Nelson Mandela has died and Stephen talked about other people talking about that. Rick Santorum had some nice things to say and then he basically said that ObamaCare equals Apartheid. Stephen honored Rick Santorum by dubbing him Tata Vanilla.
In keeping with a general charity theme, Stephen played a video clip of Bill O'Reilly talking about feeding the Poor. Papa Bear (not to be confused with Tata Vanilla) stressed how important it is to make sure the Poor, even if they are young children, are worthy enough to be fed. If Bill O'Reilly gives money, he makes sure he hands the money directly to the kids and not to the parents because the parents might be losers. Stephen pointed out how important that is. "Remember kids. You can trust people who hand money to you and say, 'Don't tell your parents!'"
Guess who is up for a Grammy! Pete Seeger, along with David Sedaris, Billy Crystal, Carol Burnett, and yes, Stephen Colbert. That's a whole lot of talent. How can anyone choose the best person for this honor? I'm glad I don't have to decide. Perhaps Stephen should just practice saying, "It's an honor to just be nominated." If he wins, on the other hand, well he is already gloating, so he will handle that like a pro.
David Keith, author of "A Case for Climate Engineering," was the guest on Monday night. He told Stephen of his idea to spray sulfuric acid into the atmosphere as a way to slow down climate change, at least temporarily.
Showing posts with label Rick Santorum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rick Santorum. Show all posts
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Briefly, Very Briefly
WalMart is asking employees to donate food to each other and Rick Santorum gave Stephen a vest to wear on the show.
I'm on a roll to catch up on my posts. Perhaps they are too short. I'll have to evaluate that and maybe add some more.
I'm on a roll to catch up on my posts. Perhaps they are too short. I'll have to evaluate that and maybe add some more.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Shut Up, I Wasn't Talking To You
Where's Stephen? Where is Stephen? Blink, there he is just like magic. He wasn't there, then he was there, and he had a ring.... Strange, isn't it?
We learned about some delicious food and where to get it. That's right, Hobbit Food at Denny's. How does it taste? How long will it be there? I do not know, but now I'm hungry.
The next segment on the show started out all cute and cuddly about babies and then quickly turned rotten. In The Word, Stephen exposed what someone else had already exposed about tutors and cheating. It's gotten to the point where you practically have to pack your tutor in your suitcase when you go to college so that he, or she, can continue to cheat for you and make sure that while you will perhaps enjoy the college experience, you won't learn anything. It just keeps going and going and going until one day a patient happens to wake up in surgery and hears this, "Nurse, pass the knifey thing."
Pity the Pollsters. Those people who call you during supper and ask all sorts of questions are still doing that even though the election is done. Public Policy Polling found that 49% of GOP voters nationally think ACORN stole the election for President Obama. This is incredible since ACORN ceased to exist two years ago!
Did Rick Santorum convince the Senate not to vote for disabled people all over the world? Or did he just nudge open the Pandora's Box and they would have voted that way anyway? Even Bob Dole showed up, in a wheelchair, to urge the Senate to vote on the treaty. They thanked him and then voted No.
The show almost came to a screeching halt, but luckily, Stephen was allowed to pass (courtesy of a former guest this week) and go over to greet (?) his guest. Stephen is nimble, I will admit. Oh, yes, his guest was Andy Serkis. He plays the part of Gollum and I was quite surprised to see what makeup and good lighting on the set of The Colbert Report can do. Andy Serkis looks handsome. His hair isn't straggly at all. His ears and hands don't look as large as they are in the movie. If it's true that clothes make the man, well, he sure proves it. And he's taller than I thought he would be. I thought I would be a little bit put off by him, but he's not even that scary or strange.
As a real treat for the viewers and audience, Stephen had a clip from the movie The Hobbit showing Bilbo and Gollum. This was great because we got to see a little of the movie for free and also because when we do see the movie in the theaters, when this part comes on, we can run out quickly for some more popcorn! We already know what happens so we won't miss a thing.
And Stephen disappeared, just as magically as he had first appeared. That is some kind of ring!
We learned about some delicious food and where to get it. That's right, Hobbit Food at Denny's. How does it taste? How long will it be there? I do not know, but now I'm hungry.
The next segment on the show started out all cute and cuddly about babies and then quickly turned rotten. In The Word, Stephen exposed what someone else had already exposed about tutors and cheating. It's gotten to the point where you practically have to pack your tutor in your suitcase when you go to college so that he, or she, can continue to cheat for you and make sure that while you will perhaps enjoy the college experience, you won't learn anything. It just keeps going and going and going until one day a patient happens to wake up in surgery and hears this, "Nurse, pass the knifey thing."
Pity the Pollsters. Those people who call you during supper and ask all sorts of questions are still doing that even though the election is done. Public Policy Polling found that 49% of GOP voters nationally think ACORN stole the election for President Obama. This is incredible since ACORN ceased to exist two years ago!
Did Rick Santorum convince the Senate not to vote for disabled people all over the world? Or did he just nudge open the Pandora's Box and they would have voted that way anyway? Even Bob Dole showed up, in a wheelchair, to urge the Senate to vote on the treaty. They thanked him and then voted No.
The show almost came to a screeching halt, but luckily, Stephen was allowed to pass (courtesy of a former guest this week) and go over to greet (?) his guest. Stephen is nimble, I will admit. Oh, yes, his guest was Andy Serkis. He plays the part of Gollum and I was quite surprised to see what makeup and good lighting on the set of The Colbert Report can do. Andy Serkis looks handsome. His hair isn't straggly at all. His ears and hands don't look as large as they are in the movie. If it's true that clothes make the man, well, he sure proves it. And he's taller than I thought he would be. I thought I would be a little bit put off by him, but he's not even that scary or strange.
As a real treat for the viewers and audience, Stephen had a clip from the movie The Hobbit showing Bilbo and Gollum. This was great because we got to see a little of the movie for free and also because when we do see the movie in the theaters, when this part comes on, we can run out quickly for some more popcorn! We already know what happens so we won't miss a thing.
And Stephen disappeared, just as magically as he had first appeared. That is some kind of ring!
Monday, October 8, 2012
Blame Big Bird
It seems to be that one thing that stands out from the first presidential debates. I am of course talking about Mitt Romney saying he likes Big Bird, but he doesn't seem to want to pay Big Bird's wages anymore. Well, this has caused an uproar, or maybe upsquawk would be the proper term.
Big Bird is very famous. He is a television icon. He is a movie star. He even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! (Who else has a star there? Ronald Reagan.) And he is loved by millions. Millions of moms who enjoyed watching Sesame Street with millions of kid who are now of voting age. Millions of dads who pretended to be the Count when teaching their own kids how to count their toes and fingers. Millions of grandparents who are on Medicare but still want their grandchildren to be able to enjoy all the fun and educational benefits of Sesame Street.
So, was this another gaffe? I think so. It's people in the 47% that look to Big Bird and Sesame Street for the type of learning for their kids that might be out of reach for their finances. Perhaps they can't afford a nursery school for their small children, but they can turn on Sesame Street and watch with their kids while Big Bird and his many friends teach the alphabet, counting, important concepts such as "Near/Far," and just getting along with the people in your neighborhood.
Who else is as beloved as Big Bird? Who else is a television icon? Who else is a movie star? Who else is loved by millions? Oh, yeah. It's Stephen Colbert. How would we feel, how would this country survive without Stephen Colbert keeping us informed of all that matters in this world, if he was no longer on The Colbert Report? That brings it down to the gut level that we all can relate to.
Who do you think is more connected with the voters, with the television audience, with moms and pops and kids and grandparents? Well, here's one way to find out. I'll put up a poll. No, not a presidential poll. We all know Big Bird is too young to be president, plus, he is non-partisan. But what about this? Suppose Stephen were sick one night and could not do The Colbert Report. One solution would be reruns of previous episodes. Have they ever considered a substitute host for a night or two, just until Stephen got over his illness? (Remarkably, Stephen has not missed a show due to illness as far as I can remember. How does he stay in such good health?)
Okay, here it is. If Stephen were sick and could not do the show, who would you rather watch, Big Bird or Mitt Romney?
And just in case you don't know how serious this is, if you have the fortitude for it, go look at this.
Big Bird is very famous. He is a television icon. He is a movie star. He even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! (Who else has a star there? Ronald Reagan.) And he is loved by millions. Millions of moms who enjoyed watching Sesame Street with millions of kid who are now of voting age. Millions of dads who pretended to be the Count when teaching their own kids how to count their toes and fingers. Millions of grandparents who are on Medicare but still want their grandchildren to be able to enjoy all the fun and educational benefits of Sesame Street.
So, was this another gaffe? I think so. It's people in the 47% that look to Big Bird and Sesame Street for the type of learning for their kids that might be out of reach for their finances. Perhaps they can't afford a nursery school for their small children, but they can turn on Sesame Street and watch with their kids while Big Bird and his many friends teach the alphabet, counting, important concepts such as "Near/Far," and just getting along with the people in your neighborhood.
Who else is as beloved as Big Bird? Who else is a television icon? Who else is a movie star? Who else is loved by millions? Oh, yeah. It's Stephen Colbert. How would we feel, how would this country survive without Stephen Colbert keeping us informed of all that matters in this world, if he was no longer on The Colbert Report? That brings it down to the gut level that we all can relate to.
Who do you think is more connected with the voters, with the television audience, with moms and pops and kids and grandparents? Well, here's one way to find out. I'll put up a poll. No, not a presidential poll. We all know Big Bird is too young to be president, plus, he is non-partisan. But what about this? Suppose Stephen were sick one night and could not do The Colbert Report. One solution would be reruns of previous episodes. Have they ever considered a substitute host for a night or two, just until Stephen got over his illness? (Remarkably, Stephen has not missed a show due to illness as far as I can remember. How does he stay in such good health?)
Okay, here it is. If Stephen were sick and could not do the show, who would you rather watch, Big Bird or Mitt Romney?
And just in case you don't know how serious this is, if you have the fortitude for it, go look at this.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Determined By One Criteria: Excellence
I predicted that Stephen would say the word "Peabody" on tonight's show and he did. I don't know where on his fireplace mantle Stephen will put yet another trophy, but he won the George Foster Peabody Award! That puts him in the same company as the great Dora the Explorer, Sherlock for "A Study in Pink," and The Simpsons. Go look at the George Foster Peabody website for a list of all the winners for this year, for past winners, information on the luncheon, and more, much more. And you can read a bit about the man George Foster Peabody over at Wikipedia.
