Opinion
Emanuel, Perino to head Colbert's roasters
By: Jeff Dufour
Editor at Large/Columnist, "Yeas & Nays"
11/05/08 12:05 AM EST
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The Spina Bifida Association of America has finally announced who will be roasting Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert at organization's annual celebrity roast on Nov. 14.
Drumroll please ... the roster of roasters includes House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, White House press secretary Dana Perino, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Sen. Orrin Hatch.
Last year's event was relatively tame, as the roasters took it easy on honoree Bob Woodruff, the ABC journalist who suffered a brain injury in Iraq. But this year, our locals will be out looking for rhetorical revenge.
Let's go through the lineup, who a source says were invited by roast founders Al Hunt and Judy Woodruff:
» Emanuel famously told freshmen Democrats in 2007 that they should avoid appearing on Colbert's "Better Know a District" segment. That prompted Colbert to threaten him with a severed finger on the show (a reference to the fingertip Emanuel lost as a teenager). Colbert also intentionally conflated Emanuel with Emmanuelle, the French erotic film character.
» Perino was part of the White House communications team when Colbert skewered President Bush at the 20006 White House Correspondents Association Dinner. In a recent interview with former White House flack Scott McClellan, Colbert also referred to Perino's "rockin' bod."
» Norton's verbal jousts with Colbert are legendary, including one in which they sparred over whether residents of D.C. are in fact U.S. citizens.
» Hatch has taken the fewest lumps from Colbert, with the satire confined mostly to his support for a flag-burning amendment and the SCHIP healthcare legislation. Although the Comedy Central blog did recently ask "Is Orrin Hatch still alive?"
Tickets go for $500 per person, or $350 for first-timers to the event.
