Ham-fisted Nazi analogies and dumb post-Soviet oracles—these are a few of Stephen Colbert’s favorite things. On Tuesday’s edition of The Late Show on CBS, Colbert welcomed actor Nathan Lane and New York Times columnist Ezra Klein to his show to lament the Trump Administration where it was warned that the Trump era will feature pro-Nazi versions of The Sound of Music and that Elon Musk represents the kind of oligarch that arose in the aftermath of the Soviet Union.
Lane was up first, and Colbert asked him, “His administration is purging not just the government but also putting its mark on cultural institutions like The Kennedy Center. He’s the chairman of the board, and he's appointed his buddies to be on the board with him. What do you make of what he's doing in terms of what it means for culture?”
An excited Lane replied, “Well, I don't want to be a downer, but I think from a historical context, we are totally [bleep]. I mean, you know, The Kennedy Center, he just couldn't keep his teeny tiny baby hands off it. Who knew Trump could cause more damage to the Kennedy name than RFK Jr.?”
Lane was just getting started:
And the new season that he's preparing is very troubling. Like tomorrow night they have a youth choir made up entirely of Elon Musk's children. Because Hamilton canceled its engagement, they are producing Lee Greenwood's all-rap musical tribute to Ronald Reagan starring Kanye West. It's called Trickle Down. That is followed by a new production of The Sound of Music told from the point of view of the Nazis. Trust me, trust me, you don't want to hear the list of their favorite things. And if that wasn't enough, he just canceled an appearance by the gay men's chorus, which upset a lot of people, especially—yes, yes, especially those conservative Republicans on Grindr.
Back on planet Earth, the actual The Sound of Music is scheduled to be at The Kennedy Center in September.
As for Klein, he saw a great conspiracy in Elon Musk’s budget-cutting efforts, “Look, they don't want it to work, and then the fear a lot of us have is they're going to make it fail and they're going to say, ‘See, it doesn't work? I know you need me to take it over.’ It's not that they are just trying to make it not work, right? If all Elon Musk was trying to was make government fail, that's one thing. They're trying to break it so they can take it over.”
Colbert observed, “Very much like after the Soviet Union, everything that was state-controlled got privatized, and that's how you rose another class of oligarchs.”
A decent amount of the post-Soviet oligarchs were former Communist Party hacks who just got a new job. Nowadays, Russia has renationalized several of its industries, most notably oil and gas.
Klein, however, agreed, “Yes, you have Elon Musk to go into the FAA and say, ‘Oh, my god, I’ve walked in; I've discovered we need Starlink immediately.’ Oh, do we, Elon Musk?... So, this is not, I think, if you wanted to look at what they were doing, it's pretty straightforward. They are breaking the government so they can control it, so they can parcel it out.”
Upgrading the nation’s air traffic control is not just a Trump/Musk thing; it has been a priority for several years now. Even if one cringes putting Musk in control of that project, it should also be noted that Canada privatized their air traffic control system in the 90s and somehow has managed to avoid becoming a Russia-like oligarchy.
Here is a transcript for the March 11-taped show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
3/12/2025
12:09 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: His administration is purging not just the government but also putting its mark on cultural institutions—
NATHAN LANE: Yeah.
COLBERT: — like The Kennedy Center. He’s the chairman of the board.
NATHAN LANE: I know.
COLBERT: And he's appointed his buddies to be on the board with him.
LANE: Yeah, I know.
COLBERT: What do you make of what he's doing in terms of what it means for culture?
LANE: Well, I don't want to be a downer, but I think from a historical context, we are totally [bleep]. I mean, you know, The Kennedy Center, he just couldn't keep his teeny tiny baby hands off it. Who knew Trump could cause more damage to the Kennedy name than RFK Jr.?
And the new season that he's preparing is very troubling. Like tomorrow night they have a youth choir made up entirely of Elon Musk's children. Because Hamilton canceled its engagement, they are producing Lee Greenwood's all-rap musical tribute to Ronald Reagan starring Kanye West. It's called Trickle Down. That is followed by a new production of The Sound of Music told from the point of view of the Nazis. Trust me—
COLBERT: Rolph gets his day.
LANE: Trust me, you don't want to hear the list of their favorite things. And if that wasn't enough, he just canceled an appearance by the gay men's chorus, which upset a lot of people, especially – yes, yes, especially those conservative Republicans on Grindr.
We’re at a rally. Shockingly, I was approached about hosting a grand reopening gala. Yeah, they didn't offer to pay me but they did offer her not to send me to Guantanamo Bay.
COLBERT: That's nice.
LANE: And of course RFK Jr. wants an all unvaccinated audience which means it ever but he goes home with a gift bag and rubella.
…
12:30 AM ET
EZRA KLEIN: Look, they don't want it to work, and then the fear a lot of us have is they're going to make it fail and they're going to say, "See, it doesn't work? I know you need me to take it over."
It's not that they are just trying to make it not work, right? If all Elon Musk was trying to was make government fail, that's one thing. They're trying to break it so they can take it over.
COLBERT: Very much like after the Soviet Union, everything that was state-controlled got privatized, and that's how you rose another class of oligarchs.
KLEIN: Yes, you have Elon Musk to go into the FAA and say, “Oh, my god, I’ve walked in; I've discovered we need Starlink immediately.” Oh, do we, Elon Musk?
COLBERT: Who owns that?
KLEIN: Yeah, it’s a funny question. So, this is not, I think, if you wanted to look at what they were doing, it's pretty straightforward. They are breaking the government so they can control it, so they can parcel it out.
