A Personal Appeal From Stephen

Stephen was pumped tonight and so was his audience. And with good reason. Everyone was excited about today's FEC decision to allow Stephen to have his SuperPAC. You can read about it in previous posts here at The Colbert Bump today. You should of course also go to Colbert Nation, if you haven't watched tonight's episode, so that you can hear it straight from Stephen's mouth to your ears. Listen to Stephen tell the Commissioners, "Good Morning," "Yes," and "You're welcome." Watch Stephen as he nearly falls asleep. (I don't believe him.)

Here's an important point. He says he took notes, but the camera caught him and he was drawing Snoopy. Remember in my previous post (10 Signs Your Child May Be Gifted) when I talked about him drawing Snoopy? Yep. Proof of just how talented he is.

Now is your chance to be part of history. Join his SuperPAC. Even if you joined his PAC, you should join his SuperPAC. That's because there's lots of technical stuff that means he can't use all those emails from the PAC. You need to do it all over again. (It only takes a minute.)

Go to Colbert Super PAC and sign up with your email. And then there's this personal appeal from Stephen:

"Please donate, Nation, because you can't spell donation without Nation and dough."

FEC gets Colbert Bump

It just dawned on me.

With all that's been happening today and leading up to the decision by the FEC (Federal Election Commission), Stephen Colbert has, in effect, given the FEC the Colbert Bump.

Congratulations FEC. And congratulations Colbert SuperPAC.

SuperPac: Liberty on Lay-Away

I think you heard it here first. Well maybe not. I really have no way of knowing. Although I guess if you didn't read anything else, then yes, you did hear it here first.

But that's not important. What is important is that Stephen Colbert and his SuperPAC got the thumbs up from the FEC (Federal Election Commission).

You can start reading about it at these sources. Some even have video of the decision.

Washington Post - (Colbert approved to form SuperPAC) Yes, video also after you watch a short 15 second commercial. But it's worth it to see Stephen smile.

Huffington Post - (Stephen Colbert Wins SuperPAC at FEC.) Stephen does not accept the status quo, but he does accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

Washington Post - (FEC allows Colbert to form SuperPAC for 2012 elections) This article is by Dan Eggen. It was outside of the FEC offices where Stephen was taking contributions of cash or by swiping credit cards that he said, "Today we put liberty on lay-away."

Deseret News - (Colbert gets some answers on campaign finance.) This article by Andrew Miga comes to us from Utah, home of Jason Chaffetz.

The Daily Beast - (FEC approves Colbert's SuperPAC.) Included in the comments is this: "Where do I donate!" Good question. Hopefully Stephen will let us know the answer to that on tonight's "The Colbert Report." (Or you can just go to www.ColbertSuperPAC.com)

Congratulations You Have Your PAC

Did I hear her say it? Is it true?

"Congratulations, you have your PAC." (I'm assuming that was Commissioner Bauerly speaking.)

He did it. He did it. He got the go-ahead from the Federal Election Commission. We can all breathe a sigh of relief.

Perhaps what clinched the deal was when Commissioner Weintraub described what we all know to be true about Stephen Colbert.

"You may just be unique."

Now you can with an easy conscience join Stephen Colbert's Colbert SuperPAC. Do it now so you can be one of the first, well not first, but at least be in the first million people to join.

I Can Has a SuperPac

Agenda Item: Thursday, June 30 at 10:00 a.m.

Where will you be then? Stephen will be at 999 E Street NW in Washington D.C. or in other words at the Federal Election Commission to find out if he gets to have his SuperPac. He commented on the show that all six of the Commissioners are very good looking!

And then at approximately 11:00 a.m., Stephen will be outside and will let the world know that he got his SuperPac (or else he will come out crying because he did not get it). Trevor Potter was again on The Colbert Report to advise Stephen and he did tell him that there was a third option. The vote could go 3-3 which would be a tie and that would mean that it wasn't yes but it wasn't no.

Okay, now here is something really interesting. If you go to the Federal Election Commission website, you may notice a scrolling text at the bottom of the screen.

Information regarding Commission's June 30 public meeting.

Hmpf. I wonder what that could be about. Well, I'll just poke on the link and find out.

