Let's Swirl Up Some Journalism

Stephen has a new addition to his set. It's a Scandal Booth. Stephen hopped in to select the first scandal. And.... the first scandal to be scrutinized was Benghazi. In a recent poll, 41% of Republicans think it will be the biggest political scandal in US history. That number was 10% for Democrats and 20% for Independents.

(For those deficient in math, please realize that those numbers are not saying 61% of people think it is the biggest scandal. Don't make me get out my calculator. Don't make me do it. Fine. I'm getting my calculator. If you think that 61% think it is a scandal, then, using those same calculations, at least 229% of people do Not think it's a scandal.)

Next poll. Where is Benghazi? Among Republicans who believe it's the biggest scandal in US history, 10% think Benghazi is in Egypt, 9% think Benghazi is in Iran, 6% think Benghazi is in Cuba and 1% think Benghazi is in North Korea. Those numbers can legitimately be added and it tells us that 26% of Republicans who think Benghazi will be the biggest US scandal don't have any idea where Benghazi actually is located.

We got a hint at who one of Stephen's future interview guests will be. Jonathan Karl. He is someone who quotes quotes but not verbatim and not actually factually. Tuesday night (tonight) Stephen will have an exclusive interview with Jonathan Karl to discuss the Benghazi emails. Stephen shared the confirmation email with us.

"I would love to appear on The Colbert Report. My Name is Jonathan Karl.
P.S. My lower body is mostly raccoon."

To quote Stephen about that email: "Is that email real? Yes. Did I write it myself? Perhaps."

But Stephen also had other technology to confirm the content of that email so I'm convinced.

What a treat - another trip into the Scandal Booth. "Jimmy, let's swirl up some journalism" This time the scandal turns out to be IRS. By the way, for tax purposes, that Scandal Booth is Stephen's home office. You may have heard that some groups, especially tea drinking groups, have found themselves under scrutiny by the IRS. Funny thing is - there was no need for any of this to happen. The groups filed with the IRS but they didn't even have to do that! Friend of the show and Stephen's personal lawyer, Trevor Potter of the firm Caplin & Drysdale, was there, in the Scandal Booth, with briefcase in hand. He came out of that Scandal Booth and explained it all for us.

You may remember that Stephen has a Super PAC.  His tax exempt status was never granted because he never filed for tax exempt status. He doesn't have to file. Wow! All those tea groups that filed for tax exempt status had no legal requirement to file with the IRS but they did anyway? You can form a 501 (c) (4) without asking to form one.

I'm quoting Stephen here: "These Tea Party anti big government organizations didn't have to ask big government for permission, but they did anyway?"

I'm quoting Trevor Potter here: "Right."

I'm quoting Stephen here: "What a bunch of pussies."

Now the IRS is under scrutiny for putting others under scrutiny and this is Stephen's big opportunity. He now wants to apply. The IRS would be under pressure to approve applications going forward.

Trevor Potter just happens to have a 1024 with him and Stephen is ready with a nickname, a "Doing Business As" name. Stephen chose the following name in order to put just a little bit more pressure on the IRS.

---  Making America a Better Tea Party Patriot 9/12 Place to Constitution America Tea Party Nominally Social Welfare Conservative Political Action Tea Party Secret Money Liberty I Dare You to Deny This Application of America Tea Party  ---

It's a good thing.

The guest last night was David Sassoon of Inside Climate News. They had a discussion that was quite a bit of back and forth, give and take. Stephen prevailed when he said to the guest, "See this air between us. That's climate. Nothing happening." David Sassoon talked about the Dilbit Disaster and the two men sort of agreed that you "don't eat fish from Kalamazoo."

Stephen reminded us all that if we ignore the environment, it will just go away.

A Pile of Lunch Meat Chose the White Bread

Stephen is back from vacationing in the Cayman Islands with his money and was sad that he didn't get to cover the crowning of  a new Pope. (Note: Pope Francis was not crowned and seems unlikely to want riches of that sort.) Actually, Stephen wanted to cover the naming of a new Pope. It is as important as the Superbowl but without so many "Thank-you Jesus thanks prayers." Stephen did has some coverage about the new Pope and showed Fox News with the safe analysis of the smoke. "It's gray." Can't go wrong with that.

Stephen told us about a book based on a movie based on the Bible. It was very confusing. It seems like it will be a big ratings winner and isn't that what the Bible is all about?