Stephen was very humble in announcing this award. In fact, of all his superior character traits, his humility is what he is most proud of. He wanted to make note of the fact that he shares this award with members of the Supreme Court. Their ruling on Citizens United made this all possible. And he is especially grateful to all the donors to his Super PAC, people like Harry Balsac, Apoop Mapanz, Suq Madiq and Munchma Quchi.
As you all probably remember, yesterday was primary day in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia and Romney got his broom and swept all three races. Just a personal thought here. The wins don't seem to me to be overwhelmingly Romney over Santorum. For example, in Wisconsin it was 42% for Romney to 38% for Santorum. That doesn't seem like a lot to me. But anyway... Many people are now really saying it's over and Romney will be the nominee. McCain said it. Pawlenty said it. Even Stephen gave a rousing speech for Romney, proclaiming, "I settled for it."
As a treat for us, and thanks to us for donating to the Super PAC, Stephen had another ad that he debuted on the show. The Latino and Latina vote will be important in this election and this ad speaks to some of these concern and issues. Let's all remember that Mitt's dad was born in Mexico. This gives Mitt a real connection with our neighbors to the south as well as Americans of Mexican descent. It's a neat ad, especially because it has a really cute little dog in it. Oooh, cute doggie.
Oatmeal. I don't know how to easily go from dogs to oatmeal, so I'll just say Oatmeal again. Larry has gotten a haircut and shed a few pounds. Who is Larry? Apparently that is the name of that guy on the Quaker Oatmeal round box. I had heard that he had a more updated look, but until Stephen had side by side comparison of the before and after images of Larry on the Oatmeal boxes, I had no idea how radical the change was. The difference is almost like night and midnight. It is that drastic. This is going to double or triple how much Quaker Oatmeal is sold, I just know it.
(Interesting bit of trivia. If you do go to the Quaker Oats website and look at FAQs, you will see that one of the founders of the company was a man by the name of John Stuart.)
Tonight's guest was Robert Ballard, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. Okay, right there I can't help but be a little bit, well, skeptical. An Explorer? In Residence?? Sounds like he's going to sit on his duff and yet somehow be able to explore the world? Neat gig if you can get it.
Fine, whatever. He was on the show to promote "Save the Titanic With Bob Ballard" to be aired Monday, April 9 at 10:00 pm Eastern. (Check local listings in your area.) Did you know that April 15, at 2:20 in the morning Newfoundland time will be the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking? Did you know that Robert Ballard found the Titanic? Did you know he was actually secretly looking for the USS Scorpion and the USS Thresher submarines? Lots of interesting stuff! You can also read more over at Wikipedia about Robert Ballard.
Stephen and Robert Ballard went on to talk more about the Titanic. The way he found the ship was to look for a debris trail, sort of like following footprints. It lead him right to the Titanic. He lamented that the ship is getting loved to death. People are making trips down to see it, probably helping themselves to souvenirs, even getting married there which seems to be a little overboard. Robert Ballard says he would like to paint the Titanic to help stop corrosion. It's now possible to paint ships underwater!!!! Stephen then got a really super idea. Robert Ballard could start painting the ship and say what fun it was. In no time at all, he would have other people doing all the work.
In watching the show tonight and thinking about the Titanic, as well as other ships that have gone down, such as the SS Edmund Fitzgerald or the SS Andrea Doria, I wondered about all the people that built those ships. They surely had a lot of pride in building those ships. And they also most likely never thought the ships would be lost at sea along with all the people on board.
Stephen was very humble in announcing this award. In fact, of all his superior character traits, his humility is what he is most proud of. He wanted to make note of the fact that he shares this award with members of the Supreme Court. Their ruling on Citizens United made this all possible. And he is especially grateful to all the donors to his Super PAC, people like Harry Balsac, Apoop Mapanz, Suq Madiq and Munchma Quchi.
As you all probably remember, yesterday was primary day in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia and Romney got his broom and swept all three races. Just a personal thought here. The wins don't seem to me to be overwhelmingly Romney over Santorum. For example, in Wisconsin it was 42% for Romney to 38% for Santorum. That doesn't seem like a lot to me. But anyway... Many people are now really saying it's over and Romney will be the nominee. McCain said it. Pawlenty said it. Even Stephen gave a rousing speech for Romney, proclaiming, "I settled for it."
As a treat for us, and thanks to us for donating to the Super PAC, Stephen had another ad that he debuted on the show. The Latino and Latina vote will be important in this election and this ad speaks to some of these concern and issues. Let's all remember that Mitt's dad was born in Mexico. This gives Mitt a real connection with our neighbors to the south as well as Americans of Mexican descent. It's a neat ad, especially because it has a really cute little dog in it. Oooh, cute doggie.
Oatmeal. I don't know how to easily go from dogs to oatmeal, so I'll just say Oatmeal again. Larry has gotten a haircut and shed a few pounds. Who is Larry? Apparently that is the name of that guy on the Quaker Oatmeal round box. I had heard that he had a more updated look, but until Stephen had side by side comparison of the before and after images of Larry on the Oatmeal boxes, I had no idea how radical the change was. The difference is almost like night and midnight. It is that drastic. This is going to double or triple how much Quaker Oatmeal is sold, I just know it.
(Interesting bit of trivia. If you do go to the Quaker Oats website and look at FAQs, you will see that one of the founders of the company was a man by the name of John Stuart.)
Tonight's guest was Robert Ballard, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. Okay, right there I can't help but be a little bit, well, skeptical. An Explorer? In Residence?? Sounds like he's going to sit on his duff and yet somehow be able to explore the world? Neat gig if you can get it.
Fine, whatever. He was on the show to promote "Save the Titanic With Bob Ballard" to be aired Monday, April 9 at 10:00 pm Eastern. (Check local listings in your area.) Did you know that April 15, at 2:20 in the morning Newfoundland time will be the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking? Did you know that Robert Ballard found the Titanic? Did you know he was actually secretly looking for the USS Scorpion and the USS Thresher submarines? Lots of interesting stuff! You can also read more over at Wikipedia about Robert Ballard.
Stephen and Robert Ballard went on to talk more about the Titanic. The way he found the ship was to look for a debris trail, sort of like following footprints. It lead him right to the Titanic. He lamented that the ship is getting loved to death. People are making trips down to see it, probably helping themselves to souvenirs, even getting married there which seems to be a little overboard. Robert Ballard says he would like to paint the Titanic to help stop corrosion. It's now possible to paint ships underwater!!!! Stephen then got a really super idea. Robert Ballard could start painting the ship and say what fun it was. In no time at all, he would have other people doing all the work.
In watching the show tonight and thinking about the Titanic, as well as other ships that have gone down, such as the SS Edmund Fitzgerald or the SS Andrea Doria, I wondered about all the people that built those ships. They surely had a lot of pride in building those ships. And they also most likely never thought the ships would be lost at sea along with all the people on board.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Magic Piece of Paper
After quick apology, Stephen reminded us of how the kids just love hearing about election law. I personally can't think of anything more exciting!
Have you gotten your Super Fun Pack yet? Just go to the Colbert Super PAC and order it for a mere $99. Supplies are limited. Along with written instructions and an Allen wrench, Stephen added a few more things to the box. You also will get an exclusive button (more about that later) and a Certificate of Presidential Presidenthood signed by Stephen Colbert and Ham Rove. You get the Treasure Map and if you crack the code and find the treasure, your college will get a visit from Stephen as part of his book tour. (Stephen's note to self: Write book.)
In addition to the Colbert Super PAC, Stephen also has a Super PAC that is even more secretive. It's his Colbert Super PAC Shh! (So called because it can raise Shheesh a load of money.) It never has to disclose its donors because it's a quasi charitable organization called a 501 c4. Now, critics say groups like that are unregistered money guns shooting up the election with untraceable political slush funds. To which Stephen smiles and says, "Uh huh."
But a district judge says that 501 c4's must disclose their donors. This created a bit of a problem for Stephen because he assumed that some banks don't require their donors to be revealed and now he has a ton of phone calls to make but back to election law.
Friend of the show and Stephen's personal lawyer Trevor Potter showed up to give legal advice. It seems there's a bit of gray area with the IRS and social welfare groups and political organizations. Every time Stephen gets into a legal scrape, Trevor Potter brings his briefcase and pulls out a magical piece of paper to help Stephen. Not tonight. No magical piece of paper. With good reason though. The good news is that Stephen doesn't have to file anything with the IRS until after the election.
Or, as Stephen so comically puts it, until it doesn't matter any more. "Everything's cool as long as we don't tell them?" asked Stephen. "Right, as long as they're not watching tonight."
Oops. Stephen said, "That's okay, we'll edit all this stuff out of tonight's show."
Now for the "exclusive button" that I mentioned earlier. Stephen had his briefcase with him and took out a magical piece of paper with five things written on it. These are the five things the button will say when you press it. That's right, it's one of those big red buttons that we often see Stephen use on the show. Just press it and it responds. So, Stephen had Trevor Potter read the five things that your button (should you decide to get a Super Fun Pack) will say. Here goes:
1. I was hoping you wouldn't ask that because the answer is yes.
2. I'm not entirely certain if that's legal but it would make for an interesting appeals process.
3. If I were your lawyer, I'd advise against it, but I'm a button so go nuts.
4. Well, everything's legal somewhere.
5. Every time you press this button I'm billing you 200 bucks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tonight is primary night in Wisconsin, Maryland and D.C. Mitt Romney is expected to do well. Rick Santorum won't quit because God does not approve of pulling out. Stephen had a video clip of Santorum talking about California and U.S. History. Here's what Rick Santorum said:
"I was just reading something last night that from the state of California and at the California Universities there, there, it's several, I think it's seven or eight of the California system of Universities don't even teach an American History course, it's not even available to be taught."
Stephen agreed that was an outrage and the only thing that would be more outrageous is if this is true.
All the schools in the California State system and all but one in the UC system do actually offer degrees in History! Stephen even had a clip of local news in California explaining it and a bit of a magic reference by Dr. Nancy Thompson wondering where Santorum got that information. Oh, that school that doesn't offer history? It's San Francisco and it's a medical school.
