Meanwhile...

Next week will be the last airing of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. 

Despite my recent foray into Buddhism and the pursuit of a calmer mind, I am spitting fire when I see the fascist consequences of 77 million ignorant voters putting an equally ignorant fascist behind the Resolute Desk. There can be no doubt that Colbert's departure is the result of rising authoritarianism and the repression of Freedom of Speech. 

It's even more disturbing that fellow members of the Tribe, who perhaps in a previous life were Camp Kapos, have been willingly complicit. Folks like Bari Weiss, Howard Lutnick, Larry Ellison and even Alan "I Kept My Underwear On" Dershowitz.

"Deep breath in.....and long, slow exhale."

Back to Colbert. Wasn't always a SC fan. Years ago, I was freelancing at the Wonderful Agency and was asked to write some Super Bowl spots featuring him for the Pistachio account. As you might imagine, I was tickled green. I dug deep, stayed up late, and sunk my teeth into this assignment seeing as it gave me an avenue for some high IQ political humor.

Stephen never saw the scripts as they were tossed out in favor of something more palatable -- dumbed down. And exceedingly broad. Nevertheless I became a fan. And watched as Colbert grew into the role as talk show host and grew more comfortable as an equal to his former colleagues Jon Stewart and John Oliver. 

Trump was and is, the comedic gold gift that never stops giving. I'm sure Colbert will find another venue to collect the golden eggs and keep skewering.

I could have chosen one of a 1000+ plus pictures for this post, but went with the one you see above. Astute readers/viewers will recognize this from the Covid era when having guests and audiences in a theater was prohibitive. Necessity may be the Mother of Invention, but let's also give credit to the Father, in this case a deadly highly contagious disease, left unabated by a douchebag adulterous con man.

Colbert, Seth Myers and perhaps Kimmel, thought outside the theater box and brought the shows home. That is, they took advantage of technology and literally produced the shows from their dens or upstair's attics. Stephen even had his wife on set. And Seth Myers had his two little boys scurry through his makeshift set. With the gloss and high production value stripped away, the shows actually got better.

Not only were the shows a testament to resilience and what could be done in the face of Covid, they were the salve that softened the turbulence and upheaval of 2020. My day would not be complete without staying up to midnight and watching the first half of the show. If for no other reason than to smile and escape the hell the world foisted on us from every angle.

"Again, exhale out..."

Thank you Stephen Colbert, for everything you've done for us.

"You may now open your eyes and return the world outside."

And FUCK YOU Trump, for everything you did to us.