The really big news that everyone is talking about is the renaming of the Conference Room over at The Campaign Legal Center. The president is Trevor Potter. That name should be familiar to you. If not, read more here and also here. Or you can just read posts here about Trevor Potter. Anyway, the Conference Room was renamed in honor of Ham Rove. I would just love to have my next committee meeting in "THE HAM ROVE MEMORIAL CONFERENCE ROOM." It is such a fitting tribute to Ham Rove and also to Karl Rove who was the mentor for Ham Rove. Now admittedly there could be some confusion for a small minority of people about the difference between the mentor and the mentee. So, before you enjoy your Easter dinner, first ask, "Did you ever put anti-gay marriage legislation in swing states to tip the scales in the 2004 Presidential Election?" If it answers Yes or if it answers anything at all, best not to eat that Ham. It could be Karl Rove.

Stephen extended an invitation for Karl Rove to join him this Sunday for an Easter Feast.

Stephen's guest last night was Junot Diaz. He has a very impressive set of credentials, but Stephen, being a humble man, was not impressed. Among other things, he teaches Writing at MIT. And he is on the Board of Freedom University. Freedom University is dedicated to teaching undocumented immigrants. Junot Diaz had an interesting comparison. Think about Superman. He arrived here from Krypton through no plans of his own and yet we accepted him. Think about all the positive things Superman accomplished here! Right. So it just makes sense to me that we should be doing more to help these other immigrants achieve all that they can. Stephen raised many pertinent questions which Junot Diaz answered well and yet not to Stephen's liking. They discussed the Eternal Question of what language is spoken on Krypton. I must admit that I do not know the answer to that question.

As important as this University seems to be to Junot Diaz and as committed as he seems to be to the University, he admitted that there is no official sweatshirt for the school. Stephen was ready to help him out. He brought out a sweatshirt, a nice grey hoodie, with red letters that say "Freedom University - Established 2011" on it. Junot Diaz was overwhelmed with joy. "This is great!" Actually, it just had the initials for Freedom University on it, but you get the idea.

In Brief

Here's the short version, the highlights of what I missed when I was away from civilization, i.e. a place where The Colbert Report was not on the TV machine.

For one thing, Stephen suggested that Doris Kearns Goodwin was friendly, very friendly with Lincoln. He also took the opportunity to suggest that viewers purchase his books. (I have already purchased most of his books and I'm still working my way through "I Am a Pole And So Can You.")

There was a wonderful discussion of Super PACs. Karl Rove's Super PAC elected 1.29% -- can that be correct??? --- of the candidates they he spent big money on. His donors are kind of pissed.

Stephen had a Super PAC. He's a little bit worried about the fallout and so he blamed any problems on Jon Stewart who had control of the Super PAC for only one week. Jon showed up to complain but didn't stick around for long. However, friend of the show Trevor Potter did show up and as usual he had wonderful news for Stephen. Again with just simple forms or signed letters, Stephen is able to take advantage of great legal ideas and abracadabra! Stephen has the leftover money (we're talking something like $800,000) free and clear with no strings attached. No one need ever know.

I have got to get me a Super PAC.

Ken Burns was on to talk about two of his documentaries, "The Dust Bowl" and "The Central Park Five." Ken Burns said of the Dust Bowl that it was "bad" and that Oklahoma begged for the big federal government to come to Oklahoma and help them with the problem in their state. The Central Park Five is about waiting for justice to be served and about Ken Burns saying No to someone.

Moving on to another episode, Stephen had his "Who's Attacking Me Now?" segment. Turns out it's Canada's Maple Stream media. Apparently, they are upset with something Stephen said in his book "America Again."(Note: good Christmas gift.) In a CBC news poll, though, 76.64% of poll takers said Stephen's mention of Windsor, Canada thought it was good for the city. So, I don't see why they would complain. "You're welcome Windsor. You just got the Colbert Bump," said Stephen. No matter what Stephen says about you, in the end, it's going to be good.

Tony Kushner, screenwriter for the Lincoln movie, stopped by to talk about old Uncle Pennyface. He seemed to agree with Doris Kearns Goodwin and remarked that Lincoln had huge feet. I think we can all agree that Lincoln was a great president.

Whew, briefly, I'm caught up with most of the episodes. Just in time for tonight!

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!"

I'm Doing It

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

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

Balloons all over and the audience went crazy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sorry Technical Difficulties

Stephen has his Super PAC and that's great. He has been displaying the names of his donors across the bottom of the TV screen and we appreciate that.

But something was missing for Stephen. He wanted secrecy. So, friend of the show Trevor Potter showed up again with all the paperwork complete so that Stephen could get his very own 501(c)(4).

Stephen is the sole director of the corporation and therefore he had the power to elect himself president, secretary and treasurer. And he did so.

He can take in money and no one need know who it came from. Why, in 2011, Karl Rove's American Crossroads took in 90% of its money from just three billionaires!