So Stephen got that all straightened out and sent his wishes for continued good health for Rick Santorum, especially for the California Primary on June 5.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And then just briefly, a little bit about tonight's guest. It was Nikki Haley, Governor of Stephen's home state of South Carolina and author of the book, "Can't is Not an Option - My American Story." She is the daughter of parents who came here from India with only $8 in hand. That's because you were only allowed to bring $8. (Interesting.) She also brought Stephen a signed football helmet and then the two Southerners had a quiz-off on South Carolina trivia. You can find out for yourself what the state bird and state amphibian are here and the state drink and state snack here. (I think this is important stuff and everyone should memorize it.)
Stephen called the Governor an anchor baby, but then flattered her by asking, since she endorsed Mitt Romney, if she would consider being the vice president candidate with Romney. When she said no, he reminded her, "Hey, hey. Can't is Not an Option!"
Have you gotten your Super Fun Pack yet? Just go to the Colbert Super PAC and order it for a mere $99. Supplies are limited. Along with written instructions and an Allen wrench, Stephen added a few more things to the box. You also will get an exclusive button (more about that later) and a Certificate of Presidential Presidenthood signed by Stephen Colbert and Ham Rove. You get the Treasure Map and if you crack the code and find the treasure, your college will get a visit from Stephen as part of his book tour. (Stephen's note to self: Write book.)
In addition to the Colbert Super PAC, Stephen also has a Super PAC that is even more secretive. It's his Colbert Super PAC Shh! (So called because it can raise Shheesh a load of money.) It never has to disclose its donors because it's a quasi charitable organization called a 501 c4. Now, critics say groups like that are unregistered money guns shooting up the election with untraceable political slush funds. To which Stephen smiles and says, "Uh huh."
But a district judge says that 501 c4's must disclose their donors. This created a bit of a problem for Stephen because he assumed that some banks don't require their donors to be revealed and now he has a ton of phone calls to make but back to election law.
Friend of the show and Stephen's personal lawyer Trevor Potter showed up to give legal advice. It seems there's a bit of gray area with the IRS and social welfare groups and political organizations. Every time Stephen gets into a legal scrape, Trevor Potter brings his briefcase and pulls out a magical piece of paper to help Stephen. Not tonight. No magical piece of paper. With good reason though. The good news is that Stephen doesn't have to file anything with the IRS until after the election.
Or, as Stephen so comically puts it, until it doesn't matter any more. "Everything's cool as long as we don't tell them?" asked Stephen. "Right, as long as they're not watching tonight."
Oops. Stephen said, "That's okay, we'll edit all this stuff out of tonight's show."
Now for the "exclusive button" that I mentioned earlier. Stephen had his briefcase with him and took out a magical piece of paper with five things written on it. These are the five things the button will say when you press it. That's right, it's one of those big red buttons that we often see Stephen use on the show. Just press it and it responds. So, Stephen had Trevor Potter read the five things that your button (should you decide to get a Super Fun Pack) will say. Here goes:
1. I was hoping you wouldn't ask that because the answer is yes.
2. I'm not entirely certain if that's legal but it would make for an interesting appeals process.
3. If I were your lawyer, I'd advise against it, but I'm a button so go nuts.
4. Well, everything's legal somewhere.
5. Every time you press this button I'm billing you 200 bucks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tonight is primary night in Wisconsin, Maryland and D.C. Mitt Romney is expected to do well. Rick Santorum won't quit because God does not approve of pulling out. Stephen had a video clip of Santorum talking about California and U.S. History. Here's what Rick Santorum said:
"I was just reading something last night that from the state of California and at the California Universities there, there, it's several, I think it's seven or eight of the California system of Universities don't even teach an American History course, it's not even available to be taught."
Stephen agreed that was an outrage and the only thing that would be more outrageous is if this is true.
All the schools in the California State system and all but one in the UC system do actually offer degrees in History! Stephen even had a clip of local news in California explaining it and a bit of a magic reference by Dr. Nancy Thompson wondering where Santorum got that information. Oh, that school that doesn't offer history? It's San Francisco and it's a medical school.
So Stephen got that all straightened out and sent his wishes for continued good health for Rick Santorum, especially for the California Primary on June 5.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And then just briefly, a little bit about tonight's guest. It was Nikki Haley, Governor of Stephen's home state of South Carolina and author of the book, "Can't is Not an Option - My American Story." She is the daughter of parents who came here from India with only $8 in hand. That's because you were only allowed to bring $8. (Interesting.) She also brought Stephen a signed football helmet and then the two Southerners had a quiz-off on South Carolina trivia. You can find out for yourself what the state bird and state amphibian are here and the state drink and state snack here. (I think this is important stuff and everyone should memorize it.)
Stephen called the Governor an anchor baby, but then flattered her by asking, since she endorsed Mitt Romney, if she would consider being the vice president candidate with Romney. When she said no, he reminded her, "Hey, hey. Can't is Not an Option!"
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Texans For a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow
Lotto Fever is everywhere. Tomorrow is the drawing for the Mega Millions Jackpot. It's at $540 Million, but don't bother to buy a ticket. Stephen has the winning ticket: 01 02 03 04 05 06 which is the same as his bank PIN - oops, edit that out, Jimmy.
Stephen shared the science of picking numbers according to a segment on Good Morning America.
1. Make sure the numbers you play have never come up before.
2. Pick your own numbers.
At this point, Stephen plugged his new book, "Stephen Colbert's How To Win a Coin Toss Every Time." And he demonstrated exactly how he can do that. Amazing!
The Wisconsin Primary is coming up and you would think that Wisconsinites would like Rick Santorum, given that he's a wheel of Colby Cheese - not that sharp and holier than thou. But in recent polls, he is at 31% compared to Romney's 38%. Part of that may have something to do with the amount of money being spent supporting each of those two candidates.
And that leads us into a discussion of Super PACs. According to chron.com, more Texans have contributed to "Stephen Colbert's Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow" than have contributed to pro-Romney's "Restore Our Future." And according to The Hill, "the explosion of Super PACs is likely being fueled by a surge of media interest..." and "...Stephen Colbert has brought the issue to late-night television."
As popular as Stephen's Super PAC is, it could be even better. Stephen received an email from Paul at the University of Texas in Austin talking about his urge to start a Colbert Super PAC organization at his school:
"We would table in front of our main building, hold meetings, gather emails for a mailing list, and hold talks at other political organization meetings."
Stephen looked at his audience members and asked, "Should I give my blessing to college students to set up Super PACs?" Wow, talk about the roar of the grease paint, the smell of the crowd. I could barely hear what Stephen was saying, his fans were cheering so loudly! And thus is born Texans For a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.
Every college should have a Super PAC and Stephen has a Super PAC kit which can be yours for a simple donation of $99. Just head over to www.ColbertSuperPAC.com to get your Super Fun Pack. You get a FEC filing form and cover letter, a Super PAC Instruction manual, an Allen wrench, a dorm room sign, Colbert Super PAC tube socks, an actual Treasure Map, a Turtles Don't Like Peanut Butter t-shirt and more, much, much more!!! (Perhaps an appearance by Stephen Colbert at your college campus????
After this much excitement, it was time for a funny story, so here goes. "You may remember that my father, George Romney, was president of an automobile company called American Motors...and they had a factory in Michigan...he decided to close the factory in Michigan and move all the production to Wisconsin. Now, later, he decided to run for Governor of Michigan..and I recall at one parade, where he was going down the streets, he was led by a band...and his band did not know the Michigan fight song. It only knew how to play the Wisconsin fight song. So every time they would start playing "On Wisconsin! On Wisconsin!", my Dad's political people would jump up and down and try to get them to stop because they didn't want people in Michigan to be reminded that my Dad had moved production to Wisconsin."
- Mitt Romney, March 28, 2012
Said Stephen, "Good stuff - It's like he's on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour if the comedy was about losing blue collar jobs." And then a real treat, Stephen, who is not a comedian, did some actual stand up comedy so as to give Mitt some free material. So funny, I'm sure Mitt will be able to use those jokes.
Peter Beinart, Senior Political Writer for Daily Beast, was Stephen's guest tonight. His latest book is "The Crisis of Zionism." Stephen started out singing just a little bit of the theme from the movie "Exodus." (This Land is Mine.) They had a lively discussion and in just under 7 minutes, Peter Beinart and Stephen Colbert "were able to fix the whole Middle East thing."
Stephen shared the science of picking numbers according to a segment on Good Morning America.
1. Make sure the numbers you play have never come up before.
2. Pick your own numbers.
At this point, Stephen plugged his new book, "Stephen Colbert's How To Win a Coin Toss Every Time." And he demonstrated exactly how he can do that. Amazing!
The Wisconsin Primary is coming up and you would think that Wisconsinites would like Rick Santorum, given that he's a wheel of Colby Cheese - not that sharp and holier than thou. But in recent polls, he is at 31% compared to Romney's 38%. Part of that may have something to do with the amount of money being spent supporting each of those two candidates.
And that leads us into a discussion of Super PACs. According to chron.com, more Texans have contributed to "Stephen Colbert's Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow" than have contributed to pro-Romney's "Restore Our Future." And according to The Hill, "the explosion of Super PACs is likely being fueled by a surge of media interest..." and "...Stephen Colbert has brought the issue to late-night television."
As popular as Stephen's Super PAC is, it could be even better. Stephen received an email from Paul at the University of Texas in Austin talking about his urge to start a Colbert Super PAC organization at his school:
"We would table in front of our main building, hold meetings, gather emails for a mailing list, and hold talks at other political organization meetings."
Stephen looked at his audience members and asked, "Should I give my blessing to college students to set up Super PACs?" Wow, talk about the roar of the grease paint, the smell of the crowd. I could barely hear what Stephen was saying, his fans were cheering so loudly! And thus is born Texans For a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.
Every college should have a Super PAC and Stephen has a Super PAC kit which can be yours for a simple donation of $99. Just head over to www.ColbertSuperPAC.com to get your Super Fun Pack. You get a FEC filing form and cover letter, a Super PAC Instruction manual, an Allen wrench, a dorm room sign, Colbert Super PAC tube socks, an actual Treasure Map, a Turtles Don't Like Peanut Butter t-shirt and more, much, much more!!! (Perhaps an appearance by Stephen Colbert at your college campus????
