If you’re a friend of Stephen Colbert, you might want to buy him a map for his birthday.
On Monday night’s edition of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report,” host Colbert interviewed Michael McFaul, who until February was the U.S. Ambassador to Russia. While sparring with McFaul in his faux right-wing blowhard persona, Colbert made the type of error he would mercilessly ridicule if it came out of the mouth of a Republican politician.
“Why won’t we put troops in Crimea?” Colbert asked McFaul.
“Do you want troops in Crimea?” McFaul responded.
“What is wrong with having a land war in Asia?” Colbert joked. “When did that ever go wrong?”
Until recently, Crimea was a part of Ukraine. But whether Russian territory or Ukrainian territory, Crimea is well within Europe, not Asia.
While it is true Colbert was seeking to lampoon hawkish conservatives with his questions, his “Asia” faux pas hardly seemed part of the act.
UPDATE: Some in the comment section and via email have suggested Colbert may have been referencing the line in the movie “The Princess Bride” where the character Vizzini warns that one should “never get involved in a land war in Asia.” Perhaps. But even so, Colbert still gives the impression that he thinks Crimea is in Asia. If he would like to hash this out on his show, my bags are packed.