Okay, this is interesting. Here's what it says on the FEC website for Public Meeting of June 30, 2011:

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Public Meeting of June 30, 2011

Individuals planning to attend the Federal Election Commission's June 30 public meeting should be aware that:

1. Seating in the hearing room is extremely limited, and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be overflow seats in the Public Records Division but there, too, the seating will be extremely limited.
2. Members of the public will not be admitted before 9 a.m., but may line up outside to the east of the building entrance.
3. Security guards will screen all visitors and their belongings. Please bring a valid, government -issued picture ID.
4. Visitors must wear their FEC-issued guest ID while in the building.
5. Food and drink are not permitted in the hearing room or in Public Records.

The Commission will consider Stephen Colbert's Advisory Opinion Request as the first item on its agenda. Afterward, there will be a short break to allow members of the public who wish to leave to do so.

Live audio feeds and recorded podcasts of all the Commission's public meetings are available on the agency's website. Click here (go to FEC website and click) to access the June 30 broadcast.
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Wow. Wowie! I wonder how often they have this much interest in a hearing. The suspense is unbearable. Keep your fingers crossed and tune in tomorrow.

Michele Bachmann

Stephen had the scoop tonight. Michele Bachmann is running for president!

That's right. No one saw this coming. Although, at the New Hampshire Presidential Debate, she did stun us all when she announced that she is running for president.

Then she astonished everyone when she announced it on her website.

In Waterloo, Iowa, she confirmed that what she had already said twice was in fact true. She then went on to butter-up Iowans. "I often say that everything I need to know I learned in Iowa."

That's very flattering until Stephen points out that she left Iowa at age 12. And she has had the courage not to learn anything since.

Gaffe-a-Day
At what some are calling a "gaffe a day" she mentioned another Waterloo resident, John Wayne. The gaffe? Well it's actually John Wayne Gacy that is from Waterloo. He is a serial killer.

Stephen will have none of it when he reports that she fessed up to her mistake. And he reminds people that like John Wayne Gacy, people might think she's a clown, but she's deadly serious.

10 Signs Your Child May Be Gifted

You know how it is. You check your email and then you see a news story that is interesting and then you Google something from that story and before long, you are way off topic and have spent a lot of time at the old computer.

Today I glanced at a story about Gifted Children and their characteristics. If you spend a lot of time with a lot of children, it should become clear to you that some do seem to have lots going for them. Some of the characteristics include:

Retain Information
Wide Spectrum of Interests
Is Musically or Artistically Talented
Has an Advanced Vocabulary
Acts as His Own Critic

I don't know who the original writer of the story is. You can Google it and find the same story in a lot of different places. (Search for "10 Signs Your Child May Be Gifted") The first thing I noticed was in the part about Wide Spectrum of Interests. It said this:

"Gifted kiddos display an interest in a wide variety of topics. They may like dinosaurs one month, space the next month, and so fourth."

Oops, not so gifted in spelling. And the word "fourth" was spelled that same way in all the sources I looked at. In this day and age of instant everything, it seems jokes and misspellings travel around the world in the blink of an aye, oops, eye.

But this all brings up a very important point. I looked again at those characteristics and do you know who I immediately thought of? I think you do. Can we all agree that most likely when Stephen was a little kiddo in school, his teachers all thought he was gifted?

Think about it.

Retain Information - Stephen is a storehouse of information. And if he doesn't know something, he can easily make it up.

Wide Spectrum of Interests - Just think of all the guests he has on, all the places he visits, all the interests he demonstrates. From speed skating at the Olympics, to running for President of the United States, to wrestling with Jason Chaffetz, to writing poetry about Paul Revere, to learning proper etiquette when meeting the Queen, to sailing the Atlantic Ocean... the list is endless.

Is Musically or Artistically Talented - Hello!?!? Have you ever listened to him sing? Have you ever watched him dance? Have you seen how well he can draw Snoopy?

Has an Advanced Vocabulary - One word: Truthiness

Acts as His Own Critic - Stephen constantly is evaluating himself. Just think back on how many times he told us about his many awards.

So, yes. I think we can all agree. Stephen was most likely a Gifted Child in his younger years and he hasn't lost any of his gifts.

And if by chance you are looking for more information about Gifted Children, you can go the the National Association for Gifted Children website.