After this much excitement, it was time for a funny story, so here goes. "You may remember that my father, George Romney, was president of an automobile company called American Motors...and they had a factory in Michigan...he decided to close the factory in Michigan and move all the production to Wisconsin. Now, later, he decided to run for Governor of Michigan..and I recall at one parade, where he was going down the streets, he was led by a band...and his band did not know the Michigan fight song. It only knew how to play the Wisconsin fight song. So every time they would start playing "On Wisconsin! On Wisconsin!", my Dad's political people would jump up and down and try to get them to stop because they didn't want people in Michigan to be reminded that my Dad had moved production to Wisconsin."
- Mitt Romney, March 28, 2012
Said Stephen, "Good stuff - It's like he's on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour if the comedy was about losing blue collar jobs." And then a real treat, Stephen, who is not a comedian, did some actual stand up comedy so as to give Mitt some free material. So funny, I'm sure Mitt will be able to use those jokes.
Peter Beinart, Senior Political Writer for Daily Beast, was Stephen's guest tonight. His latest book is "The Crisis of Zionism." Stephen started out singing just a little bit of the theme from the movie "Exodus." (This Land is Mine.) They had a lively discussion and in just under 7 minutes, Peter Beinart and Stephen Colbert "were able to fix the whole Middle East thing."
Monday, March 26, 2012
Etch A Sketch
Stephen is back and apparently I was completely wrong about where he was and what he was doing all last week. He was actually on Spring Break, enjoying 84 degree weather while we were stuck with 82 degree weather. Although Stephen seemed to have enjoyed the pleasant weather for his Spring Break, he also seemed miffed that spring had sprung. He blamed it all on Punxsutawney Phil. Probably he should be renamed Prevaricator Phil.
Even though it was Spring Break, Stephen kept up with the news and politics. President Obama expressed sympathy for the family of Trayvon Martin. And Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich expressed outrage that the President did this. We can't ask Trayvon Martin what happened. But there is a top legal mind who fingered the real culprit - The Hoodie. According to Fox News contributor Gerlado Rivera, "The Hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman was."
I know that you can find images over at Google of Geraldo Rivera wearing Hoodies, so we know he is aware of fashion. Perhaps Geraldo Rivera could write some sort of book where he gives all kinds of fashion advice of what kids like Trayvon are permitted to wear and what they are not permitted to wear. Stephen even suggested that Congress pass Hoodie control legislation.
Toys seemed to be a favorite topic tonight. That old favorite Etch A Sketch has been in the news quite a bit lately. Romney Campaign Senior Adviser Eric Fehrnstrom made a comment about political campaigns and Etch A Sketch that seemed to point out Romney's reputation as a flip-flopper. Rick Santorum said after that comment by Fehrnstrom that, "My public policy isn't written on a Etch A Sketch. It's written on my heart."
"Of course," said Stephen, "the only way to read what's written on Rick Santorum's heart is with a Trans Vaginal Ultrasound." Stephen went on to mention other toys, Mr. Potato Head, the Magical Treasure Troll, the totally smooth Ken Doll, Silly Putty, Lincoln Logs and a Lego man with a nice head of hair. Anyway, sales are through the roof for Etch A Sketch, and hopefully the other toys got The Colbert Bump and will see increased profits.
Stephen's Guest tonight was Dr. David Page, MIT Professor and Director of Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. In keeping with Stephen's fondness for toys tonight, Dr. David Page brought something that seems to me is probably a toy, but I don't know the name for it. He used it as a prop for X and Y chromosomes. Last time I checked, chromosomes were much smaller than what he had on the show. He explained that we all have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Of those 23 pairs, 22 are the same in males and females. The 23rd pair is two matched X chromosomes in females, but it men, it is a mismatched X and Y chromosome. Stephen asked about his fear, based on rumors, that the Y chromosome is becoming extinct and that eventually males will not be on this planet. Dr. Page assured Stephen that he need not worry. The Y chromosome and men in general are not going to disappear.
Even though it was Spring Break, Stephen kept up with the news and politics. President Obama expressed sympathy for the family of Trayvon Martin. And Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich expressed outrage that the President did this. We can't ask Trayvon Martin what happened. But there is a top legal mind who fingered the real culprit - The Hoodie. According to Fox News contributor Gerlado Rivera, "The Hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman was."
I know that you can find images over at Google of Geraldo Rivera wearing Hoodies, so we know he is aware of fashion. Perhaps Geraldo Rivera could write some sort of book where he gives all kinds of fashion advice of what kids like Trayvon are permitted to wear and what they are not permitted to wear. Stephen even suggested that Congress pass Hoodie control legislation.
Toys seemed to be a favorite topic tonight. That old favorite Etch A Sketch has been in the news quite a bit lately. Romney Campaign Senior Adviser Eric Fehrnstrom made a comment about political campaigns and Etch A Sketch that seemed to point out Romney's reputation as a flip-flopper. Rick Santorum said after that comment by Fehrnstrom that, "My public policy isn't written on a Etch A Sketch. It's written on my heart."
"Of course," said Stephen, "the only way to read what's written on Rick Santorum's heart is with a Trans Vaginal Ultrasound." Stephen went on to mention other toys, Mr. Potato Head, the Magical Treasure Troll, the totally smooth Ken Doll, Silly Putty, Lincoln Logs and a Lego man with a nice head of hair. Anyway, sales are through the roof for Etch A Sketch, and hopefully the other toys got The Colbert Bump and will see increased profits.
Stephen's Guest tonight was Dr. David Page, MIT Professor and Director of Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. In keeping with Stephen's fondness for toys tonight, Dr. David Page brought something that seems to me is probably a toy, but I don't know the name for it. He used it as a prop for X and Y chromosomes. Last time I checked, chromosomes were much smaller than what he had on the show. He explained that we all have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Of those 23 pairs, 22 are the same in males and females. The 23rd pair is two matched X chromosomes in females, but it men, it is a mismatched X and Y chromosome. Stephen asked about his fear, based on rumors, that the Y chromosome is becoming extinct and that eventually males will not be on this planet. Dr. Page assured Stephen that he need not worry. The Y chromosome and men in general are not going to disappear.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Truthiness
If you are sad because Stephen is on some secret, special mission this week and you cannot watch new episodes of The Colbert Report on the TV machine, you can go over to Los Angeles Times and see his smiling face and read about his #InMyHeart tweets. It's a good reminder about being true and being true to your heart. (Turns out, being true and being true to your heart may not actually be the same thing.)
And then, you can go to Huffington Post to see what others are doing about Truthiness. It's very impressive because it is about people at Harvard and people at MIT, so it is about smart people. Smart is something Stephen knows a lot about! It's also about Truthiness, specifically, Truthiness in Digital Media. There's a "photo" of Stephen although it's not quite as big or handsome or flattering. (I take that back. I concede there is no such thing as an unflattering photo/picture/drawing of Stephen. This one just doesn't have him smiling, that's all I really mean.) Anyway, it is good to see how many other people and organizations share Stephen's quest for the truth.
Stephen Colbert: Rick Santorum refuses to put his left hip in during the Hokey-Pokey. #InMyHeart
And then, you can go to Huffington Post to see what others are doing about Truthiness. It's very impressive because it is about people at Harvard and people at MIT, so it is about smart people. Smart is something Stephen knows a lot about! It's also about Truthiness, specifically, Truthiness in Digital Media. There's a "photo" of Stephen although it's not quite as big or handsome or flattering. (I take that back. I concede there is no such thing as an unflattering photo/picture/drawing of Stephen. This one just doesn't have him smiling, that's all I really mean.) Anyway, it is good to see how many other people and organizations share Stephen's quest for the truth.
Stephen Colbert: Rick Santorum refuses to put his left hip in during the Hokey-Pokey. #InMyHeart
Thursday, March 15, 2012
# In My Heart
Does it ever seem like politics and religion dominate the news? Too bad there wasn't some sort of sports events happening for people to watch. Oh, well, on with the show.
Advertisers are rushing to leave Rush Limbaugh, apparently. Even the U.S. Army. That' right, the army is pulling out of Rush. Stephen suggested that maybe it's time for a Pledge Drive for Rush and even had an example of a gift that sponsors could get. This is all confusing to Limbaugh. How can he be anti-woman? He judged the Miss America Pageant! This seems to him to be all part of a plan, all orchestrated.
Said Stephen, "What's the alternative? That a 30-year old woman had her own thoughts and feelings about her reproductive rights? C'mon, what do you take me for, a girl?"
We got to see a quick video clip of Mitt Romney's core message of hope. "I made a lot of money."
Rick Santorum does not pander. He was in Puerto Rico and said that "Like in every other state, there has to be compliance with this and any other federal law. And that is that English has to be the principal language."
I have seen Santorum's quote worded a bit differently in different sources, but it does seem to be that he thinks it is a federal law that English be the official language of any state. (It isn't. There is no federal law stating that.) Stephen expressed that it takes a lot of, (what did he say ...) a lot of "fortitude" to make such a statement and tell people which language they should be speaking.
Rick Santorum also had ideas about the "dangers of socialized medicine." Here's what he said about the Netherlands.
"In the Netherlands, people wear a different bracelet if you're elderly, and the bracelet is 'do not euthanize me.' Half the people who are euthanized every year, and it's ten percent of all deaths, in the Netherlands, half of those people are euthanized involuntarily at hospitals, because they are older and sick."
Shocking, and turns out, NOT true.
But, the Press secretary explained that, "A lot of these things, it's a matter of what's in his heart." Three times she gives an answer, not the answer to the question, but an answer that definitely shows she can memorize stuff.
Stephen, technical wizard that he is, fired off this tweet:
Rick Santorum has body hair in the exact shape of his sweater vest. #InMyHeart
Finally, a wee bit of the Irish and some fun in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day: Stephen touted his newest Formula 401 in a bright green jar! The perfect product for anyone this weekend. Do you need some food for your party? How about Lucky Charms with some slivers of Irish Spring. Yummy.
Back to more serious matters. The guest tonight was Dexter Filkins, premiere combat journalist of his generation. He new book is "The Forever War." Recently he was in Pakistan and said to Stephen about Pakistan and other countries he has been to, "Things are unbelievably more complicated than what you hear on TV." Stephen suggested that since Filkins works for the New Yorker, he might want to think about something like just doing movie reviews.
Stephen also suggested that people go out and buy "House of Stone" by Anthony Shadid.
