Fantasy Colbert League Weekly: August 25 – 29

Welcome to No Fact Zone’s weekly roundup of ‘Colbert Report’ guests, created in the spirit of the oft-enjoyed Fantasy Colbert League. While we can’t start up the online version of the game again, we can make it so that you can get the information you need about the guests before they come on the show.

Just like you, we want to be it-getters before the interviews start. So we’ve compiled brief bios, issues or events that Stephen might bring up during the interview, and a fun Fract (Freedom Fact) to impress your fellow viewers during the commercial breaks. Read, enjoy, and see if you can anticipate how Stephen might nail each of the following guests!

Editor’s Note: As always, guests are subject to change.

Monday, 8/25: Dick Meyer (R 8/13/08)

Repeat of Wednesday, August 13. Includes the WØRD: ‘Blame Monica Goodling’, a Formidable Opponent, and author Dick Meyer.

Tuesday, 8/26: Rep. Bob Barr

Representative and attorney Bob Barr is the Libertarian Party nominee for president in the 2008 United States election. A Republican until leaving the party in 2004, he represented Georgia’s 7th District from 1995 to 2003. While in Congress, he took strongly conservative positions on many key issues, from same-sex marriage to economic issues. He is currently the head of Liberty Strategies LLC, a consulting firm in Atlanta, GA. Recently, Barr’s campaign blog described efforts by John McCain’s people to keep the candidate off the ballot in Pennsylvania.

• Fract: Bob Barr’s strong conservative positions contrasted with his criticism of the Bush administration led many to call him a maverick. Others labeled ‘mavericks’ include Senator John McCain.

Wednesday, 8/27: Gov. Mike Huckabee

Stephen Colbert and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee have some history together – you remember that little fight between Stephen, Jon Stewart, and Conan O’Brien over who ‘made’ Mike Huckabee. (This behind-the-scenes video will always make me laugh.) Former Arkansas governor Huckabee has recently formed HuckPac, a conservative group aiming to support Republicans who are running for office. Huckabee has always been a prolific author and a promoter of healthy living habits. His latest book, ‘Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That’s Bringing Common Sense Back to America,’ will be published in November 2008.

• Fract: In addition to playing air hockey with Stephen, Mike Huckabee occasionally jams with his band ‘Capitol Offense,’ “the hardest working band in politics.”

Thursday, 8/28: Rick Brookhiser

Journalist and biographer Richard Brookhiser is fascinated by America’s founding fathers. He has worked with the magazine National Review for over 40 years. His book, ‘What Would the Founders Do? Our Questions, Their Answers‘, published in paperback in 2007, is a glimpse into what the founding fathers might think of current public debates and political controversies.

• Fract: In 1992, Brookhiser was diagnosed with testicular cancer and smoked marijuana to survive his last few chemotherapy treatments. He has since become a proponent of the medical use of marijuana, stating that though he holds with traditional virtues, “the law disgraces itself when it harasses the sick.“

Friday, 8/29: John McWhorter

Multilinguist John McWhorter V is a political commentator who reads 13 languages. Formerly an associate professor of languages at the University of California, Berkeley, he is now a Senior Fellow at the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute. He is the author of numerous books on language and race relations, and he writes a column for the New York Sun. His latest work, published in June 2008, is ‘All about the Beat: Why Hip-Hop Can’t Save Black America.’

• Fract: John McWhorter will participate in one of the panel sessions of the New Yorker Festival this year. Another well-known participant? Stephen Colbert.

• Fantasy Colbert League: October 26-October 29
• Fantasy Colbert League: October 12-October 15
• Fantasy Colbert League Weekly: September 21-24
• Fantasy Colbert League Weekly! August 3rd-7th