As if to prove my point, Atrios chides me for misunderstanding the Helen Thomas video. I'm guessing he thought the video was funny because Thomas has been one of the White House press corps' most outspoken war skeptics (and therefore a hero to antiwar bloggers). Watching the White House press secretary (played by Colbert) run away from her must have had him in stitches. But to the extent that the routine works as comedy rather than agitprop--and for the sake of argument let's say it works as comedy--it's because Thomas is, indeed, old and batty. Try imagining the same sketch with, say, Katrina Vanden Heuvel in the stalker role and you see what I mean.
I'll type this really really slowly so maybe Scheiber can understand. The joke was a) the White House Press Secretary running in panic from the simple question of why did we invade Iraq and b) that the person asking the question and causing hysterical panic was this obviously unthreatening "little old lady" and c) that any of us who pay attention know that this "little old lady" was long given deference by presidents and the rest of the press corps alike, but no longer is because she dares to ask impertinent questions like "why did we invade Iraq."