Over here in Japan on the Armed Forces Network (AFN), the Daily Show, followed by Colbert Report is on Tuesday through Friday nights from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. I make it a point to catch it if I can. This week, the Daily Show will have daily bits from one of its correspondents who is in Iraq on a USO tour. So I was watching the show tonight and right in the middle of the bit they were doing, AFN cut away to something called a 1 minute update. This particular filler really did last just 1 minute – I know this ’cause I went to the Comedy Central site to check out the full clip. It cut away at about the 2:40 mark and came back around 3:42. I sat through the story about our wing king’s commander’s call to see when they cut back.
So in my conspiratorial mind of VRWC censorship, there are 2 options for what happened. One – some flunkie at AFN saw that Daily Show was really in Iraq and panicked. They grabbed the first bit of tape they could get their hands on (taking them a few precious seconds to get it cued up). Unfortunately, they got their hands on the 1 minute update, which didn’t last long enough. Hence the late start and early end. Or two, it was a brilliant move to get the casual channel surfer to change channels. Knowing no one wants to watch those news clips if they can avoid it, they plan a quick 1 minute interruption to get people off the Daily Show and over to CSI or Access Hollywood. Karl Rove brilliant!
Of course, it’s always possible it was just a big coincidence. But that idea’s not as much fun. Considering the lack of planning the military is known for, I’m going to go with option one.
Never fear, though, dear reader. Your intrepid reporter will be staked out in front of the TV tomorrow to see what else the devils at AFN can come up with. Remember, it’s not paranoia if there really is a VRWC.