Rick Santorum hasn't played basketball since he accidentally chest-bumped a teammate. #InMyHeart
Advertisers are rushing to leave Rush Limbaugh, apparently. Even the U.S. Army. That' right, the army is pulling out of Rush. Stephen suggested that maybe it's time for a Pledge Drive for Rush and even had an example of a gift that sponsors could get. This is all confusing to Limbaugh. How can he be anti-woman? He judged the Miss America Pageant! This seems to him to be all part of a plan, all orchestrated.
Said Stephen, "What's the alternative? That a 30-year old woman had her own thoughts and feelings about her reproductive rights? C'mon, what do you take me for, a girl?"
We got to see a quick video clip of Mitt Romney's core message of hope. "I made a lot of money."
Rick Santorum does not pander. He was in Puerto Rico and said that "Like in every other state, there has to be compliance with this and any other federal law. And that is that English has to be the principal language."
I have seen Santorum's quote worded a bit differently in different sources, but it does seem to be that he thinks it is a federal law that English be the official language of any state. (It isn't. There is no federal law stating that.) Stephen expressed that it takes a lot of, (what did he say ...) a lot of "fortitude" to make such a statement and tell people which language they should be speaking.
Rick Santorum also had ideas about the "dangers of socialized medicine." Here's what he said about the Netherlands.
"In the Netherlands, people wear a different bracelet if you're elderly, and the bracelet is 'do not euthanize me.' Half the people who are euthanized every year, and it's ten percent of all deaths, in the Netherlands, half of those people are euthanized involuntarily at hospitals, because they are older and sick."
Shocking, and turns out, NOT true.
But, the Press secretary explained that, "A lot of these things, it's a matter of what's in his heart." Three times she gives an answer, not the answer to the question, but an answer that definitely shows she can memorize stuff.
Stephen, technical wizard that he is, fired off this tweet:
Rick Santorum has body hair in the exact shape of his sweater vest. #InMyHeart
Finally, a wee bit of the Irish and some fun in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day: Stephen touted his newest Formula 401 in a bright green jar! The perfect product for anyone this weekend. Do you need some food for your party? How about Lucky Charms with some slivers of Irish Spring. Yummy.
Back to more serious matters. The guest tonight was Dexter Filkins, premiere combat journalist of his generation. He new book is "The Forever War." Recently he was in Pakistan and said to Stephen about Pakistan and other countries he has been to, "Things are unbelievably more complicated than what you hear on TV." Stephen suggested that since Filkins works for the New Yorker, he might want to think about something like just doing movie reviews.
Stephen also suggested that people go out and buy "House of Stone" by Anthony Shadid.
Rick Santorum hasn't played basketball since he accidentally chest-bumped a teammate. #InMyHeart
Monday, March 5, 2012
I'm Sorry
Super Tuesday is upon us tomorrow, right between Marvelous Monday and Wonderful Wednesday. Stephen will be providing coverage of the event, so I can hardly wait. He pointed out that there are only 23 hours 58 minutes 51 seconds on the Countdown to Loving Mitt clock. Everyone had better get ready!
Stephen talked about contraception tonight, which led right into the big news of the day, that of Rush Limbaugh and his choice of words when describing Sandra Fluke.
I was going to type all the other things Rush said here, but lots of those words don't appear on my keyboard, so you'll just have to go over to Colbert Nation tomorrow and watch online to hear all the different ways Rush could come up with to keep insulting her. It appears Rush has no concept of the how a birth control pill works. He seems to think it is just like Viagra where you take a pill each time you have sex. You can't blame Rush, though. Stephen explained that every time Rush has sex with a woman, he's had to slip her a pill first.
The media has been reporting this story and so the Republican candidates have been asked to repudiate what Rush said.
Rick Santorum: "He's being absurd but that's you know an entertainer can be absurd."
Mitt Romney: "I'll just say this, which is, it's not the language I would have used..."
Twelve advertisers have pulled their advertising from Rush but Stephen doesn't think Rush should have apologized for the words he used to describe Sandra Fluke. After all, "it takes one to know one." Apparently he (Rush) only apologized to keep his advertisers proving Rush will do anything with his mouth to keep his cash.
The Sports Report made a comeback on tonight's show and we got to see Danica Patrick being referred to as a "b****" by Ross Shimabuku, and a very excited bowler (Pete Weber), and a short bit about the brutality of football when viewed as a way to get tips during games.
But now, on to tonight's guest. Tonight it was a musical guest, Audra McDonald, who is starring as Bess in "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess." The story takes place in Stephen's hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. As Audra and Stephen discuss this Broadway "great American opera" they both come to realize (because Stephen said it) that the parallels to Stephen's life are amazing.
So, after the break, Audra McDonald sang the song "Summertime" and who do you think joined in halfway through? Yeah, you know who.
Stephen talked about contraception tonight, which led right into the big news of the day, that of Rush Limbaugh and his choice of words when describing Sandra Fluke.
I was going to type all the other things Rush said here, but lots of those words don't appear on my keyboard, so you'll just have to go over to Colbert Nation tomorrow and watch online to hear all the different ways Rush could come up with to keep insulting her. It appears Rush has no concept of the how a birth control pill works. He seems to think it is just like Viagra where you take a pill each time you have sex. You can't blame Rush, though. Stephen explained that every time Rush has sex with a woman, he's had to slip her a pill first.
The media has been reporting this story and so the Republican candidates have been asked to repudiate what Rush said.
Rick Santorum: "He's being absurd but that's you know an entertainer can be absurd."
Mitt Romney: "I'll just say this, which is, it's not the language I would have used..."
Twelve advertisers have pulled their advertising from Rush but Stephen doesn't think Rush should have apologized for the words he used to describe Sandra Fluke. After all, "it takes one to know one." Apparently he (Rush) only apologized to keep his advertisers proving Rush will do anything with his mouth to keep his cash.
The Sports Report made a comeback on tonight's show and we got to see Danica Patrick being referred to as a "b****" by Ross Shimabuku, and a very excited bowler (Pete Weber), and a short bit about the brutality of football when viewed as a way to get tips during games.
But now, on to tonight's guest. Tonight it was a musical guest, Audra McDonald, who is starring as Bess in "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess." The story takes place in Stephen's hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. As Audra and Stephen discuss this Broadway "great American opera" they both come to realize (because Stephen said it) that the parallels to Stephen's life are amazing.
So, after the break, Audra McDonald sang the song "Summertime" and who do you think joined in halfway through? Yeah, you know who.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
One Man Show
For all the drama leading up to the primaries in Michigan and Arizona, there was nothing all that remarkable that happened. Mitt Romney won both, including winning his home state of Michigan by 3.2%. Or, as Romney said, "We won by enough."
So where that seems to be heading is that eventually, everyone will get behind Mitt Romney for the nominee at the GOP Convention. Or, as Stephen put it, "One week from now we will most likely come together and support the guy we're hoping is not the guy."
So that you don't think Stephen is leaving Rick Santorum behind, he did show Santorum talking, again, about birth control. "What I was talking about is the increasing number of children being born out of wedlock in American." Stephen agreed and offered this comment, "Contraception leads to more babies born out of wedlock." It would have been interesting to have heard all the comments from Santorum about that subject, but there were more important things to get to .
For example, the economy, and tonight's Word. Change We Can Believe In. Stephen had an excellent economic discussion in this segment. If I read him right, we need for the rich to become even richer, because they will then give tips to the poor. There's even a law being considered in Florida that would allow employers to pay tipped workers .... a lower minimum wage, changing it from $4.65 per hour down to $2.13 per hour. Stephen showed a photo of a typical Floridian couple and reminded us of the wonderful reputation that the people like those in the photo have of being big tippers. It's even a good idea to tip plumbers and Stephen had a photo of a plumber. I see his point! All in all, Stephen's economic plan made a lot of cents.
I'm kind of tired tonight, so I'm going to try to make this short, or at least shorter. Instead of telling you that Stephen had the segment "Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger" on, I'm just going to call it Tip/Wag in order to save time. One of the things he talked about in this segment is Babyccinos. That's a new "trend" of letting tots drink decaf coffee. We were reminded by Stephen of just how hard it is to get babies up in the morning. Parents out there, you know what he's talking about!
But on the to main event.
William Shatner was the guest tonight. After a brief session of Stephen and William praising each other, they got right down to business. Stephen read quite a lengthy list of accomplishments for William Shatner. You can get an idea of these accomplishment at IMDb. Really, go look, he has had quite a career!
Quite a lot of the interview was just simple conversation, talking back and forth between two talented men.
"Can I call you Bill?"
"No."
"Bill, when people go to see this..." Stephen was talking about William Shatner's One Man Show on Broadway. Shatner's World.
"When people go to see this ..."
"They will learn about love, life, horses, my career, interview shows that work and some that don't." Stephen talked about Star Trek and Captain Kirk, but not much more than mentioning them.
Tonight's arm wrestling segment only lasted about one second, alas. That's how long it took William Shatner to beat and humiliate Stephen.
All in all, it was a very delightful interview.
"Bill, it's been such a pleasure to meet you."
"I wish I could say the same."
So where that seems to be heading is that eventually, everyone will get behind Mitt Romney for the nominee at the GOP Convention. Or, as Stephen put it, "One week from now we will most likely come together and support the guy we're hoping is not the guy."
So that you don't think Stephen is leaving Rick Santorum behind, he did show Santorum talking, again, about birth control. "What I was talking about is the increasing number of children being born out of wedlock in American." Stephen agreed and offered this comment, "Contraception leads to more babies born out of wedlock." It would have been interesting to have heard all the comments from Santorum about that subject, but there were more important things to get to .
For example, the economy, and tonight's Word. Change We Can Believe In. Stephen had an excellent economic discussion in this segment. If I read him right, we need for the rich to become even richer, because they will then give tips to the poor. There's even a law being considered in Florida that would allow employers to pay tipped workers .... a lower minimum wage, changing it from $4.65 per hour down to $2.13 per hour. Stephen showed a photo of a typical Floridian couple and reminded us of the wonderful reputation that the people like those in the photo have of being big tippers. It's even a good idea to tip plumbers and Stephen had a photo of a plumber. I see his point! All in all, Stephen's economic plan made a lot of cents.
