Colbert carves up Karl Rove's 'head'

Comedian reviews former Bush aide's 'who-didn't-dun-it' memoir

Stephen Colbert apparently couldn't get the real Karl Rove on his show to discuss his new book, so he found the next best thing: a large, oval-shaped chunk of meat on a plate with spectacles on it.

"Nation, you know I love Karl Rove," Colbert said on ComedyCentral's The Colbert Report. "Sometimes when I can't find him on tv I'll just put some wired glasses on a loaf of ham."

"Hey Karl, you feeling alright?" he said, looking at the piece of meat. "Your eyes look a little glazed."

Proceeding to review Rove's controversial book, Courage and Consequence, which was released this week, the comedian and faux conservative said it was "like Price and Prejudice, but even more prejudiced."

In the memoir, the former top Bush strategist vigorously defends his boss's legacy and seeks to absolve himself from transgressions he is widely believed to have committed.

Colbert labeled it a "gripping who-didn't-dun-it" and quipped that he's "loving the juicy details in this little book" such as Rove's self-proclaimed innocence in the outing of Valerie Plame and the damaging rumors about John McCain in 2000.

Bush's longest-serving chief spokesman Scott McClellan said this week on MSNBC's Countdown With Keith Olbermann that Rove privately admitted his culpability for the Plame leak and apologized for it on three separate occasions. He claimed Rove is "living in his own world."

"And, and folks, you'll never guess who was really not behind the Swiftboat rumors about John Kerry," Colbert said.

The Washington Post's Dana Milbank, a White House correspondent during Bush's first term, also mocked Rove's "historical rewrite" and said his new book "revives claims discredited long ago."

"By the way, spoiler alert," Colbert said, "Bush was a great president."

The comedian then sliced up the ham, ate a piece, and stabbed a knife through it before setting it aside.

This video is from Comedy Central's Colbert Report, broadcast March 10, 2010.