CBS has just declared war on the heartland of America.
That's what Rush Limbaugh, the fiery conservative radio host, says of CBS's just-announced move to replace David Letterman with Stephen Colbert as host of the Late Show.
Limbaugh told his listeners Thursday afternoon that, with Colbert in the Late Show seat, comedy will no longer be "a covert assault on traditional American values, conservatives. Now it’s just going to be wide out in the open."
Limbaugh continued: "What this hire means is a redefinition of what is funny and a redefinition of what is comedy, and there’s blowing up the 11:30 format under the guise that the world’s changing."
"It’s media planting a flag here. Maybe even media’s last stand. It’s a declaration," he said. "There’s no unity in this hire. They’ve hired a partisan, so-called comedian, to run a comedy show."
Some conservatives on Twitter, many of whom hosts of their own blogs, radio shows and websites, rushed to agree.
"Colbert is a character actor. Not a Letterman host," tweeted Dana Loesch, a conservative radio host.
Colbert is a character actor. Not a Letterman host.— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) April 10, 2014
"One’s a hard-left liberal whose shtick got boring ages ago, and the other’s David Letterman. Congrats to the #CancelColbert team. They wanted him off Comedy Central, and they got their wish," a conservative blogger known as 'Allahpundit' writes on hotair.com.
"Skit idea for the new Colbert Late Show: burn crosses in black people's yards -- ironically! It's funny because Republicans, and stuff," David Burge told his 80,000 followers.
Skit idea for the new Colbert Late Show: burn crosses in black people's yards - ironically! It's funny because Republicans, and stuff.— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) April 10, 2014
"All of these "unbiased" sources that find it okay to praise Colbert because hey, he's just a comedian! No he's not. He pushes an agenda," tweeted @SunnyRight, the Twitter account for a "libertarian-conservative" Floridian.
All of these "unbiased" sources that find it okay to praise Colbert because hey, he's just a comedian! No he's not. He pushes an agenda.— SunnyRight (@sunnyright) April 10, 2014
Commenters on Breitbart.com, which hosts news "written specifically for the new generation of independent and conservative thinkers," were equally unenthused.
CBS, unsurprisingly, knows what it's doing in hiring the late night news anchor for Generation X.
Nate Silver's Five Thirty Eight site reports that Colbert’s audience is, yes, "slightly to the left of Letterman’s," but it's their similar "viewer-commitment patterns" that CBS is likely after. "Roughly 20 to 25 percent of each show’s viewers watched daily," Walt Hickey writes of the viewers who repeatedly tune into The Colbert Report. "Fifty to 60 percent watched a few times a week, and 8 percent watched once per week."
“Stephen is a multi-talented and respected host, writer, producer, satirist and comedian who blazes a trail of thought-provoking conversation, humor and innovation with everything he touches,” said Nina Tassler, chairman of CBS Entertainment, in the announcement that was sent to reporters on Thursday.
”He is a presence on every stage, with interests and notable accomplishments across a wide spectrum of entertainment, politics, publishing and music. We welcome Stephen to CBS with great pride and excitement, and look forward to introducing him to our network television viewers in late night.”