I'm kind of tired tonight, so I'm going to try to make this short, or at least shorter. Instead of telling you that Stephen had the segment "Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger" on, I'm just going to call it Tip/Wag in order to save time. One of the things he talked about in this segment is Babyccinos. That's a new "trend" of letting tots drink decaf coffee. We were reminded by Stephen of just how hard it is to get babies up in the morning. Parents out there, you know what he's talking about!
But on the to main event.
William Shatner was the guest tonight. After a brief session of Stephen and William praising each other, they got right down to business. Stephen read quite a lengthy list of accomplishments for William Shatner. You can get an idea of these accomplishment at IMDb. Really, go look, he has had quite a career!
Quite a lot of the interview was just simple conversation, talking back and forth between two talented men.
"Can I call you Bill?"
"No."
"Bill, when people go to see this..." Stephen was talking about William Shatner's One Man Show on Broadway. Shatner's World.
"When people go to see this ..."
"They will learn about love, life, horses, my career, interview shows that work and some that don't." Stephen talked about Star Trek and Captain Kirk, but not much more than mentioning them.
Tonight's arm wrestling segment only lasted about one second, alas. That's how long it took William Shatner to beat and humiliate Stephen.
All in all, it was a very delightful interview.
"Bill, it's been such a pleasure to meet you."
"I wish I could say the same."
Monday, February 27, 2012
King Peggy
We got the real scoop on what was important at the Academy Awards, plus Stephen went all Dr. Seuss on us in matters Loraxian.
But as is usually the case, politics happened. Mitt Romney gave a speech last Friday to 1,200 people and 65,000 empty chairs in anticipation of the Michigan Primary tomorrow. He also talked on Saturday about his close ties to NASCAR when asked if he's a fan.
"Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans. But I have some great friends that are NASCAR team owners."
Rick Santorum, on the other hand, has turned his attention to the lofty goal of higher education in that he is apparently very unhappy that the President (what a snob) supports students going on to some sort of career training or college after high school.
We got to see just what Santorum was talking about with the liberal elite educated folks when Hank the HVAC guy was at the studio fixing Stephen's furnace.
But enough about the men, how about the women? Stephen had a most interesting guest on tonight, King Peggy. She, yes she, is an American secretary and King of Otuam, a fishing village in Ghana with a population of about 7,000 people. It's not every day that Stephen has someone like that on the show. In fact, he seldom has secretaries and he seldom has Kings on the show.
Anyway, she also has a book out now: King Peggy - An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village.
She explained that the King is the boss and there is also a Queen who has other duties. So it's not necessarily the guy gets to be King and the wife automatically by default becomes Queen. She said that the town was a mess when she got there, but she has been making improvements, such as getting clean water for the village. Stephen and King Peggy also discussed the electoral procedure over in Otuam and Stephen seemed to be wondering if it was an improvement over how we do things. It would be a faster and cheaper way to pick our next leader.
But as is usually the case, politics happened. Mitt Romney gave a speech last Friday to 1,200 people and 65,000 empty chairs in anticipation of the Michigan Primary tomorrow. He also talked on Saturday about his close ties to NASCAR when asked if he's a fan.
"Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans. But I have some great friends that are NASCAR team owners."
Rick Santorum, on the other hand, has turned his attention to the lofty goal of higher education in that he is apparently very unhappy that the President (what a snob) supports students going on to some sort of career training or college after high school.
We got to see just what Santorum was talking about with the liberal elite educated folks when Hank the HVAC guy was at the studio fixing Stephen's furnace.
But enough about the men, how about the women? Stephen had a most interesting guest on tonight, King Peggy. She, yes she, is an American secretary and King of Otuam, a fishing village in Ghana with a population of about 7,000 people. It's not every day that Stephen has someone like that on the show. In fact, he seldom has secretaries and he seldom has Kings on the show.
Anyway, she also has a book out now: King Peggy - An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village.
She explained that the King is the boss and there is also a Queen who has other duties. So it's not necessarily the guy gets to be King and the wife automatically by default becomes Queen. She said that the town was a mess when she got there, but she has been making improvements, such as getting clean water for the village. Stephen and King Peggy also discussed the electoral procedure over in Otuam and Stephen seemed to be wondering if it was an improvement over how we do things. It would be a faster and cheaper way to pick our next leader.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Tough As Nails
Stephen is back and he looks marvelous. He quickly quelled all rumors about being gone for a few days. The Colbert Report was not cancelled because he would soon announce his candidacy, it was not cancelled because he offended the Catholic Church, and he was not in rehab, and he did not have a nose job. But he does look marvelous, there's no denying that. He did say, however, that evidently having eleven children makes you tough as nails (confidential to a lovely lady).
On to politics. Mitt Romney trails Rick Santorum. And this with the Michigan Primary coming up soon. Perhaps Mitt should not have said we should let Detroit go bankrupt. ( Awkward.) In order to bump up his image, Mitt is bringing out The Donald, and if Trump is going to be Romney's surrogate, Stephen is ready and willing to be Trump's surrogate, complete with a tint job so that he looks like Trump. If you think Stephen is not able to be a surrogate of Romney's surrogate, you are wrong. He did a very convincing Trump impression.
Yes, Mitt is trailing in the polls, even though he was born in Michigan, and likes that the trees are not too tall and not too short but just the right height, and likes the lakes big and small and loves cars.
So, what does Stephen have to say about Rick Santorum? "I would say that he's come from behind, but Santorum is morally opposed to coming from behind."
To spice things up a bit, Stephen played some clips of Santorum talking about, oh, the president, and jobs, and the United States, and, well, here's what he said recently:
"This president, systematically, is doing everything he can to raise the price of energy in this country. He's shutting down all sorts of opportunities for us to drill for oil. This is what the president's agenda is. It's not about you. It's not about you. It's not about your quality of life. It's not about your jobs. It's about some phony ideal, some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology."
And this a while back:
"This is not a political war at all. This is not a cultural war at all. This is a spiritual war and the father of lies has his sights on what you would think the father of lies, Satan, would have his sights on: A good, decent, powerful influential country - The United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age? There is no one else to go after other than the United States."
Rick Santorum August 29, 2008.
Stephen explained, as only Stephen can, the whole reasoning behind this in quite colorful terms and pictures. He also mentioned that other countries have, in fact, had such things as earthquakes, war, famine, etc. which do seem to be bad things. Go over to Colbert Nation and listen to Romney talk about trees and Santorum talk about theology.
But enough of politics. Stephen's guest tonight is an author and bookstore owner. Ann Patchett's most recent book is "State of Wonder." Her bookstore, Parnassus Books, is located in Nashville, Tennessee. Stephen compared Ann to Meg Ryan in the movie, "You've Got Mail" and talked about small independent bookstores getting gobbled up by large, corporate bookstores. Patchett says that people are coming back to the independent bookstores. They like the story hour for the kids. They like that the staff can actually recommend books that are tailored to what each customer wants.
And then, almost like dessert at the end of a meal, Stephen told her that she was getting the famous "Colbert Bump" just by being on the show tonight. He looked at the audience (live and in TV land) and said he wanted her book "State of Wonder" to register on Amazon tomorrow. Whoa... she wants it to register at ParnassusBooks.net where you can get it signed!
She had this interesting choice for Stephen when his next book comes out. He can come to Nashville, see his friends Jack White and Al Gore, have a party, drink a cocktail. The Goat Rodeo guys can come over and play some music. Then, the next day, Stephen can go over to Amazon with a Sharpie pen, cut open a carton of books, and sign them. Then he can see which of those he liked better.
He thanked her for coming on the show.
**Note: Unfortunately, trees in photo are not the right size, they are too tall. Apologies to Mitt Romney.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Once Upon a Time
It is Day Two of what's come to be known as the Colbert SuperPAC Hostage Crisis. Jon Stewart has the money and took off in his Zeppelin to avoid having to give it back to Stephen. The only possible solution is for everyone to send money to Colbert Super PAC and to give recklessly.
Politics continues to be a favorite topic. In last night's show, Stephen mentioned the possibility of a wet t-shirt contest. He was convinced that Newt Gingrich would win that contest.
Stephen ventured into the world of children's literature (Kiddy Lit as it is sometimes called). He thinks he should get into that venue since so many celebrities are writing books. And Stephen is a celebrity, so he should be able to write a children's book and make lots of money.
We had the pleasure of seeing Stephen interview Maurice Sendak, well-known author of children's books. He now has a new book out - Bumble-Ardy. Stephen and Maurice had a very lively discussion. Although Maurice has kept busy writing children's books, he still has time to closely follow the career of Newt Gingrich. He shared some of his observations of Gingrich. Stephen and Maurice went on to talk about another of Maurice Sendak's book, "In the Night Kitchen." Stephen approved of that book so much, he improved it.
Be sure to keep watching The Colbert Report to see the conclusion of Stephen's interview with Maurice Sendak.
Stephen also mentioned that he is a huge fan of Rick Santorum, because the name Santorum is synonymous with leadership. If you have been paying attention to the news you will know that Rick Santorum was in a bit of a sticky spot recently. A woman in the audience at one of the events Santorum was at said this:
"I never refer to Obama as President Obama because legally he is not. He is an avowed Muslim. He has no legal right to be calling himself President."
When asked about this on Morning Joe, about why he did not correct the woman who said that, he had an excuse. "This was an elderly lady. She was there leaning on a cane. She was quite wobbly. Uh, and I'm not going to sit there and, and slam an older lady, uh, because she has some way-out, you know, some, some bizarre beliefs."
"Bravo," said our fearless host. "You cannot correct an old person every time they say something offensive." Well, as luck, or maybe misfortune, would have it, there just happened to be an elderly lady with a cane in the audience. And she spoke her mind with no opposition from anyone.
"I know for a fact that Rick Santorum runs a white slavery ring." She seemed to have the facts to back it up, and even if she was wrong, she had a cane, no wait, 2 canes. Stephen was very hesitant to correct her until she said something that was way out of line. She then received prompt and courteous assistance of two men who were willing to help her walk off into the sunset.
The actual real sit-down guest was Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Beast. He wrote the cover article in the January 23 issue of Newsweek entitled "Why are Obama's Critics So Dumb?" That did not sit well with Stephen.The discussion became so lively and yes, even loud some times. Here's some of what the two men said:
"Checkmate."
"It is the truth."
"Who cares what's true?"
"Let's go with what feels right."
