Stephen Colbert reflects on Iraq

This is a sweet little item from Variety:

Stephen Colbert
Host, ‘The Colbert Report’
By MICHAEL VENTRE

. . .

[W]hat Colbert remembers most from his week of shows inside the combat zone — titled “Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando” — was the connection he made with that live audience that had little to do with shear lunacy.

“As friends of mine had told me who had done this kind of work before, there was an immediate and startling affection from the men and women over there,” he said shortly after his return to the States. “They’re grateful to you. That immediately gives you a purpose beyond just the purpose to make them laugh. It becomes to make them laugh, and to show your appreciation to them.

“The response was deeply emotional and not intellectual. It was a very beautiful feeling and one that will take me a while to (assess) and extricate from the tangle of my present exhaustion.”

. . .

Read the full post here

Speaking just for myself, I think that emotion was evident in the shows that were broadcast back here. Thanks again, Stephen and crew, for doing such an amazing job and giving those troops such wonderful shows!