Mad Libs for Rick Scott

Tonight Stephen read a gushy letter of support for Florida Governor Rick Scott. There was lots of good stuff about how good the good Governor is. Stephen's intention is to send it to all the newspapers in Florida. By doing so, he will be following the advice of the writer of the letter, Rick Scott. That's right, Governor Rick Scott wrote a letter praising Governor Rick Scott. And, what's more, Rick Scott posted it on his website so that you can go get it, sign your own name and send it to the newspapers of Florida so that the fine people of Florida know how good their good Governor is.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Stephen has also written a letter and posted it online, but his is more fun. So what you need to do now is get paper and pencil and write down the following:

An adjective
A verb
An adverb
A verb
An action verb
A noun
An interjection

Okay, now you can go to Colbert Nation and get Stephen's letter, fill in the blanks, and see what your letter says.Isn't this fun? It's just like a Mad Lib! Remember when you were young all the fun you would have with Mad Libs? Now you can enjoy that creative and wacky time again. And best part, Stephen even has the addresses for these Florida Newspapers:

Orlando Sentinel
The Florida Times-Union
Tallahassee Democrat
Tampa Tribune
TC Palm

If your letter doesn't make sense, you may need to change some of the adjectives, verbs, nouns, etc. so that it reads like a real letter. Start writing that letter and have yourself some real fun.

210-654-4556

Will the calls never stop? I'm on the Do Not Call List, so that pretty much makes this caller someone I don't want to talk to. But no problem since it was a recording and I wasn't talking to anyone anyway. Again that makes me suspicious. The recording said it was Bridget calling. Yeah, right. She even said a company name, but the recording goes so quickly, it was hard to know for sure what it really was. There were the usual words and phrases: credit card, final notice, and you were supposed to push "1" to talk to a real person or "3" to be removed from list. Federal law already has me removed from those lists since
I ... am ... on... the ... Do ... Not ... Call ... List.

Fine, keep calling me, but I will keep putting your phone numbers up here for all to see. Thank you Caller ID!

What do you suppose happens when a telemarketer dares to call Stephen? Now that would be a very interesting phone call to listen in on!

This is Where the Magic Happens

Of course, you could say that about a lot of places in the Universe, but when Stephen asks, the answer will usually mean wherever he is. Anticipation was building all week for the debut of Stephen's new hit song. We were not disappointed. He sang "Charlene II (I'm Over You)" tonight with The Black Belles. By this time next week, it will most likely be number one on any chart and every chart in the world.

What's that you say? You want to buy the record? Easy - just go to Third Man Records and buy the vinyl record or download on Itunes.

We got to see Jack White one more time on The Colbert Report. They have spent a lot of time working together on the music and also the cover art for Stephen's new hit song. And so, the natural question to ask of Jack was, "What was it like for a Jack White to work with a Stephen Colbert?" And the natural answer for that was, of course, "It was very pleasurable from start to finish ... the finish, especially the finish."

After the creative process and the nuts and bolts production of a record, how can you publicize it? Best way is perhaps to hire a Publicity Firm of course. Or, tell everyone to go to Colbert Nation and download the publicity poster "Have You Seen Our Cat and Do You Want to Buy Our Record?", print it, and then plaster it all over the place. Yep, that's the Colbert way.

All in all, it was a great show and a great week. The only low spot was when Jack White asked, "What's a Colbert Bump?"

Talib Kweli

Last things first tonight. Talib Kweli was the musical guest tonight. From his album Gutter Rainbows, he performed "Cold Rain". He also was nice enough to give Stephen a cap which improved Stephen's already ruggedly handsome good looks.

And just a quick note about our former president, George W. Bush. He was among the people at a Texas Rangers baseball game who helped set a Guinness world record for most people wearing their sunglasses at night. Stephen called this the Greatest Contribution yet for Bush. Well done, sir, well done.

And the suspense is growing, the anticipation is getting unbearable. You probably all are aware that Stephen hasn't had a hit song since he recorded, "Charlene, I'm Right Behind You." That's about to change. Stephen has been meeting with and interviewing Jack White of Third Man Records. Well, Thursday will be the premiere of Stephen's new hit song. He will be singing with The Black Belles because Jack thought it would be a good idea to pair Stephen with some real musicians. (That seemed uncalled for, but I'll let it ride since Stephen did not make a big deal out of it.)

