Are You Saying I Don't Know When To Shut Up?

Is anyone else of the opinion that Stephen seems to be fascinated by apes, monkeys, chimpanzees, etc? Surely those are not the most important stories and yet I find myself often reporting on Stephen reporting on our simian cousins. The most recent stories have been about apes in space and apes with a bit of an anger problem. Anyone wonder which part of the zoo Stephen heads to first when he wants to talk to the animals?

Strangely enough, Stephen was able to go from apes to gun control with a short clip of Charlton Heston displaying his hands that obviously were in need of gloves because his fingers were cold. You may remember Charlton Heston was in the 1968 film, "Planet of the Apes." He also was in the NRA and so the seamless transition from apes to guns. And forget what Stephen said about "When Harry Met Sally..." I don't for a minute think Charlton Heston ever auditioned for the part of Sally.

You know how sometimes there are glitches. (Yes we are all too aware of glitches.) Anyway, Stephen had a technical glitch on his show when we were supposed to see a map of states but instead saw a building. Most people would have been horrified to the point of running off the stage, but Stephen just smiled. He is such a professional!

Stephen mentioned the state of Mississippi. And Stephen was in such a joyful mood tonight. Anyway, he highlighted some legislation being proposed in Mississippi and no it is not about moustaches, but I did include this particular link so that you can see what Stephen was talking about. It is about following or not following federal laws.

Here to clarify pertinent laws is/was Cliff Sloan, one of the authors of "The Great Decision: Jefferson, Adams, Marshall, and the Battle for the Supreme Court." It got pretty tricky, lots of legal terms, including the word nullification. Bottom line, any time a state tries to say the law doesn't apply to us, the Constitution comes in and says that the Constitution is correct. Stephen kept bringing up valid points, but Cliff Sloan proved to Stephen why Stephen is wrong. Stephen said there is nothing in the Constitution that says the Constitution is constitutional. Ding dong he's wrong. Interesting stuff. Do you have your copy of the Constitution? See how to make your own here. Stephen's final answer is for a state to ratify a new amendment that says, "Be it known, you're not the boss of me." Check and checkmate.

George Saunders was the guest last night. His recent book, "Tenth of December", is a collection of short stories.  Stephen and George spent a lot of time discussing the pros and cons of short stories versus long novels. Stephen obviously wants a very long novel. He wants to know everything. We also got to see that Stephen is not very good at Knock Knock Jokes. Every fourth grader is an expert at that comedic talent and yet Stephen failed to deliver a good punch line.