To Boldly Go

Today is Day 4 of the Colbert Super PAC crisis. It is taking a toll on Stephen, but he tries very hard to put on a good face. Meanwhile, continue to send in generous donations to the Colbert Super PAC.

The GOP debates are going quite well. As soon as they get up to 20 debates, they will get a free debate. When you have this many debates, there is a natural tendency for them to start getting boring. Luckily, the candidates are doing their utmost to keep them exciting. For example, Newt Gingrich promised to go back to the Moon.

"By the end of my second term we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American. We will have commercial near Earth activities that include science, tourism, and manufacturing. When we have 13,000 Americans living on the moon, they can petition to become a state."

(That is quite an undertaking. I know for certain, in my heart of hearts, that Congress will be all thumbs up for this plan and will quickly pass whatever legislation is necessary to accomplish this lofty goal. Because after all, Congress is known for getting things done.)

Even as the debates keep getting better and better, we keep hearing that the GOP is scared to death of Newt becoming The Nominee. The thinking is that it would mean other Republicans would not be able to keep their seats in the House or Senate if Newt is the Republican candidate for President. How can they know that? Can they see into the future? Do they know something we don't know? Have they asked everyone how they will vote? Until all those questions are answered, it really is still up in the air. Way up in the air. In fact, you could even say it is up in the air all the way to the Moon.

Stephen had The Great Available Panel on the show tonight as well as some small footballs. This is the first time he has had a panel like this on. Joining him were John Harwood, Chief Washington Correspondent for CNBC, Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation, and David Cassidy, aka Keith Partridge. They discussed the upcoming Florida Primary and who they thought would win it. (The four remaining candidates exchanged thoughts about each other at a recent debate. Read more about that here.) John Harwood predicted Mitt Romney would take Florida and win the nomination. Next question that Stephen asked was which is the best pie. All three got that one wrong. The answer is blueberry.

After so much intellectual, political, and culinary discussion, there was a complete change in direction with guest Drew Barrymore. You may remember here as Gertie in the movie E.T. about an alien coming to Earth. Stephen most certainly remembers her. I got the feeling that she was a fan of Stephen Colbert and he was a fan of Drew Barrymore.

You may have seen previews on TV lately for the movie that stars Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski - Big Miracle. If not, Stephen had a clip on The Colbert Report. This was quite rare. As a matter of fact, Drew commented that it was rare and she was honored. Anyway, the story is about three trapped whales that went from being a local news story to an international phenomenon. This is the perfect movie to watch this winter. It will warm your heart.