Media Notes (III): American Comic's Bridge Too Far

As we previously reported, the Hungarian government's online poll to find a name for the new bridge over the Danube had turned into a farce so goofy it was hard to spoof. But as reader S.R. and others have written in to alert us, this hasn't stopped others, including American political-comic-of-the-moment Stephen Colbert (right), from trying. Over the past few weeks, Colbert has been haranguing his fans to go online and cast their vote for him. You can go here to watch a longish segment that ends with his first pitch for immortality, or go here and click on "Stephen Colbert Bridge" for a follow-up. Just make sure that when you do there are no Hungarians anywhere nearby.

As you can probably imagine, the segments - which are surprisingly long, given the famous disinterest of Americans for foreign news - include lots of guffawing at various Hungarian words, and basically the entire concept of Hungary. In fact, the whole thing is almost disrespectful enough to make us mad, were it not for the fact that his millions of rabid American fans haven't been able to get him within 4,000 miles of the current leaders.