Warlord
05-09-2013, 01:06 PM
Because Stephen Colbert does such a remarkable job staying in character night after night on “The Colbert Report,” it’s always a bit of a thrill when the façade slips away and viewers are able catch a glimpse of the “real” Colbert.
That was the case Wednesday night, the day after the host’s sister, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, lost to disgraced former Gov. Mark Sanford in a special election in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional district.
Naturally, Colbert wasn’t too happy with the results, and, in a segment that was as hilarious as it was heartfelt, he made his feelings abundantly clear.
“I am angry, and for once that doesn’t make me happy,” he began, joking that he was positive “Lulu,” as he calls his older sister, had won “because CNN called it for Sanford.”
The truth was that Sanford, who achieved infamy four years ago after disappearing for several days on what he claimed was a hiking trip but was revealed to be a visit with his Argentinian mistress, beat Colbert Busch handily.
Although he kept things funny, as usual, Colbert didn’t attempt to hide his frustration with his home state.
“From now on, and I never thought I would say this, I am from North Carolina,” he declared.
“I’m a Tar Heel now, whatever the [heck] that means.”
But as saddened as he was by the election’s outcome, Colbert just couldn’t go through with the defection -- not if it meant abandoning South Carolina’s “tangy, savory, juicy and deeply delicious barbecue” in favor of North Carolina’s “sauceless, vinegar-based meat product.”
“I can’t do it, I love South Carolina too much,” he said, sounding sad and perplexed. “And I love my sister, and I’m so proud of her, but I just don’t get it.”
After joking that perhaps his sister hadn’t held enough debates with a cardboard Nancy Pelosi, as Sanford did to much ridicule, Colbert got serious (sort of).
“This scares me to my core. I’m shaken. This was the first political campaign where I knew and cared about the candidate before they got into politics. I saw first-hand how her opponents smeared her with outrageous accusations I knew to be untrue,” he said. “And that’s made me wonder if other campaigns have done this as well.”
The joke, of course, is that they always have and always will. It was a nice way to set up Colbert’s next segment in which, having concluded that his sister lost solely because of Republican Party loyalty, he launched into an impassioned and yet very funny tirade about the woeful state of partisan politics.
His voice squeaky from helium (you’ll have to watch to understand why), Colbert ended with an urgent plea: “Maybe it’s time everybody out there stops basing every decision you make on party affiliation and instead admit that every once in a while you might agree with the other side.”
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-stephen-colbert-sister-south-carolina-congress-mark-sanford-20130509,0,3602979.story
That was the case Wednesday night, the day after the host’s sister, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, lost to disgraced former Gov. Mark Sanford in a special election in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional district.
Naturally, Colbert wasn’t too happy with the results, and, in a segment that was as hilarious as it was heartfelt, he made his feelings abundantly clear.
“I am angry, and for once that doesn’t make me happy,” he began, joking that he was positive “Lulu,” as he calls his older sister, had won “because CNN called it for Sanford.”
The truth was that Sanford, who achieved infamy four years ago after disappearing for several days on what he claimed was a hiking trip but was revealed to be a visit with his Argentinian mistress, beat Colbert Busch handily.
Although he kept things funny, as usual, Colbert didn’t attempt to hide his frustration with his home state.
“From now on, and I never thought I would say this, I am from North Carolina,” he declared.
“I’m a Tar Heel now, whatever the [heck] that means.”
But as saddened as he was by the election’s outcome, Colbert just couldn’t go through with the defection -- not if it meant abandoning South Carolina’s “tangy, savory, juicy and deeply delicious barbecue” in favor of North Carolina’s “sauceless, vinegar-based meat product.”
“I can’t do it, I love South Carolina too much,” he said, sounding sad and perplexed. “And I love my sister, and I’m so proud of her, but I just don’t get it.”
After joking that perhaps his sister hadn’t held enough debates with a cardboard Nancy Pelosi, as Sanford did to much ridicule, Colbert got serious (sort of).
“This scares me to my core. I’m shaken. This was the first political campaign where I knew and cared about the candidate before they got into politics. I saw first-hand how her opponents smeared her with outrageous accusations I knew to be untrue,” he said. “And that’s made me wonder if other campaigns have done this as well.”
The joke, of course, is that they always have and always will. It was a nice way to set up Colbert’s next segment in which, having concluded that his sister lost solely because of Republican Party loyalty, he launched into an impassioned and yet very funny tirade about the woeful state of partisan politics.
His voice squeaky from helium (you’ll have to watch to understand why), Colbert ended with an urgent plea: “Maybe it’s time everybody out there stops basing every decision you make on party affiliation and instead admit that every once in a while you might agree with the other side.”
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-stephen-colbert-sister-south-carolina-congress-mark-sanford-20130509,0,3602979.story