It's not all that surprising that he would agree to produce the hit song for Stephen. When Stephen was interviewing Jack White, Stephen grilled him about his musical heroes. Jack rattled off name after name, and if you watch the video of the interview, I think you will agree that he did say Stephen Colbert. Although Stephen is thinking this will win him at least one Grammy, Jack White would not commit to that, but I think it will be one of Stephen's biggest hits yet, so a Grammy is not out of the question.

Florence + the Machine

Yet more music for Stephen's Summer of Music with his StePhest Colbchella '011. Tonight it was Florence + the Machine. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

With the Presidential Race almost here (that's right - we only have to wait until November 2012), Stephen has found the perfect generic GOP candidate. So far, he's the only one who can win against Obama at this point. The perfect generic GOP candidate is a family man, athletic, loves flags, and only has one flaw.

Next up, Stephen interviewed Jack White of Third Man Records and will do so for two more shows this week. I'm assuming that will be on Wednesday and Thursday, but I might be wrong on that. I really wonder why someone would agree to be interviewed by Stephen. There's no way to win. There's no way to come out ahead when you go up against Stephen. I guess it's something that you do and put behind you, hoping that it will be worth the agony. Luckily for all of us, Stephen did sing during part of the interview.

For the musical portion of the show, Stephen dressed appropriately while Florence + the Machine performed. The song was "Dog Days are Over" and unfortunately, I don't think there is any bonus song at Colbert Nation. But the good news is that there are two more shows this week so that means two more musical performances to look forward to.

StePhest Colbchella

It is officially summer (well tomorrow actually) and you know what that means!

Dr. Pepper Presents
StePhest
Colbchella
'011
Rock You Like A
Thirst-icane

Yes, if you watched last night, you saw the first artist on the first night of the first time ever of

Dr. Pepper Presents
StePhest
Colbchella
'011
Rock You Like A
Thirst-icane

Tonight it was Bon Iver (Justin Vernon). First the interview, then the music. No, Stephen did not join in and sing like he often does, but you might want to keep watching, especially on Thursday night. That is, if you believe everything Stephen says. The song on the show tonight was "Calgary".

And then, something for the kids in the audience. Bonus hit on the website. That's right. You can go to Colbert Nation and listen to a bonus song! (Hint: It's "Skinny Love".)

I was just a little bit disappointed in Stephen though. It seems like with a sponsor like Dr. Pepper, he should have supplied refreshments. Yes, I wanted to hear him say, "You get a Dr. Pepper. And you get a Dr. Pepper. And you get a Dr. Pepper. Everybody gets a Dr. Pepper."

302-526-1234

It seems the minute I put up a few phone numbers of telemarketers here just as a kind service to people, I get more calls. This one was a recorded female voice and had the typical stuff to try to get me interested in pressing "1" to speak to a live operator.

"Second Notice."

"Credit Card."

"Lower your interest rate."

"Federal Stimulus."

If it was that good of a deal, they would identify who was calling first thing and have a real live person to talk to without using gimmicks. And, yes, I do get these calls about once a month, so as far as this being my last chance, nah, I don't think so.

Moving on.

I had mistakenly assumed that last night's show was a rerun. But, upon reading StephenAtHome over at Colbert Nation, I learned that "it's actually a live word-for-word re-enactment." Who knew?

Marshmallow Test

Well first of all, you need to go watch The Colbert Report over at Colbert Nation if you did not see tonight's Report. I could tell you all about the Marshmallow Test, but I can't do justice to Stephen's explanation and demonstration. It's funny and worth watching.

Some of the Republicans running for President for 2012 were at a debate Monday night, so Stephen talked about that. One of the first things they all did was brag about how many kids they have. One of the candidates figured out a very long time ago that she was going to need lots of kids. Michele Bachmann can't say three sentences to anybody before she brings up those 23 foster children that she raised. Perhaps Stephen could find out the details on that, because no one else seems to be able to find out any details. Did she raise them from cradle to graduation? Or did she have them for a weekend? Inquiring minds want to know.

Ah, but then Stephen got started on the subject of Tim Pawlenty. He called T Paw a Boiled Noodle! And then he said Pawlenty's campaign was soaring like a chicken tossed off a barn. You may have heard Pawlenty's made-up word - Obamneycare. Earlier Pawlenty had criticized Romney, but now when the guy was just a few feet away, Pawlenty backed off completely.