Stephen was willing to repeat things he (Colbert) said so that they could then be considered to have more truthiness. If anyone would know about truthiness, it is Stephen Colbert.
Politics continues to be a favorite topic. In last night's show, Stephen mentioned the possibility of a wet t-shirt contest. He was convinced that Newt Gingrich would win that contest.
Stephen ventured into the world of children's literature (Kiddy Lit as it is sometimes called). He thinks he should get into that venue since so many celebrities are writing books. And Stephen is a celebrity, so he should be able to write a children's book and make lots of money.
We had the pleasure of seeing Stephen interview Maurice Sendak, well-known author of children's books. He now has a new book out - Bumble-Ardy. Stephen and Maurice had a very lively discussion. Although Maurice has kept busy writing children's books, he still has time to closely follow the career of Newt Gingrich. He shared some of his observations of Gingrich. Stephen and Maurice went on to talk about another of Maurice Sendak's book, "In the Night Kitchen." Stephen approved of that book so much, he improved it.
Be sure to keep watching The Colbert Report to see the conclusion of Stephen's interview with Maurice Sendak.
Stephen also mentioned that he is a huge fan of Rick Santorum, because the name Santorum is synonymous with leadership. If you have been paying attention to the news you will know that Rick Santorum was in a bit of a sticky spot recently. A woman in the audience at one of the events Santorum was at said this:
"I never refer to Obama as President Obama because legally he is not. He is an avowed Muslim. He has no legal right to be calling himself President."
When asked about this on Morning Joe, about why he did not correct the woman who said that, he had an excuse. "This was an elderly lady. She was there leaning on a cane. She was quite wobbly. Uh, and I'm not going to sit there and, and slam an older lady, uh, because she has some way-out, you know, some, some bizarre beliefs."
"Bravo," said our fearless host. "You cannot correct an old person every time they say something offensive." Well, as luck, or maybe misfortune, would have it, there just happened to be an elderly lady with a cane in the audience. And she spoke her mind with no opposition from anyone.
"I know for a fact that Rick Santorum runs a white slavery ring." She seemed to have the facts to back it up, and even if she was wrong, she had a cane, no wait, 2 canes. Stephen was very hesitant to correct her until she said something that was way out of line. She then received prompt and courteous assistance of two men who were willing to help her walk off into the sunset.
The actual real sit-down guest was Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Beast. He wrote the cover article in the January 23 issue of Newsweek entitled "Why are Obama's Critics So Dumb?" That did not sit well with Stephen.The discussion became so lively and yes, even loud some times. Here's some of what the two men said:
"Checkmate."
"It is the truth."
"Who cares what's true?"
"Let's go with what feels right."
Stephen was willing to repeat things he (Colbert) said so that they could then be considered to have more truthiness. If anyone would know about truthiness, it is Stephen Colbert.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Can I Get An Amen?
The South Carolina Primary was very good to Stephen Colbert and Herman Cain. They came in at Number 1, well, okay, actually number 1%, so almost the same thing. Stephen listed the percentages for each of the major contenders, a list that he got from the AP.
Newt Gingrich 40%
Mitt Romney 29%
Rick Santorum 17%
Ron Paul 13%
Interestingly enough, Herman Cain got 45 votes in the Iowa Caucus, he got 160 in New Hampshire, but he got a whopping 6,324 votes in South Carolina. That means he got more votes than Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann combined!
It's just proof of how powerful the Colbert Bump is.
Although it seems like we just had a major announcement, Stephen had another one tonight. Since he didn't do very well in South Carolina, he is going to suspend his campaign. And end his exploratory committee. That's it. He won't be running for president. And since he won't be a candidate, he can get his PAC back. He coordinated with Jon Stewart and long story short, Jon is sitting at his Daily Show desk counting stacks of money. That can't be a good sign.
Shifting gears just a bit - Stephen showed footage of the Rally. (Watch it over at Colbert Nation.) It was wonderful. Signs such as "Skipping Class for Stephen Colbert" were visible in the crowd. There was a choir on stage with Stephen. There were cheerleaders. There were Marching Bands. And it was a great crowd of thinkers and good looking people. Stephen complimented the intelligence of the crowd by telling them, "I don't have to pander to the most beautiful people in the world!"
Next Herman Cain came on stage and talked a bit and sang a bit. Both men were quite inspirational. Herman Cain even called Stephen a "brother from another mother." And yet there is doubt and ridicule from the pundits. They claim Stephen is a joke and his run for office is a joke. Well, if it's all a joke then they are saying our entire campaign finance system is a joke.
Stephen's guest was Bruce Bueno de Mesquita who brought his book, "The Dictator's Handbook - Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics." I actually went over to Amazon and read some excerpts plus looked at a few reviews online. I'm glad I did because it gave me such a different view of what the interview was about. I thought Bruce had said that dictators and Democrats are not really that different - they want to stay in power. But what he said was that dictators and democrats are not really that different - they want to stay in power.
Did you catch the subtle difference? Okay, I'll tell you. It was the difference between Democrats and democrats. The first one refers to people of one political party. The second one refers to people in a democratic society. He also made some predictions. He predicted that Newt Gingrich will be nominated but that he won't win the Presidency. The audience applauded wildly at his willingness to make predictions.
Newt Gingrich 40%
Mitt Romney 29%
Rick Santorum 17%
Ron Paul 13%
Interestingly enough, Herman Cain got 45 votes in the Iowa Caucus, he got 160 in New Hampshire, but he got a whopping 6,324 votes in South Carolina. That means he got more votes than Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann combined!
It's just proof of how powerful the Colbert Bump is.
Although it seems like we just had a major announcement, Stephen had another one tonight. Since he didn't do very well in South Carolina, he is going to suspend his campaign. And end his exploratory committee. That's it. He won't be running for president. And since he won't be a candidate, he can get his PAC back. He coordinated with Jon Stewart and long story short, Jon is sitting at his Daily Show desk counting stacks of money. That can't be a good sign.
Shifting gears just a bit - Stephen showed footage of the Rally. (Watch it over at Colbert Nation.) It was wonderful. Signs such as "Skipping Class for Stephen Colbert" were visible in the crowd. There was a choir on stage with Stephen. There were cheerleaders. There were Marching Bands. And it was a great crowd of thinkers and good looking people. Stephen complimented the intelligence of the crowd by telling them, "I don't have to pander to the most beautiful people in the world!"
Next Herman Cain came on stage and talked a bit and sang a bit. Both men were quite inspirational. Herman Cain even called Stephen a "brother from another mother." And yet there is doubt and ridicule from the pundits. They claim Stephen is a joke and his run for office is a joke. Well, if it's all a joke then they are saying our entire campaign finance system is a joke.
Stephen's guest was Bruce Bueno de Mesquita who brought his book, "The Dictator's Handbook - Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics." I actually went over to Amazon and read some excerpts plus looked at a few reviews online. I'm glad I did because it gave me such a different view of what the interview was about. I thought Bruce had said that dictators and Democrats are not really that different - they want to stay in power. But what he said was that dictators and democrats are not really that different - they want to stay in power.
Did you catch the subtle difference? Okay, I'll tell you. It was the difference between Democrats and democrats. The first one refers to people of one political party. The second one refers to people in a democratic society. He also made some predictions. He predicted that Newt Gingrich will be nominated but that he won't win the Presidency. The audience applauded wildly at his willingness to make predictions.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
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.)
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.)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Down the Rabbit Hole
Politics was on the menu tonight on The Report. First of all Stephen talked about Mitt Romney who likes to fire people. And then Stephen continued with politics in Tip of The Hat, Wag of The Finger. He either tipped or wagged at Rick Santorum about Health Insurance.
When asked about the 50 thousand uninsured Americans dying due to a lack of health care every year, Santorum said this:
"I reject that number completely, that people die in America because of lack of health insurance. People die in America because people die in America." He continued, " ... people make poor decisions with respect to their health and their health care. And they don't go to the emergency room or they don't go to the doctor when they need to."
(Okay, I think Santorum is missing the whole connection between health insurance and the paying for the medical care. But I digress.)
Stephen apparently agreed with Santorum because he explained it in simple terms that anyone can understand.
"If you're dying of cancer, it's your own fault for not going to the doctor and if you can't go to the doctor because you don't have insurance, then it's your own fault for not having a job, and if you don't have a job because you're dying of cancer, get yourself to a doctor. What is wrong with you? Other than the cancer, obviously."
Stephen can talk circles around anyone!
Some folks have been complaining about a Halloween Party at the White House in 2009. And while it would have been easy for Stephen to cover up these complaints, he didn't. He had video of Sean Hannity saying, "The White House had an Alice In Wonderland party when the unemployment rate is at 9.9% in the country." And he showed Rush Limbaugh outraged and telling his fans, "The White House went Out --- Of --- The --- Way--- to cover this up." Thankfully Stephen never hesitates to tell it like it is. Of course, that's not the way it was.
You know, I'm thinking that maybe I remember Jon Stewart of Daily Show fame talking about that very same Halloween Party on his show way back then because he was making fun of Robert Gibbs in a Darth Vader costume. Seeing Robert Gibbs in a Darth Vader costume is memorable.
Anyway, Eric Schultz said this on January 8 of this year (2012):
If we wanted this event to be a secret, we probably wouldn't have invited the press corps to cover it, release photos of it to Flickr, or post a video from it on the White House website."
Go read more about it, and see a photo of the Obamas at the party here at the White House blog.
Next up was tonight's guest, Bill Moyers of Moyers fame. He actually served as White House Press Secretary some years back. When Stephen asked if he had ever withheld information from the Press Corp, Moyers (jokingly) admitted that he withheld information from President Johnson which was much more dangerous. They both had a good laugh about that.
Bill Moyers has a new show, Moyers & Company which naturally brought the conversation to the subject of people and corporations. Moyers had two things to say about this subject. First, "You can not have a people's democracy as long as corporations are considered people." Secondly, one of Moyers friends in Texas "will believe corporations are people when Texas executes one."
When asked about the 50 thousand uninsured Americans dying due to a lack of health care every year, Santorum said this:
"I reject that number completely, that people die in America because of lack of health insurance. People die in America because people die in America." He continued, " ... people make poor decisions with respect to their health and their health care. And they don't go to the emergency room or they don't go to the doctor when they need to."
