Zeitgeist – “I Have A Follow Up” Edition

Colbert Nation Hero Helen Thomas turns 87 today. Happy birthday, Helen!

In honor of the Grande Dame of the Washington Press Corps, today’s zeitgeist will be in press conference form, with follow up questions left unanswered. Please fell free to use the comments to help us answer these. Now here’s our selection of Stephen Colbert in the zeitgeist for August 4, 2007.

Where can I find “America’s most serious literary forum?”

• Somebody hand Travolta a hankie – Baltimore Sun:
  

  God, the churches and Stephen Colbert
  Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, promoting her book about religion and politics, appeared the other night on America’s most serious literary forum: The Colbert Report on Comedy Central.

  Like host Stephen Colbert, Bobby Kennedy’s eldest daughter and Maryland’s former two-term lieutenant governor was by turns earnest and facetious while discussing Failing America’s Faithful: How Today’s Churches Are Mixing God with Politics and Losing Their Way.

  OK, Townsend was more earnest than facetious. Colbert, more facetious than earnest. But it evened out.

  …

  By phone a few days later, Townsend told me she was happy to plug her book on the show.

  “There are very few outlets that are open to authors, so I am completely grateful to Stephen Colbert for having me on and for letting me talk.”

• Follow up: Was Townsend being earnest or facetious when she thanked Stephen for letting her talk?

What are Washington Post investigative journalists looking into these days?

• Bits and Pieces – Winston-Salem Journal:
  

  The Washington Post is interviewing comedy experts to see if the presidential candidates are funny. Former N.C. Sen. John Edwards gets the harshest review from Landon Parvin, a Republican speechwriter: “John Edwards has no sense of humor that I can see.”

  Other experts were similarly tough on the rest of the field.

  All the more reason to fire up the campaign to draft Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to run as an independent ticket. They could hardly run the country any worse, and at least their press briefings would be entertaining.

  Maybe Edwards and John McCain, Stewart favorites, could co-host Stewart’s The Daily Show. Turnabout would be fair play.

• Follow up: Is “Landon Parvin, a Republican speechwriter” really considered a “comedy expert” by The Washington Post?

Are there more theories about how Stephen broke his wrist or details about using the money to be raised auctioning the cast?

• The Buzz: Obama’s Pakistan strategy draws fire – Kansas City Star:
  

  Hurt it arm-wrestling Barney Frank

  The cause of Stephen’s Colbert’s broken left wrist remains slightly mysterious.

  He told reporters the injury may have incurred when he was defending the U.S. border from illegal immigrants, but he also said it could have been when he broke up a gay wedding and a “slap fight” ensued.

  Colbert will auction off his cast, signed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House spokesman Tony Snow. Proceeds will go to families of injured military personnel at Walter Reed Army Medical Center who can’t afford to visit.

• Follow up: Audience members report that the fall was taken on June 21 and yet Comedy Central spokesmen say it happened on the 27th and Stephen said it happened “last night” on the July 26th episode. Do the conflicting stories being released to an anxious public indicate that there is a conspiracy to cover up the truth of what really happened?

Can you not fool all of the people some of the time?

• Uncherished Beliefs – Ambient Irony:
  

  Over on the JREF (James Randi Educational Foundation) forums, a challenge was posted to create an idea so outlandish that no-one would believe it. Given the existence of Time Cube, this is not an easy proposition, but here’s what I was able to come up with.

  …

  Steven Colbert is the legitimate King of France, tracing his line through Leopold I of Belgium to Charlemagne. You can tell this by the fact that he has six fingers on his left hand, though this is digitally edited out of his television broadcasts. Because of this, the French Government censors any references to Colbert in all forms of media. If you attempt to enter France carrying a DVD or video tape, regardless of content, it will be taken from you and destroyed. France even invented its own television system to assist in this process, known as “SECAM”, the System to Exclude Colbert from All Media.

  You can easily confirm this by accosting any Frenchman on the streets of Paris, and asking him what he thinks about Steven Colbert’s latest show. His puzzled expression will tell you everything you need to know.

• Follow up: And what about this are we not supposed to believe?

Will ‘Evan Almighty’ fly with ‘The Scotsman’?

• A disaster of truly biblical proportions – The Scotsman: “The most distressing thing here is simply the sight of Steve Carell floundering in his first big star vehicle. He’s a brilliant and likeable performer and normally displays impeccable comic instincts, but even roping in his former Daily Show cohorts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in cameo roles can’t help him transcend the bland material he’s dealing with here. He needs to take a leaf out of Jim Carrey’s book, before he becomes the next Robin Williams.”
• Follow up: Did Stephen really have a cameo in this film and this is the first I’m hearing about it?

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