So, Stephen can take in unlimited money and no one will know where it came from. And in a really sweet deal, he can take that transparent money from his Super PAC and give it to this 501(c)(4). So while the Super PAC is all out in the open, the 501(c)(4) can hide away in the shadows.

He can donate money to political causes or candidates as long as that's not his main objective. Oh, yeah, it's about education, yep, that's what the purpose of his 501(c)(4) is all about.

To get him started, Kevin Kline was on to host The Donating Game.

And now for something completely different:

Stephen had as his guest Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Since he is a billionaire, Stephen asked him what he would like to donate money for but wouldn't want anyone to know he was doing it. Unfortunately, just as Mark was answering, the screen went to a "Sorry, Technical Difficulties" graphic. So, we'll never know.

Driving Miss Crazy

It seems as if everyone is reporting on Sarah Palin's "just your typical American vacation" this week. You know, just like the vacations you went on when you were a kid. You get yourself a nice coach bus. Paint it all patriotic and such. Sign your name across it. Travel around to various destinations and have your picture taken gawking at historical monuments. Yeah, we've all been there.

Even Jon Stewart over at The Daily Show talked about Joan of Alaska. He said reporters were following her around and asking questions such as, "Why are we following your bus?" and "What's wrong with us?" (And now you know why this post is called "Driving Miss Crazy!" Thanks, Jon.) He reported that she says it's not about her and it's not a publicity seeking tour. Duh. He goes on to ask us, "Have you seen her bus? Could it be any more about her than that?"

But last night, Stephen also reported on the One Nation bus. And yes he talked about the Lame Stream Media. And he lamented on the fact that Sarah Palin was ambushed with gotcha questions such as, "Where are you going?" and "Why are you doing this?"

Perhaps we can get a clue about this bus trip from what was posted at SarahPac. "Even Piper was able to grasp the significance of being in the presence of our first President - who had such diverse interests - when she told me later 'how hard he must have worked to keep that farm going!' "

To be fair, George Washington probably did not do all the work or even any of the labor-intensive farm work himself. Most likely he used what Stephen called "African volunteers." I wonder if Sarah Palin shared that bit of information with Piper. (Yikes! Who's holding her baby boy? Anyone? Anyone?)

Which lead naturally into the next topic, Colbert SuperPAC. Stephen is still working on that. In fact he had an actual letter from the FEC with 13 legal questions to be answered. So he did what he always did in high school, paid a rich kid to give him the answers. Last night that person was none other than friend of the show and Stephen's lawyer, Trevor Potter. Stephen expressed his admiration for the hard work done by the people over at the FEC and his hope that they will be paid adequately for the job they do. If Stephen does get his ColbertPAC, he will be able to take his kids on a "for profit" vacation.

Of course you all remember Stephen was sailing this past week. If you go to Colbert Nation, you can watch the show from May 31 and see just what a sailor looks like. Argh.

Stephen's guest last night was James Stewart. That's the truth. It was actually interesting and says a lot about the direction this nation is heading.

*Photo not actually of George Washington's farm.

You Be the Judge

Did you know that you can read the actual FEC Advisory Opinion Request for Stephen that was written by Trevor Potter, Joseph M. Birkenstock and Matthew T. Sanderson of Caplin & Drysdale, Chtd?

That's right, just go to Stephen's SuperPAC and click on the gray box that says VIEW Stephen's FEC Advisory Opinion Request. It's only eight pages and you can skip all the footnotes, so it wont' take very long to read.

Apparently the idea for the PAC and then the SuperPAC came to Stephen after seeing (former) Governor Tim Pawlenty's (yawn) dynamic, almost wrestling mania type of commercial that Pawlenty (yawn) used to hint at the possibility of thinking about considering perhaps running for office, maybe even President.

Stephen Colbert's request seems like a good idea to me. And after reading the letter from the lawyers, I think I would agree with everything that Stephen is asking for. Yep, my opinion is go for it!

What do you think?

Building a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow

Well of course tonight Stephen talked about the news that neither Mike Huckabee nor The Donald (Donald Trump not Donald Pellview) is running for GOP nomination for president. Chris Matthews put it this way,"Trump, bump, hump, dump.

But the big news is Stephen Colbert! He did go to the FEC (Federal Election Commission) on his birthday - May 13. He was there in Washington D.C. to drop off his request for a SuperPAC. He spoke briefly on the steps of FEC and reminded people that he was standing on the same spot where George Washington stood 250 years ago to get his permission way back then to form a SuperPac.

He compared it to standing at an American Crossroads, not to be confused with Karl Rove's American Crossroads. ( If that link doesn't work, try here or here. I've been having trouble getting that link to work right, so be patient.)

