms and started scolding it for being a terrorist. Soon though he started petting it because he was overcome with his cuteness. Eventually he dressed it up in a suicide bomber vest to make it happy.
With his trademark conservative satire, Colbert attacked the heart of prejudice against Middle-Easterners. Many westerners probably believe anyone and everyone from the Middle-East is out to kill Americans. Yet Colbert showed that persecuting all Middle-Easterners would mean we would have to persecute man's best friend.
Furthermore, the right way to treat a Middle-Eastern person is with respect, just as we should treat a Middle-Eastern puppy the same way as we would treat any other puppy. Being born or descended from a particular place does not mean that someone is automatically a terrorist.
Colbert's skill here is that he does not hit you over the head with his point. He simply posits the ridiculous claim that puppies are terrorists, then plays with a real puppy, disarming puppy-racism and people-racism.
Link to full episode: http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/thu-march-18-2010-mary-matalin
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