Canton residents condemn Stephen Colbert's gibe
4:44 p.m. Friday, August 1, 2008
Sebelius' reaction
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was offended by the show and took a little time to send this personal message to Colbert.
My dearest Stephen:
Canton, Kansas is a town of about 800, located in McPherson County. Since you just missed the McPherson County Fair, where we surely could have gotten you bucked off something, and the yearly demolition derby is over, we’d like to invite you to visit the pioneer 1883 jail on Allen Street in Canton. Standard procedure is to view by appointment only, but in your case, the Mayor has assured me, we can get you an overnight booking anytime you are available.
Consider yourself to have a standing appointment. We hope to hear you’re coming for a visit.
Also, it’s funny you avoided picking on Canton, Ohio (population 80,000) and instead went after Canton, Georgia (population 7,000) and then decided to bully the quaint town of Canton, Kansas, picking on its 800 citizens. Next, you’ll surely be headed for Canton, Texas, (population 3,000) which is reportedly home of the world’s largest flea market.
I bet they can’t wait!
With warm Kansas wishes,
Governor Kathleen Sebelius
Canton, Kan. — Residents of Canton call their community friendly, relaxing and peaceful.
That's a far cry from the word Stephen Colbert, a talk show host on Comedy Central, used to describe the town Wednesday night.
Mayor Brad Smiley can laugh now, but he says that wasn't his reaction the first time he heard the comedian start ranting about Canton.
"How many Canton, Kan. residents does it take to screw in a light bulb?" Colbert asked his audience during a comparison piece on Canton, Kan. and Canton, Ga. "None, they don't use light because they don't want to see where they live."
He went on to say "you can smell that dump all the way from Topeka."
Smiley and others deem Colbert's assessment unfair.
"A lot of degrading things said about the city of Canton for somebody who's probably never been to Kansas let alone Canton," Smiley said
It didn't take long for word about the show to spread through the streets of the town, bounce off both the hot and the cold water towers and land in Heidi Rouse's hair salon.
"I don't think that was a very fair judgment for him to make or a the choice of words on his part were pretty poor," she said.
Others call his comments "just rude."
Citizens of Canton call their town friendly, relaxing and peaceful.
That's a far cry from the words Stephen Colbert used to describe Canton Wednesday night.
Mayor Brad Smiley can laugh now, but says that wasn't his reaction the first time he heard the comedian start rantin' about Canton.
"How many Canton, Kan. residents does it take to screw in a light bulb?" Colbert asked his audience. "None. They don't use light because they don't want to see where they live."
So, it's obvious people here aren't taking lightly to being referred to as a smelly dump on cable TV. They say Colbert should come here himself to see it doesn't stink and that they are actually very fond a using lights. Still, others fear what would happen if he ever step foot into tiny little Canton.
When asked if Colbert showed up at your doorstep today what would you do, one resident said "hit him in the nose."
"I would kick his booty," another said.
While Colbert had a few choice words to describe a town where kids still play on the sidewalks and clothes are still dried on a line, residents here had a word to describe him, but it's one we won't be saying on TV anytime soon.
Comments
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Aug. 1, 2008 at 9:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)powercat2011 (anonymous)
Does no one have a sense of humor anymore? Stephen Colbert's show is a comedy show, not a serious news forum. And, in response to Gov. Sebelius's letter to Mr. Colbert, he did go after Canton, OH first. Canton, KS was not the first Canton to be the target of The Colbert Report and it won't be the last.
Lighten up, Kansas. I know I don't want to live in a world of uptight-political-correctness. Humor is exactly what this nation needs in the kind of situations we've found ourselves in over the past few years.
Aug. 2, 2008 at 2:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)stacemarie23 (anonymous)
If I were a resident of a small town that was never recognized in the press, I would be excited to hear my town recognized on national television. Secondly, I think the worst way for Canton residents to defend their town was to appear on CNN. If he showed up, one resident would "hit him in the nose." Another (who was actually a child about 8 years of age) said she would "Kick his booty." A beautician chose her words wisely; "I don't think that was a very fair judgment for him to make or a the choice of words on his part were pretty poor." Perhaps Colbert was being polite by commenting on the town's gloom and stench instead of its residents' highly advanced grammar skills and etiquette.
Also, was CNN pulling a practical joke with its story sequence? The headline after the Canton story described a 15 pound fungus growing . . . where? In Kansas.
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