The crowd, and it was crowded, chanted that famous of famous mottoes with him: Building a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. And while there may be cynics that will claim Tomorrow never comes, thanks to his lawyer, Trevor Potter, Tomorrow just got one day closer.

A while back, a young man gave Stephen $10 so that Stephen could accomplish what was on a list that the man also gave Stephen. That man was Ben Donaldsonson and Stephen lost the list. But it inspired Stephen to do the right thing and for $1, people could shake Stephen's hand. The response was overwhelming and Stephen had to start putting the dollar bills in his mouth. (Does he know where that money has been? Take it from me, you don't want to know.)

Stephen collected a whopping grand total of $31. That is, for lack of another word, impressive. Truly Stephen Colbert is willing to put his money where his mouth is.

Unfortunately, the FEC has 60 days to make its ruling. That's a long time to wait. Let's hope we get the decision sooner.

Moving on, tonight's guest was Alison Klayman talking about her documentary "Ai Weiwei, Never Sorry" which is about Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. You probably know the Birdnest that was built for the Olympics in China. He helped design the Birdnest. You can read a lot of information about Ai Weiwei at Wikipedia. You should go take a look. He has really neat art stuff and it's a very interesting story.

Admiral John Q. Buzzschackler, Esq.

Unfortunately, Stephen is still having troubles with the legalities of his SuperPAC. He needed to have famed lawyer Trevor Potter on the show (again) to help him sort through all the various laws and restrictions about PACs and Super PACs.

The background on this is a letter from Viacom Lawyers that Stephen read recently on The Colbert Report. It starts out as follows: "Please do not read this on the air."

Oops.

The letter was quite lengthy, so Stephen paraphrased it. Paraphrasing legal jargon is always a good idea. I highly recommend it.

Here's what the Viacom lawyers told Stephen (as paraphrased by Stephen):

"We are stupid lawyers who hate fun. If you do this, we're all scared because people might get mad at us. I think we just peed a little. So, even though we know it is totally legal and everything, and everybody wants you to do it, we're not going to let you.
Sincerely,
Admiral John Q. Buzzschackler, Esq."

Legally, it is illegal. With all the integrity and sincerity that Colbert followers have come to expect from him, Stephen did the right thing and exploited the loophole.

Here's how it all plays out: Stephen can't talk about his PAC. But, if Stephen "reported" on his PAC or did "analysis" of it, then his SuperPAC would be covered under the "News Exemption" which is why FOX can go on, and on, and on, talking about SuperPACs.

Long story short, Trevor Potter just happened to have a letter that he had already drafted to get the "Media Exemption" for Stephen. However, the process may take up to 60 days, so Stephen put a "Lincoln" in with the letter, not as a bribe, but as Free Speech.

So, hopefully Stephen will get his "News Exemption" so that he can have his SuperPAC and talk, I mean "report" or "analyze" about it, too.

* Image is not actual Five Dollar Bill.

Cadbury 3:16

Lots happened on The Colbert Report Thursday (April 14, 2011). Where to begin, where to begin?

Well, one thing that was somewhat emotional for Stephen, and for the whole Colbert Nation I would venture to guess, was about his Colbert PAC. Stephen read a memo from the company lawyers. Lots of legal mumbo jumbo, but the main point was that Stephen could not have his Colbert PAC. This was distressing for Stephen, and I admit, I shed a tear or too also.

Stephen even invited Trevor Potter, recognized by some as being a "Super Lawyer," to help him understand all the legal intricacies of a PAC (Political Action Committee). Aha, thus the good news. Instead of a PAC, Stephen could have a Super PAC. By use of a simple 1 page cover letter stating "I want to have a Super PAC," Stephen was able to go ahead with his plan to begin:

"Making a better tomorrow, tomorrow."

Yea! Problem solved. Unlimited amounts of money.

And this being Spring, that can only mean Easter is upon us soon. Stephen provided updates as he usually does at this time of the year and then quoted from Cadbury 3:16:

"Take this egg, and hide it somewhere.
Perhaps under a log.
Or in a shoe.
Give the kids a challenge.
But you know, not too much of a challenge."

Yes. We can all do well to remember that this Easter.

His guest, I almost forgot. It was Caroline Kennedy! She has a new book:

she
walks in
beauty
a woman's journey through POEMS

Did you notice I even typed that just like the cover of the book? She and Stephen read poetry and recited poetry and had some nice laughs even. In honor of Caroline for having a new book out and to Stephen for having her on the show, I dedicate this work of poetry to Stephen Colbert.

There once was a man, name of Stephen,
His ears alas were not even,
But his mind it was sharp,
Manly voice - - like a harp,
Of his greatness we all are believin'.