And this got Stephen going even more! "I want to know how the Minnesota health plan keeps Tim Pawlenty alive without a spine."

Anyway, Stephen also had a clip with Pawlenty talking about his plans to pay for his tax cuts. It's called the "Google Test". "If you can find a service or a good available on Google or the internet then the Federal Government probably doesn't need to be providing that good or service."

Here's the catch. (And I must admit that I have heard other people also say this, but Stephen was the first one to do so on The Colbert Report.) "I can Google Tim Pawlenty and if I can Google Tim Pawlenty that means he's absolutely unnecessary in government."

Wow. Wowie. Sounds like T Paw Googled himself right out of the Presidential Race. Oops.

Stephen had an interesting guest on tonight - Janny Scott. She is an author and wrote the book "A Singular Woman, the Untold Story of Barack Obama's mother." Go buy the book and read it.

866-896-1811

Yet another public service I'm providing to those who wonder who called them. It showed up as Toll Free 866-896-1811. The woman stated that she was a professional fund raiser calling for Children's Cancer Recovery Foundation. I asked if there was a website and she said yes, but she had the website wrong. I did find the right website by Googling, but it would have been more impressive if she had known more about the organization.

I also found a charity rating for them on Charity Navigator. They had a 1 star rating (29.84) out of a possible 4 star rating system, so judge for yourself.

And if you have some spare time and want to look at some Top Ten Lists, Charity Navigator has some of those also.

However, if you don't want to do any homework but just are feeling charitable, you can always give to the American Red Cross. It's right there on www.colbertnation.com, so you know Stephen has given the American Red Cross the famous Colbert Bump.

Gotcha Question

Sarah Palin is always getting those "Gotcha Questions" thrown at her. This is the latest Gotcha Question:

"What have you seen so far today, and what are you going to take away from your visit?"

That's your basic old, "So, how's it going?" question. You can pretty much answer it any way you want and not put your foot in your mouth. She answered with her famous Paul Revere answer.

"He who warned uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that uh, we were going to be secure and we were gonna be free."

On last night's Report, Tom Ridge was the guest. Stephen introduced him and mentioned that in addition to being Homeland Security Adviser under George W. Bush, Ridge is a lobbyist. Apparently Stephen was misinformed. Ridge told Stephen that he's not a lobbyist.

That's right. Here's what it says in the Wikipedia entry about Tom Ridge:

"In July 2010, companies seeking to use hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale Formation engaged Ridge and his company at $75,000 a month to help them gain support."

And over at Washington Post, there is this definition of a lobbyist: "A person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest."

So, completely different. Glad that's all cleared up. Next they went on to discuss hydraulic fracturing. Stephen mentioned that thanks to Vice President Cheney's Energy Task Force, gas companies did not have to reveal what chemicals were being pumped into the ground.

Then Stephen had a question that he was wondering about. "Some are things like kerosene, benzene, urea, toluene. How many of those can I feed my toddler? Cuz it's perfectly safe, right? Right?"

Now that's a Gotcha Question.

Let's Create a Better Universe, Together!

I suppose you think this is the follow-up to previous post about Building a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. But actually it is quite different.

Last night Bre Pettis of MakerBot Industries was on The Colbert Report with his Thing-O-Matic 3d Scanner. He made a small model of Stephen's head. And I could give you all the details, but I might get those details wrong. So, I would just suggest, no, urge you to either watch the show online at Colbert Nation, or go to Maker Bot Industries or even Thingiverse, where I got the title for this post: Let's Create a Better Universe, Together!

I would just add this. If you have always wanted Stephen's head for the top of your bannister, you need to get a Thing-O-Matic.

I would just warn you of one thing. I think Bre Pettis must have really gotten The Colbert Bump. Sometimes all I get is:

The connection has timed out.... The site could be too busy. I guess so!

If that happens, try again, maybe later when no one else is using the internet.

Great or Greatest

After a energetic Pursuit of Tappiness dance routine with Stephen joining in, Stephen had as his guest Sugar Ray Leonard. Sugar Ray has a book out now, "The Big Fight - My Life In and Out of the Ring".

