A Bump in the R..., Water Under the Br....

Michelle Obama has been promoting healthy lifestyles for our children by emphasizing healthy eating and being physically active. And obesity rates are going down. So that's the good news.

But, bad news is overshadowing everything else. Bob and Babs, never mind their last name or where they live. They could be you. They could live where you live. A horrible crime happened to them. During the night, at 2:00 a.m., their dogs barked, but they ignored the barking. The next morning, to their horror, they discovered that their Gumby statue had been stolen from their yard. There are numerous similar crimes all across the country. Who did it and why? Gumby can't talk or perhaps we could find out more. Stephen's warning: Protect your Gumby before it's too late.

Stephen talked about some of the potential GOP candidates for the 2016 Presidential Election. He got a little hung up using unfortunate phrases when talking about Chris Christie, so he went on to talk about of the other candidates and then on to one of the potential Democratic candidates. Some people over on the conservative side are noting that Hillary Clinton is not a spring chicken and thus not suited for public office. This could backfire, though. Stephen pointed out that Ronald Reagan was older than Hillary would be upon taking office, (if she runs and if she's elected).

Is this a good idea? Should the GOP say that old women are not capable of doing important stuff? I kind of think they should check out their binders of women and maybe not go down that path. Besides, I think lots of old women vote and they might not like being told that old women are too old.

Every once in a while, Stephen will have on more that one guest for his interview segment. That was the case on Wednesday night. Olympic Gold Winners Meryl Davis and Charlie White were on. I must first declare that I was expecting that we would get to see their winning Gold Medal performance right there on Stephen's set, but that did not happen. That was a bit disappointing but I got over it. It was a lovely interview, with Charlie feeding Stephen's ego by laughing at nearly everything Stephen said. That's okay, I would do the same thing if I was being interviewed by Stephen. One exciting thing did happen. We got to see Stephen twizzling. He did it well.

It is probably a good thing that Stephen did not interview them before the Olympics. I can just imagine being out on the ice, ready to start, and then you think about something Stephen said during the interview and all your concentration would be gone. Even great hair could not save a person then.

Mom-in-Chief

Down in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Democratic National Convention is still in full swing. Stephen objected to the constant noise in the background that seems to have no explanation. What is really strange about this noise is that it seems to be loudest at the same time as all those convention signs are waving back and forth, signs such as "Michelle," "Forward," and "Stephen Colbert." har har har. I made up that last one.

We did get an explanation when Stephen played a video clip of Brit Hume. He said, and I assume he has his facts all checked out on this, that the Democrats had the sound turned way up and so that's why the roar of the greasepaint, oops, roar of the crowd was so loud.

By the way, did you know that you can read the transcript of Michelle Obama's Convention Speech over at NPR? Well you can. And you can also listen to Michelle Obama's Convention Speech at the same link. It's 25 minutes and 6 seconds long, so you can read it or listen to it while waiting for your pizza to be delivered.

Everyone agreed the speech was great and when she said that her most important job was Mom-in-Chief, it brought out the crocodile tears in Stephen. I can understand why it would bring Stephen to tears. Even Charles Krauthammer thought the speech was brilliant.

 We also got to see Tammy Duckworth, Congressional candidate, giving a speech about her background, her family, her military service, and the heroism of her crew in Iraq. And yes, I found the text of her speech also. You can read that over at Huffington Post.

What seems to be grabbing attention with some of the media is the number of Twitter Tweets going on during the Conventions. Michelle Obama seems to be winning. What does it all mean? Stephen explains. He used the Internet Numbo-Tron 3000 to help explain  numbers, e.g., 5, 9, 14, and 3. He can't explain what any of the numbers mean, but he feels compelled to report on these numbers to his audience. Tonight's big number? It was 11,394.5. Holy Cow! That's a decimal. Stephen will keep us updated on this especially if he has time to fill. Of course, Stephen was making a point, but then he couldn't explain the point, so it was sort of pointless.

During the Sport Report, Stephen told us that the football referees are in a labor dispute with owners. One problem is over benefits such as vision coverage. Stephen offered to share his eyeglasses with the professional referees. This should settle the problem.

