I'm Going to Carolina

If you've been paying attention, you know that Mitt Romney won the Iowa Caucus. Okay, now if you've really been paying attention, you now know that he didn't. It seems some ballots have been lost or miscounted and now Rick Santorum is the winner. He wont' be declared the winner because of all the errors and inconsistencies, but he does have more votes. Imagine what it might have been like in New Hampshire if Iowa had not made this "oops". If Santorum had come out of Iowa as the declared winner, people in New Hampshire probably would have been more inclined to vote for him.

In other political news for the GOP, New Gingrich received the endorsement of Rick Perry when Perry dropped out. Great news for Gingrich until a short time later when wife number two (so, not the current one, but the previous one) revealed in an interview that Newt wasn't exactly Mr. Family Values.

Stephen took time out of talking politics to have a sit-down interview with retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Justice Stevens has a new book out, "Five Chiefs" a memoir about his time on the Supreme Court. Although at first disappointed to not be able to interview an actual sitting Justice, Stephen eventually settled in for a comfortable interview, in fact so comfortable that he asked if Justice Stevens could fix a speeding ticket for him. Conclusion: "You're Guilty." Stephen took it well.

We learned some interesting tidbits of information tonight. For example, do you know what the "Highest Court in the Land" refers to? It is actually a basketball court on the fifth floor of the Supreme Court Building. I did not know that. Also, Justice Stevens wrote the dissenting opinion for Citizens United.

Stephen did not think that Justice Stevens should be able to judge people just because he is a justice. I can see Stephen's point, after all, "Judge Not." But, still, that's kind of the whole purpose of the Supreme Court.

When he was nearly done with the interview, Stephen asked, "Are there any decisions you made that you later regretted?"

"Other than this interview? No."

Tonight's guest was Carrie Rebora Barratt, Associate Director for Collections over at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She and Stephen discussed a huge painting and a very famous one, Washington Crossing the Delaware. She did say that when they had the painting restored, they checked on the back of the painting for the key to the Revolution. Stephen pointed out a fob on the painting. Interesting. Stephen is quite observant.

You do know that typically, after the last commercial, Stephen just waves and says "Good Night." But every once in a while there is something different. Tonight was one of those nights. There was a very special treat. So special that I'm not going to tell you what it was. You need to go over to Colbert Nation later on and watch tonight's show online. I will say this, Stephen is very talented. (Hint: Look at the names in the Labels for this post.)

I'm Doing It

"Nation, I have a major announcement to make. For over a day now the people of South Carolina have been crying out for someone who can restore our Nation's greatness to its current perfection. Well, America, that someone is now. I am proud to announce that I am forming an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for the President of the United States of South Carolina.

"I'M DOING IT! AND WITH YOUR HELP AND POSSIBLY THE HELP OF SOME SORT OF OUTSIDE GROUP THAT I AM NOT COORDINATING WITH, WE CAN EXPLORE TAKING THIS COUNTRY BACK. THANK YOU. GOD BESS YOU ALL. AND GOD BLESS CITIZENS UNITED."

Balloons all over and the audience went crazy.

Stephen promised a major decision tonight and he did not disappoint.

But first I should tell you what went on at the beginning of the show, before this major decision. After showing a webcam video of himself exercising and pointing out his stylish gold curlicue toe slippers, Stephen talked about the various Super PACs that candidates have. No, wait - that's wrong. What I mean to say is that candidates do not have Super PACs. That would be illegal. He talked about the Super PACs that support, but do not coordinate with, the candidates.

Mitt Romney benefits from Restore Our Future which was started by Romney's lawyer, Charles R. Spies.

Newt Gingrich benefits from Winning Our Future which is run by Newt's former staffer Becky Burkett.

Rick Perry (Parry) benefits from Make us Great Again started by Mike Toomey, who once was Governor Perry's (Parry') chief of staff AND co-owner of a resort island with Dave Carney, chief strategist for the Perry (Parry) campaign.

So, that brought about a difficult decision for Stephen. He was joined by friend of the show, Trevor Potter. All he wanted was a simple answer to this question: "Can I run for president and keep my Super PAC?"

"No." There you have it, a simple answer from Trevor Potter for Stephen.

If you did not see the show tonight, you may want to head over to Colbert Nation tomorrow and watch it. It is fascinating because of all the ins and outs of the legal system as it pertains to election law. Plus there seemed to be some magic that happened.

Long story short, Jon Stewart will be taking over as head of the Colbert Super PAC, he will still get to retain all the staff currently working for the PAC, and the Super PAC can now, legally, run ads for Stephen and attacking potential opponents.

All they need to do is to make sure that Jon (and staff) doesn't coordinate with Stephen.

For fans of crossword puzzles, there was a segment about Will Shortz. Stephen was a clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle back in October of 2010, so he most likely has a warm spot in his heart for crossword puzzles.

Tonight's guest was Mike Allen of Politico which was quite appropriate for such an important show. Even as the two men were shaking hands, Mike told Stephen that Politico had a story about Stephen's candidacy already posted on Politico. That is so impressive. It's like they just wait for news to happen and then write about it right away!

Mike Allen recently wrote the eBook, "The Right Fights Back," which is available for $2.99.