Stephen mentioned that Sugar Ray came to prominence at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. In fact, Sugar Ray was a gold medalist there.

Stephen asked if he missed the ring. "I don't miss getting hit!" is what Sugar Ray responded.

What surprises me if what Stephen did not ask this very famous fighter. Why didn't Stephen ask him if he was a Great Fighter or the Greatest Fighter? It's the type of question that Stephen is always curious about. Perhaps Stephen just assumed Sugar Ray was the greatest and didn't see a need to ask for confirmation. Or perhaps Stephen assumed that Sugar Ray wasn't the greatest and did not want to embarrass him.

But then things got somewhat physical with a simple, "One Two Three Four, I declare a Thumb War."

At which point Sugar Ray warned Stephen, "Now, you understand... I'm a fighter. I'm a real fighter.

At which point Stephen fought back with, "Now, you understand. I had eight brothers!"

I'm sure the results will be on all the sports news tomorrow, so no need for me to tell you who won. (Just remember. It is The Colbert Report, not The Leonard Report.)

805-741-2218

"National Diabetic Association. Is there a diabetic in your house?"

"What? Who is this?"

"National Diabetic Association. Is there any persons in your house who are diabetic?:

"What are you calling about?"

"Do you have people with diabetes living there?

Well, it was hard to understand her, but she did say things like Free Supplies. And Most Latest Supplies. Yep, most latest, so not so good on proper English grammar. And then there was something similar to "You don't need to worry about..." and "nonprofit".

I should have asked where she was calling from. I should have asked if there is a website about them. I should have said to send me information in the mail and then I would decide if I wanted to give out any personal, medical information.

I did some Googling and did not find any helpful information about this group/company/association. I did find websites that had uncomplimentary things to say about National Diabetic Association. I also found a website listing 406-715-0230 for that group/company/association.

It's easy to get confused when you get a call from one of thousands of organizations. Did they say National or American? Did they say Diabetes or Diabetic? Did they say Association or Organization or Foundation?

But here's the good news, a link to help you sort out charities. The Federal Trade Commission has all kinds of information at their website, so if you are unsure of who called saying they are a nonprofit or a charity, etc., you can start at this website.

So, as yet another public service to my readers, that's who was on the line when my Caller ID said 805-741-2218.

Random String of Words

There's lots of people in the news lately. I won't mention all of them. But let me just say that tonight Stephen announced he has made the moral choice to let himself go. For someone who just spent about a week on a small boat in the ocean, that is indeed a brave choice.

But perhaps the most important event in the news now is Sarah Palin's historical perspective on Paul Revere's ride. If you watch TV or look at the internet, you most likely have seen her interpretation on that important night in our history. And if you are paying attention you will know that many people have said she mangled history. Of course someone is defending her and that someone is, well, it's Sarah Palin defending herself. She knows her history she tells us.

I think the problem is that poem. That one by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, you know, "Paul Revere's Ride". It's so long. Stephen had a better idea based on what Sarah Palin had said:

One if by land
Bells if by two
Hey British you're warned
Sail the Ocean Blue.

It seems that Stephen is in her corner also because he admires her skill at speaking on camera. "I could not have said a random string of words better," Stephen said after hearing her review of Revere. But still there are those who are upset by her inaccuracies. That could change though because her fans apparently have gone to the Wikipedia page about Paul Revere in order to change it to reflect what Sarah Palin had said.

So now everyone is confused. What did Paul Revere do that night back in 1775? Did he warn the Americans? Did he warn the British? Was he able to load and shoot and ring all at the same time? There's only one way to know for sure. Historical Re-enactment.

Stephen demonstrated clearly just how the ride of Paul Revere went down. Umm, I'm not sure that he had it right either. But at least he had the guts to try. That makes him a great American hero also.

One last thing from tonight's show - Stephen discussed the replacement for the Food Pyramid. Now it will be the Food Plate. That makes sense to me. You can read about it at ChooseMyPlate.gov.

Khan Academy

I'll be brief tonight. Stephen had one of his most interesting guests on tonight - Salman Khan (not the actor, but the educator). Khan started out doing short tutoring videos on YouTube to help out his cousins and that grew into the Khan Academy. He has had over 57 million views. And the best part, it's all free and it's online right now. Stop reading this blog and go look at Khan Academy.