The guest was Michael Grunwald talking about his latest book, "The New New Deal, The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era." The book is a New York Times Bestseller, so that, plus the fact that he is on The Colbert Report, probably means that you may want to read this book.It was a very lively discussion. I could hardly keep up and neither could Michael Grunwald. I'm not one to tell tales, but Stephen barely let the guy talk. Where's a referee when you need one?

Michelle Obama

Stephen dedicated the majority of the show to talking about the military, talking with a military guy, and interviewing First Lady Michelle Obama.

Today is the one-year anniversary of Joining Forces. Most of us would agree that supporting our military members and their families is important. It takes more than just saying that you support them to really make a difference. Joining Forces works in many different ways to make those differences in people's lives. It can be just as simple as neighbors helping neighbors. Is there a family with Dad or Mom serving overseas in your neighborhood? How can you help out? Maybe cutting the grass, shoveling snow in winter, picking up some groceries when you are at the store, or helping out with the kids occasionally.

It can sometimes be difficult to realize that those families are military families, so Stephen came up with the excellent idea of family members wearing military uniforms so that we easily recognize them. That Stephen. Always with those good ideas.

Another good idea - training a Marine to be a pundit. Stephen had Bryan Escobedo, a Marine, in the studio to learn all the ins and outs of being a pundit. Bryan got to sit, briefly, at Stephen's desk. He learned some of Stephen's talking points and learned that talking points don't necessarily have to make sense. Stephen asked Bryan to show fear. "I'm incapable of showing fear." A true Marine! Also they went over the use of statistics, mainly how to make up statistics that are close enough to what people would expect so that they seem believable.

First Lady Michelle Obama was actually on The Colbert Report before she was the First Lady, back when she was campaigning for Barack Obama. Stephen humbly pointed out that she had received the Colbert Bump.

Everyone can do something is the motto of Joining Forces. The First Lady told Stephen some of the reasons why she picked helping our military, along with focusing attention on childhood obesity, as something she wanted to do. She got to meet many military families while campaigning. They move more often than most families. Sometimes families move so often that children change schools ten to twelve times during a parent's military career. Jobs are also a real issue for the spouse of a military individual. Moving as often as they do makes it hard to hold down a job and to get a job in the first place.

Stephen did manage to remind Michelle Obama that he himself had served in Iraq for almost a week and thus considers himself to be military. He also asked if she was going to endorse Barack Obama, and yes she did endorse him for President.

So, go on over to Joining Forces and spend some time looking over the website. There's a lot of information there. You can watch a video of First Lady Michelle Obama talking with one military spouse and saying thanks.

Joining Forces

Look at this. Michelle Obama will be a guest on The Colbert Report on Wednesday, April 11. That's impressive, but I think when Stephen has such high profile guests on, it makes it that much harder for me to get on the show. What does does a person have to do to get on The Colbert Report? Do you have to be somebody??? Do you have to accomplish something???

But, once Michelle Obama is on The Colbert Report, what will they talk about? Here's what - Joining Forces.

"Joining Forces is a national initiative that mobilizes all sectors of society to give our service members and their families the opportunities and support they have earned."

Spend some time now looking at the Joining Forces website. Then, on April 11 when Michelle Obama talks with Stephen on The Colbert Report, you will already be informed and knowledgeable and maybe even be able to anticipate what questions Stephen will ask. No, wait, I take that back. Being informed and knowledgeable about anything won't really help you predict what's on Stephen's mind.

Mark your calendar and be sure to watch on April 11. It should be interesting and of course, as always, Stephen will manage to somehow include a little humor on his news show.

Media Bias

Here's an interesting side note related to my earlier posting today. Also on the Conservapedia home page is a blurb about Michelle Obama. Conservapedia all but calls her a liar when she talked about her "best memories" of the Olympics. She claimed to be a young girl while watching and cheering for Olga and Nadia, Carl Lewis and others. Conservapedia (which coincidentally has a whole section about Bias in Wikipedia) says Michelle was 20 years old when Carl Lewis was in the Olympics in 1984, so not really a young girl. That's true, but they fail to mention that Olga Korbut was in the 1972 Olympics which would make Michelle 12 years younger, or only 8 years old. And Nadia Comaneci was first in the 1976 Olympics, which would make Michelle 12 years old. So while Conservapedia has their underwear all in a bunch about media bias, they are perfectly fine practicing it themselves.