Compromise Is An Honorable Word

Stephen made a point of welcoming himself back to The Colbert Report. He admitted he watched his favorite show while he was on break - The Colbert Report. (He has good taste in TV.)

One of the nation's favorite segments on The Colbert Report is Better Know a District. I have only one question for Stephen. Why is this a 434 part series? There are 435 members of the House. After some extensive research, I found out that the number changes depending on many factors, including a guilty plea.

In the 71st Installment of his 434 part series, he had on Michigan freshman Representative Mark Pocan. He represents Wisconsin's fighting 2nd District which includes Madison and the Wisconsin Dells.  I have never understood how logic works and after listening to Stephen interview Mark Pocan, I still don't understand logic. I'm assuming Stephen does because he asked so many logical questions and came to so many logical conclusions. Stephen had the Official 100 Days Cupcake with 100 candles for Mark Pocan to celebrate his first 100 days in Congress. One might wonder why the smoke detectors did not go off when Stephen lit the candles. Luckily they didn't go off and luckily, Mark Pocan was able to quickly extinguish the flames. I sure hope his wish came true.

While many interviewers ask questions of Congresspersons such as "What's your idea for creating more jobs?" or "What did you know and when did you know it?" Stephen gets to those pesky questions everyone really cares about. For example, "Did John Boehner cry when he swore you in?" and "Is it true you turned tricks (as a magician) to earn a living in your younger years?" and "What have you got against bear wrestling?"

With Stephen's popular Better Know a District, is there really any reason for book publishers to publish books about how our government works? Just let the high school kids watch BKAD to learn the neat stuff that is left out of civics textbooks.

As if that wasn't enough about Congress, Stephen's guest Monday night was Congressman John Dingell of Michigan. In just a few short days, namely on Friday, June 7, Representative John Dingell will become the longest serving member in Congress. You can read more about it here at ABC World News and even find out how many days that is. It was a fascinating interview as we learned about his long career and the many accomplishments of this son of a Congressman. (True fact!) For even more interesting stuff, read further on ABC World News here and find out what cost 25 Cents Per Gallon when he was elected.

Stephen was hungry for more information and John Dingell was happy to supply him with that knowledge. Although Stephen was a bit surprised, John Dingell explained how he became a Democrat. The 1964 Civil Rights Act is the law that he is most proud of. And he told a skeptical Stephen that Compromise is an honorable word. They ended the interview with a discussion of Hawaii. If you read about the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and consider that Hawaii was not always a state in the USA, you can see why Stephen Colbert holds John Dingell responsible for a lot of what is happening in our country now.

After hearing about all that Congressman John Dingell has done for our country, I think someone should give that man a cupcake.

E=mc Scared

Congress is getting dumber. Ahhhhh. What does that mean? It just means that the speeches they deliver now are geared towards a 10th grade audience rather than the previous 11th grade audience. Personally I think that Congress is just trying to be more inclusive and get younger people interested in all the wonderful things that Congress has accomplished these past few years.

The Word for Monday's show was Sink Or Swim. (Technically Word Word Word.) The seas are rising and are anticipated to rise a meter, which is a metric measurement and so we may not have to worry about it here in the mathematically progressive USA. However, that's quite a bit of water. If you have ocean-front property, you may be in trouble. Luckily, North Carolina Republicans have come up with a sweet solution. They simply want to outlaw the data. That's right, they have a new bill that would outlaw the climate models. (Sea, no evil.) This is a brilliant solution. Another would be to stick your head in the sand. Of course, you would want to have a friend nearby to tell you when the water is rising and getting too close to you.

BKAD, or Better Know a District, is one of Stephen's most patriotic segments of the show. By now he should have been able to breeze through all the Districts. Sadly, there are way too many that we don't know. In fact, there are whole states that we know absolutely nothing about. Stephen is of course fixing that. He made an agreement with Nancy Pelosi to support her Disclose Act. She, in return, would encourage Democratic Representatives to come on The Colbert Report to be interviewed by Stephen. It is proven fact that anyone on The Colbert Report gets the famous Colbert Bump.

So anyway, Stephen has two Democrats booked for this summer. Yea!!! But he needs more. That's where you come in. Head over to Colbert Nation. Do you see Stephen's smiling face up in the right hand corner? It says Better Know A District. Click on that. It's the Represent-O-Map 6000. Then click on your Congressional District. If you don't know your District, use the Search Box-Thingy 4500 below the map of the USA. Either click or search and you will get a nice photo of your Representative and a form email (the best kind) to send. Get your Representative on the show. Make him or her famous. Send your Representative an actual email. You can also view The Archives to see if your Representative was already better known.


The most popular Representative seems to be Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton which is interesting. As popular as she is, she has the worst voting record, having never cast a vote. It is a fascinating interview and valuable civics lesson. And we can see Stephen flatter himself.

To remind us all of what BKAD is all about, Stephen interviewed Representative John Lewis for BKAD and also as the guest. Representative John  Lewis is from Georgia's 5th District. John Lewis knew the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr since he was 18 and John Lewis was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington. In 1965, he led marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in a historical event that came to be known as Bloody Sunday. Stephen mentioned that he also was at the 1963 March on Washington and may have been the youngest attendee since he was with his mother in that she was pregnant with him.

Stephen and Representative Lewis also discussed the new book that John Lewis has written - "Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change." You can get this book at most bookstores or download it from iTunes.