(Okay, I think Santorum is missing the whole connection between health insurance and the paying for the medical care. But I digress.)
Stephen apparently agreed with Santorum because he explained it in simple terms that anyone can understand.
"If you're dying of cancer, it's your own fault for not going to the doctor and if you can't go to the doctor because you don't have insurance, then it's your own fault for not having a job, and if you don't have a job because you're dying of cancer, get yourself to a doctor. What is wrong with you? Other than the cancer, obviously."
Stephen can talk circles around anyone!
Some folks have been complaining about a Halloween Party at the White House in 2009. And while it would have been easy for Stephen to cover up these complaints, he didn't. He had video of Sean Hannity saying, "The White House had an Alice In Wonderland party when the unemployment rate is at 9.9% in the country." And he showed Rush Limbaugh outraged and telling his fans, "The White House went Out --- Of --- The --- Way--- to cover this up." Thankfully Stephen never hesitates to tell it like it is. Of course, that's not the way it was.
You know, I'm thinking that maybe I remember Jon Stewart of Daily Show fame talking about that very same Halloween Party on his show way back then because he was making fun of Robert Gibbs in a Darth Vader costume. Seeing Robert Gibbs in a Darth Vader costume is memorable.
Anyway, Eric Schultz said this on January 8 of this year (2012):
If we wanted this event to be a secret, we probably wouldn't have invited the press corps to cover it, release photos of it to Flickr, or post a video from it on the White House website."
Go read more about it, and see a photo of the Obamas at the party here at the White House blog.
Next up was tonight's guest, Bill Moyers of Moyers fame. He actually served as White House Press Secretary some years back. When Stephen asked if he had ever withheld information from the Press Corp, Moyers (jokingly) admitted that he withheld information from President Johnson which was much more dangerous. They both had a good laugh about that.
Bill Moyers has a new show, Moyers & Company which naturally brought the conversation to the subject of people and corporations. Moyers had two things to say about this subject. First, "You can not have a people's democracy as long as corporations are considered people." Secondly, one of Moyers friends in Texas "will believe corporations are people when Texas executes one."
Monday, January 9, 2012
New Hampshire Primary Results Are In!
At least from Dixville Notch. Here's the numbers from the bottom of that page at Wikipedia:
Democratic Primary:
Barack Obama -- 3
GOP Primary:
Jon Huntsman -- 2
Mitt Romney -- 2
Ron Paul -- 1
New Gingrich -- 1
I figured if enough time went by, Jon Huntsman would pull ahead. (He is the candidate that puts country first ahead of party.) Huntsman hasn't been getting a lot of attention lately and I figured out why. His entry over at Conservapedia is very short. Perhaps now that he is doing so well in New Hampshire, the Conservapedia staff and editors will expand that entry and give us more background and accomplishments for Jon Huntsman.
It seems there's just never enough Republican debates. This past weekend there were only two debates. Stephen made the mistake of playing the "Contraception Game." That's where you take a shot of booze every time someone says "Contraception." Oh my, oh my. Stephen got wasted.
Stephen commented on Rick Santorum's recent quotes. Santorum has said that "Even fathers in jail who had abandoned their kids were still better than no father at all to have in their children's lives." Thus, according to Stephen (based on what Santorum thinks), Charles Manson would be better at parenthood than Rosie O'Donnell.
Tonight's guest was Melissa Harris-Perry, professor of political science at Tulane University, and frequent guest on msnbc. She also will soon have her own show on msnbc beginning in February. She has written a new book, "Sister Citizen - Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America." I think that it is probably a very good book. The cover is quite intriguing and patriotic looking, so Stephen will appreciate that. And you know what they say, you can't judge a book by it's cover, so I guess you just have to read the book to find out. But considering that Stephen had her on the show, it's probably a good book. Here's your chance to use that Barnes and Noble gift card you got and get a book for some 2012 reading.
Democratic Primary:
Barack Obama -- 3
GOP Primary:
Jon Huntsman -- 2
Mitt Romney -- 2
Ron Paul -- 1
New Gingrich -- 1
I figured if enough time went by, Jon Huntsman would pull ahead. (He is the candidate that puts country first ahead of party.) Huntsman hasn't been getting a lot of attention lately and I figured out why. His entry over at Conservapedia is very short. Perhaps now that he is doing so well in New Hampshire, the Conservapedia staff and editors will expand that entry and give us more background and accomplishments for Jon Huntsman.
It seems there's just never enough Republican debates. This past weekend there were only two debates. Stephen made the mistake of playing the "Contraception Game." That's where you take a shot of booze every time someone says "Contraception." Oh my, oh my. Stephen got wasted.
Stephen commented on Rick Santorum's recent quotes. Santorum has said that "Even fathers in jail who had abandoned their kids were still better than no father at all to have in their children's lives." Thus, according to Stephen (based on what Santorum thinks), Charles Manson would be better at parenthood than Rosie O'Donnell.
Tonight's guest was Melissa Harris-Perry, professor of political science at Tulane University, and frequent guest on msnbc. She also will soon have her own show on msnbc beginning in February. She has written a new book, "Sister Citizen - Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America." I think that it is probably a very good book. The cover is quite intriguing and patriotic looking, so Stephen will appreciate that. And you know what they say, you can't judge a book by it's cover, so I guess you just have to read the book to find out. But considering that Stephen had her on the show, it's probably a good book. Here's your chance to use that Barnes and Noble gift card you got and get a book for some 2012 reading.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
O Beautiful For Spacious Skies
For amber waves of grain.
You probably remember how the rest of the song goes. If not, just catch one of Mitt Romney's speeches. Stephen had a clip of Romney's victory speech from last night, the part where Mitt recites the words to the song. (If it would have been Herman Cain, it would have been sung, but I digress.) Of course at first Stephen had the wrong clips of a different night, many different nights and speeches, of Mitt Romney reciting the words from "America, the Beautiful." I now think that Stephen was using humor to highlight the fact that Mitt seems to keep using those familiar and patriotic verses over and over again. It's almost like he has a plan to make that song his own.
I figured why not get a few facts about these spacious skies and amber waves to share with my readers. So, I Googled "O beautiful for spacious skies." Well, of course, near the top of the results, is an entry by trusty old Wikipedia for the song, "America, the Beautiful." Then I did a double take, for right after it, in the Google results, was a link to a YouTube video of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the song. What's up with that? You do know that Romney is a Mormon, right? And then I looked at Google images. Not surprisingly, there were lots of images of spacious skies, lots of images of amber waves of grain, lots of images of patriotic things (flags, fireworks, soldiers, eagles), and then there it was. A photo of Mitt Romney! So then I went to a website to see the lyrics and there was an ad for Mitt Romney.
It's obvious Mitt is trying very hard to have people salivate whenever they hear that song. And to have them think of Mitt Romney. Other candidates will be associated with other things. Stephen even mentioned Rick Santorum. And who can hear Michele Bachmann's name without seeing a pair of false eyelashes? For Herman Cain, it was 9-9-9. For so many candidates, there is one thing that will always be identified with them. Mitt Romney must be trying very hard to choose what people think about when they think of him. Will it work? Come back in 11 months and ask me then.
Perhaps more interesting on the show, in fact, the best part of the show was Stephen at the FLICKTRONIC-TRON 5600. Man, Stephen has got flicking down to an art. CNN needs to practice their flicking or people will stop going to CNN for news and only get their news from The Colbert Report.
Later in the show, Stephen checked in with all his good friends at WOI-DT abc 5 News to find out what's happening in Des Moines, Iowa. The excitement was more than I could bear.
The guest tonight was John Heilemann, National Affairs Editor of New York Magazine. Thankfully, they did discuss the recent Iowa Caucus and all the candidates. Although Romney won by an 8-vote landslide, Santorum, in a three-way with two other men, was such a close second that you could almost call it a tie. Now many of them head up to New Hampshire and then on to South Carolina. The excitement keeps building. It will be a fun ride heading to November.
You probably remember how the rest of the song goes. If not, just catch one of Mitt Romney's speeches. Stephen had a clip of Romney's victory speech from last night, the part where Mitt recites the words to the song. (If it would have been Herman Cain, it would have been sung, but I digress.) Of course at first Stephen had the wrong clips of a different night, many different nights and speeches, of Mitt Romney reciting the words from "America, the Beautiful." I now think that Stephen was using humor to highlight the fact that Mitt seems to keep using those familiar and patriotic verses over and over again. It's almost like he has a plan to make that song his own.
I figured why not get a few facts about these spacious skies and amber waves to share with my readers. So, I Googled "O beautiful for spacious skies." Well, of course, near the top of the results, is an entry by trusty old Wikipedia for the song, "America, the Beautiful." Then I did a double take, for right after it, in the Google results, was a link to a YouTube video of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the song. What's up with that? You do know that Romney is a Mormon, right? And then I looked at Google images. Not surprisingly, there were lots of images of spacious skies, lots of images of amber waves of grain, lots of images of patriotic things (flags, fireworks, soldiers, eagles), and then there it was. A photo of Mitt Romney! So then I went to a website to see the lyrics and there was an ad for Mitt Romney.
It's obvious Mitt is trying very hard to have people salivate whenever they hear that song. And to have them think of Mitt Romney. Other candidates will be associated with other things. Stephen even mentioned Rick Santorum. And who can hear Michele Bachmann's name without seeing a pair of false eyelashes? For Herman Cain, it was 9-9-9. For so many candidates, there is one thing that will always be identified with them. Mitt Romney must be trying very hard to choose what people think about when they think of him. Will it work? Come back in 11 months and ask me then.
Perhaps more interesting on the show, in fact, the best part of the show was Stephen at the FLICKTRONIC-TRON 5600. Man, Stephen has got flicking down to an art. CNN needs to practice their flicking or people will stop going to CNN for news and only get their news from The Colbert Report.
Later in the show, Stephen checked in with all his good friends at WOI-DT abc 5 News to find out what's happening in Des Moines, Iowa. The excitement was more than I could bear.
The guest tonight was John Heilemann, National Affairs Editor of New York Magazine. Thankfully, they did discuss the recent Iowa Caucus and all the candidates. Although Romney won by an 8-vote landslide, Santorum, in a three-way with two other men, was such a close second that you could almost call it a tie. Now many of them head up to New Hampshire and then on to South Carolina. The excitement keeps building. It will be a fun ride heading to November.
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