Grace and Grit

First of all, donate to the Red Cross. That was the first thing on Stephen's mind as he finally was able to broadcast the show. You can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross to aid in their relief efforts for all the people affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Stephen also gave a big shout-out to the nurses, or heroes as he calls them, who evacuated 20 newborns from NYU Langone Medical Center, carrying them down the stairs while holding flashlights to see. Also a big thank-you to the worker who was in a tree cutting down branches with a chainsaw so that the branches would not fall and cause further damage.

"In a tree with a chainsaw - safest place to be in a hurricane." Stephen knows his hurricane preparedness!

Also Stephen heaped praise on Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey, for his tireless efforts to get help for the people in his state also hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. (It's sadly ironic that Sandy will also be known for all the sand it has moved around, sand that doesn't flow back to sea after the storm is over.)

Stephen talked briefly about Mitt Romney's sudden change of events. No longer was he going to campaign in Ohio. Now he was going to have a charity event. Not necessarily helpful.

Providing in-depth commentary to all the recent events about Hurricane Sandy was R.E.M. member and The Colbert Report studio statuette, Michael Stipe. It was refreshing to get his perspective.

Interestingly enough, Mitt Romney has said prior to Hurricane Sandy that he believes States rather than FEMA should provide disaster help. Yes, agreed Stephen. After all, "Who better to respond to what's going on inside its own borders that the state whose infrastructure has just been swept out to sea?" And in a Romney administration, Paul Ryan will personally come to your devastated town and wash your already clean pots.


In these time of trial we always have Donald Trump's Twitter Feed. You may remember his offer of $5 Million Dollars to Charity? He has extended the deadline a few hours. In appreciation, Stephen has extended his deadline on his own offer to Donald Trump. Stephen called Donald's offer a "heartwarming act of extortion lost in Hurricane Sandy suffering.

Again, Stephen suggests we all give generously to the Red Cross.

Stephen's guest last night was Lilly Ledbetter. Stephen is so generous to his guests that she got to stay in a total of three hotels since she came to New York on Sunday. They talked about her struggle to get equal pay for equal work. The story is all in her book and interestingly enough, the first law Barack Obama signed is named after her. Go out and buy Grace and Grit My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond. Then read it to find out what she and Stephen were talking about.

Final time for the night. Text RED CROSS to 90999.

Text REDCROSS to 90999

Stephen's final advice for the night was to Text REDCROSS to 90999 to help with Disaster Relief from Hurricane Sandy.

Tomorrow I'll write more about tonight's show, but I have been out for 7 hours trick-or-treating and I am so tired. I'll be rested tomorrow and will have candy to sustain me for a long, long time.

Google Halloween

Time for a little diversion. Head over to Google for the scary Google Doodle. A cat, a crow, a dancing skeleton and something behind the noisy doors.

Last year I told you about this. If you haven't visited Ben & Jerry's Halloween pages recently, head over their now.

And just to mention in case you haven't been paying attention, Red Cross needs your donations for Hurricane Sandy assistance.

Canceled Again

Nation, tonight's episode of The Colbert Report is canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. If you reserved tickets for tonight, please check your email for further details.

Again, that is what is over at ColbertNation.com about Tonight's Taping. Tonight's rerun will therefore be with Mitch Daniels. He wrote a book that reminds Stephen of an excellent book written by someone else. Read my post here about Mitch Daniels and find out who wrote that excellent other book. Hint: The other book is about America and Greatness.

But if you are at a loss of what to do if you don't want to watch a rerun of The Colbert Report, here's a list of suggestions.

1.First of all, go over to RedCross.org and donate some money to help victims of Hurricane Sandy.

2. Read all my posts at The Colbert Bump, starting with the first one.

3. Donate blood. "Hurricane Sandy has forced the cancellation of approximately 300 American Red Cross blood drives in 14 states along the East Coast, resulting in a shortfall of nearly 9,000 units of blood and platelets thus far." Go to the American Red Cross Website to find out how you can become a blood donor. You'll get a free cookie! There's great information about first-time donors, eligibility requirements, and even a Search for blood drives by Zip Code.

4. Go over to bing and look at cute Arctic fox cub.

5. Get out your To Do List and do some of the jobs on it.

6. Read books by Stephen Colbert:
Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen
I Am America (And So Can You)
I Am a Pole (And So Can You)
America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't

7. Write an actual letter on paper to someone you haven't seen in a while, put it in an actual envelope with correct address on it, put actual postage stamp on it, and mail it.

8. Start a new hobby. Might I suggest Juggling!!! Watch the video and you will be able to juggle in no time at all. Blue shows how it's done.

9. Take the dog for a walk. Good exercise for you and a real treat for the dog.

10. Find out about the local elections in your area. Yes we have a presidential election, but there are also state, county, city, school elections on the ballot as well as questions, amendments, and other important stuff. Election day is Tuesday, November 6. Go to your polling place and vote on Tuesday. I'm sure Stephen will talk about the elections in the coming days.

Of course, you can always just watch The Colbert Report tonight as usual. Even if you have seen it before, it is fascinating, informative and at times even humorous.

Due to Weather...

Nation, tonight's episode of The Colbert Report is canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. If you reserved tickets for tonight, please check your email for further details.

That's what you saw over at ColbertNation.com yesterday. And it was a repeat show, or encore episode on TV last night. Why? If you haven't been paying attention, it's because of Hurricane Sandy.

Okay, you know the drill. When something like this happens, you reach into your wallet and just take out a five or ten dollar bill and send it on to the Red Cross. Or better yet and easier, just go over to RedCross.org and donate online. You know Stephen would want you to do it, so make Stephen happy.

It looks like the show is on again as regularly scheduled and the guest will be Former Senator Al Simpson. Now here's something that I kind of want to crow about, but I also feel a little guilty pointing it out. Perhaps the last person out of the studio before the weather got so bad did not have time to check the website over at ColbertNation.com as closely as they usually do.

There's a teeny tiny teeny tiny error. It says that Al Simpson is former Senator of Wisconsin, but actually he is the former Senator from Wyoming. Both states' names contain the letters that spell out WIN, so it's easy to see how there could be this little mix-up. It's not a big deal. I'm sure it will still be Al Simpson on the show talking about his book, "Shooting from the Lip: The Life of Senator Al Simpson."

So, looking forward to Tuesday night's show and clearing up the Wisconsin/Wyoming kerfuffle. Also planning on donating to Red Cross even before Stephen urges us to. I'm sure Jon Stewart will talk about that, too. He can be a nice guy, same as Stephen is.