Khan admitted that while he is quite comfortable with lots of the math concepts, he did read up a bit about the French Revolution at Wikipedia. But he also read the footnotes, so he has good information. At this point, Stephen commented that he was responsible for some of the stuff over at Wikipedia.

So in a weird twist of events, Stephen perhaps has added to the vast knowledge of Salman Khan.

The Last Mountain

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was the guest tonight on The Colbert Report.

The Last Mountain, a documentary that includes interviews with Kennedy, opens in selected theaters this Friday. If you live in one of those cities, you should go to the movie. Not every one will have the chance to see it, only if you live in or near those cities. We did get to see a short clip of the movie and there are lots of explosions, so if that appeals to you, go see the movie. But what it mostly is about is the coal industry in West Virginia. A state made up of mountains and valleys is being quickly turned in to a state of mountains blasted and then scraped into the valleys, all in the name of coal.

In other news tonight, Stephen's facial hair is gone. Also, I think Stephen is redecorating because he was talking about rugs and curtains. And the age old problem of Stephen winning (or not) an Emmy was again discussed briefly. And that meant Stephen felt compelled to write a Thank-you note to his BFF for six months - Jimmy Fallon.

Driving Miss Crazy

It seems as if everyone is reporting on Sarah Palin's "just your typical American vacation" this week. You know, just like the vacations you went on when you were a kid. You get yourself a nice coach bus. Paint it all patriotic and such. Sign your name across it. Travel around to various destinations and have your picture taken gawking at historical monuments. Yeah, we've all been there.

Even Jon Stewart over at The Daily Show talked about Joan of Alaska. He said reporters were following her around and asking questions such as, "Why are we following your bus?" and "What's wrong with us?" (And now you know why this post is called "Driving Miss Crazy!" Thanks, Jon.) He reported that she says it's not about her and it's not a publicity seeking tour. Duh. He goes on to ask us, "Have you seen her bus? Could it be any more about her than that?"

But last night, Stephen also reported on the One Nation bus. And yes he talked about the Lame Stream Media. And he lamented on the fact that Sarah Palin was ambushed with gotcha questions such as, "Where are you going?" and "Why are you doing this?"

Perhaps we can get a clue about this bus trip from what was posted at SarahPac. "Even Piper was able to grasp the significance of being in the presence of our first President - who had such diverse interests - when she told me later 'how hard he must have worked to keep that farm going!' "

To be fair, George Washington probably did not do all the work or even any of the labor-intensive farm work himself. Most likely he used what Stephen called "African volunteers." I wonder if Sarah Palin shared that bit of information with Piper. (Yikes! Who's holding her baby boy? Anyone? Anyone?)

Which lead naturally into the next topic, Colbert SuperPAC. Stephen is still working on that. In fact he had an actual letter from the FEC with 13 legal questions to be answered. So he did what he always did in high school, paid a rich kid to give him the answers. Last night that person was none other than friend of the show and Stephen's lawyer, Trevor Potter. Stephen expressed his admiration for the hard work done by the people over at the FEC and his hope that they will be paid adequately for the job they do. If Stephen does get his ColbertPAC, he will be able to take his kids on a "for profit" vacation.

Of course you all remember Stephen was sailing this past week. If you go to Colbert Nation, you can watch the show from May 31 and see just what a sailor looks like. Argh.

Stephen's guest last night was James Stewart. That's the truth. It was actually interesting and says a lot about the direction this nation is heading.

*Photo not actually of George Washington's farm.

202-367-9951

Lower your interest rate??? Eligibility runs out soon???? This phone number showed up on Caller ID while I was out of town recently. 202-367-9951. I listened on the old answering machine and it was a recorded female voice and of course the first part of the conversation was clipped. I was supposed to press "1" to speak to a live operator to see if I am eligible to lower my interest rate. My interest rate on what??? Mortgage Company? Car Loan? Student Loan? Credit Card? She didn't say. She did say this was my "final notice" --- except that I get one of these calls every month or so.

Anyway, as a public service I offer this information to you in case you get that phone number showing up on your Caller ID. If I was you, I'd ignore this call and let the answering machine get it.

And since I'm on the National Do Not Call Registry, they probably shouldn't be calling anyway!

*** I hereby give this phone number the Colbert Un-Bump!