The Truthiness, The Whole Truthiness, and Nothing But the Truthiness

Previously I posted about Brad Rodu, Professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville. He holds an endowed chair in tobacco harm reduction research. You really do have to admire someone who employs the same scientific rigor that Stephen Colbert uses.

For example, on his blog he has a graph that shows how the Life Expectancy in the United States has gone up. It's at almost 78 years now. Think how great that is if you are 20 years old! Of course, it's not so great if you are 79 years old. Yowza.

But, for the most part, we are living longer. And that is the Truthiness of Brad Rodu (or should I say, Dr. Brad Rodu, D.D.S.) that Stephen Colbert, inventor of Truthiness, would approve of.

Here's where the Whole Truthiness and Nothing But The Truthiness comes in. According to CDC, i.e. Center for Disease Control, life expectancy for smokers is 14 years less than for non-smokers.

So, hurray for Dr. Rodu for using Truthiness to his advantage. Use the parts that you like and those other parts, well they can just be ignored. Never mind that CDC says that an average dose of smokeless tobacco contains at least twice the amount of nicotine found in the average cigarette. And never mind that nicotine is an addictive drug. Just stick to Truthiness. It is ever so much easier.

Sing Sing Sing, Dream Dream Dream

Recently, Elvis Costello was on The Colbert Report. He sang one of his songs. That was fine. Then Stephen Colbert sang with Elvis Costello. It was the famous Everly Brothers song "All I Have to Do is Dream" that they sang for their duet. Many other artists have sung that song, but it's a tribute to Stephen that he overshadows everyone anytime he does something.

Here's the proof. Of all the people who have done this song, only a few get mentioned on the Wikipedia page about the song. Colbert is of course mentioned.

This brings me to my point, and I do have one. Why doesn't Stephen Colbert do an album with other famous artists of favorite songs? He really does sing great. I would buy that CD in a heartbeat.

Here's some suggestions:
Barry Manilow - Ready to Take a Chance Again
Tony Bennett - The Best is Yet to Come
Carole King - Beautiful
Cher - I Got You Babe
Ricky Martin - Y Todo Queda en Nada
Lady Gaga - Paparazzi
James Taylor - Copperline
Phoebe Snow - Don't Let Me Down
Mick Jagger - Beast of Burden
Stevie Wonder - Isn't She Lovely
Keane - Everybody's Changing
Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time

There. That's a nice even dozen suggestions. Now get busy Stephen. Make those contacts. Line up a studio. Sing those songs. I bet you could pump out five albums with sixty different artists in sixty days.

You just know that you will give all those artists the famous "Colbert Bump".

Colbert Meet Rodu

Brad Rodu, or Brad K. Rodu, D.D.S., has many things in common with Stephen Colbert. I'm going to start a list so you can see the similarities.

1. Both are men.

2. Both have last names that are two syllables.

3. Both men's last names end with a vowel sound.

4. Both of them are Professors.

5. Both men are concerned with medical matters.

6. Both men conduct research.

But there are some differences and I will post more about those differences in the future. While Dr. Colbert constantly plugs pharmaceuticals, Dr. Rodu plugs plugs. (Notice the humor there!) Dr. Rodu, in his quest for tobacco cessation, recommends tobacco. (Smokeless tobacco)

Confused? You should be. More later, so watch for updates.