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.

Colbert on Vacation - Day Ten

If Stephen has been taking my suggestions of where to go while on his vacation, he may be thinking it's time for someplace warm. So today I'm going to recommend he go to Hawaii. Although it is a small state, there's lots to see and do, so he will have to limit himself to just a few activities. I'm going to suggest he learns how to hula dance, kayak, surf, and snorkel. He can even snorkel with Green Sea Turtles! (Here's a little information about Green Sea Turtles.)That will keep him busy. For more relaxing activities, he can do some sightseeing.

One place he just must visit is Volcanoes National Park. It would be really cool to see. No, wait, that's probably wrong, it would be hot. Well, it would be interesting to see. He should bring a jar with him, and if no one is looking, scoop up some of the lava flowing by for a souvenir - a free souvenir!

If Stephen does all those activities I suggested, then he deserves to sit around on the beach and soak up the sun. One possibility is Hapuna Beach State Park. It's one of the Big Island's biggest white sand beaches. He can even build sand castles, or let all the friendly beach goers build a monument to his glory all around him. Hopefully someone will help dig him out when it's all done. Hopefully!

Then he can head to the other side of the island to Punaluu Black Sand Beach. And he should bring more jars or bags or boxes and bring samples of both kinds of sand back. It would even be a good idea to bring enough sand back of each kind to use for sandboxes. That would be so much more fun that the brown sand kids typically have in sandboxes. I hope that wouldn't be too heavy in his suitcases.

Anything else Stephen is interested in, he can find at the Go Hawaii website.