Apropos Colbert's appearance on Meet the Press, David Carr has a lengthy reflection in today's Times.

Here is part of what he writes:

[T]he message I draw from Mr. Colbert is not that members of themedia-political complex need to laugh at themselves, but that they needto take a hard look. The incipient generation of news consumers hasmade it clear that it does not want to see a bunch of guys with reallynice neckware standing on the White House lawn talking about what theydid not learn in the press room behind them and then flick at sourceswho suggest that one thing is clear.

One thing is, in fact,clear, from the plummeting numbers for network news: the jig is up.Consumers have decided that network news and talk shows are every bitas fake and not nearly as funny as The Daily Show and The ColbertReport.

Why shouldnt a comedic fake newscaster feel right athome in a news format that itself verges on fakery? said MarkFeldstein, a journalism professor at George Washington University.After all, these shows arent all that different from televisedwrestling, with the shouts and grunts that simulate combat during whatis really a fixed fight, followed by everyone involved in the charadegoing out for drinks afterward.

On television, and on the campaign, everybody is playing someone else; Mr. Colbert is just a bit more upfront about it.