The Colbert Report in Iraq

If you like the show, pick up a copy of this week’s NEWSWEEK. Colbert is the “special guest editor” for the issue, so about 1/4 of it is a cross between Colbert Report and The Onion.

I loved it; the camo suit, the rose ID photo, the haircut, McCain’s “musket” advice.

“HI STEPHEN’S MOM!!!”

And of course, Clinton’s looking for a cure for Stephen.

I missed the first episode, but I loved the basic training section tonight. Especially Colbert singing along while marching.

Pretty impressive dealing with DA/DT and interviewing a couple of normal soldiers (one Arab-American, one decorated woman). Good questions, incisive and self-deprecating.

I loved her exchange with him. (I can’t remember her name so I’ll just say “she”):

Colbert: You won a combat medal for…
She: I didn’t win it. I was awarded a combat medal.

Just watched both episodes. You could see the soldiers got a bit kick out of Colbert sympathizing them, and it was also interesting that the crowd seemed to find DADT ridiculous. But they might’ve been laughing at doing showtunes for Kim Jong-Il.

Obama and McCain both did very well in their guest spots. (I am sure the joke about Obama’s ears was scripted.) The Obama parts were timed very well. I’m sure McCain got sick about comedians doing jokes about his age a long time ago, so it was cool of him to play along.

I thought both episodes were funny (without being political). I liked the way he had his iPhone mounted to the helmet. I was wondering if that was a standard mount, or they just used double-stick tape or velcro.

I watched the episode just now, and the distinction she made was that she earned it, she didn’t win it. That actually looked like a genuine goof on Colbert’s part, he got real embarrassed before recovering.

During the Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell debate he got a lot of applause when he said “Do you know Jody”. Is that some sort of inside joke familiar to the audience? Does anyone know what the reference is to?

I didn’t know either, but my husband says it’s a military slang term for the guy your wife is cheating on you with while you’re away.

Exactly. In basic training, the drill sergeants are always winding you up with talk about what “Jodie” is doing to your wife/girlfriend/whatever back home.

I hate to say it, but I’m learning a lot more from this than I am from most news reports or anything else on TV recently.

Also, I was going to jokingly post “I’m so proud of Stephen Cobert” on my Facebook status this morning re: his boot camp training but then it dawned on me how insulting that would be to the thousands of soldiers who had done it FOR REAL and gone on to actually fight for our country and maybe even die for it. gulp

I decided to make a smartass donation to the USO instead.

Hey, he got cheers from the troops when he actually rappelled down the wall. He was goofing off on everything else and the DS clearly wasn’t pushing him as hard as a real soldier, but the wall was all Stephen.

You could tell he was really, really scared, but did it anyway. The boy’s got heart.

OTOH, “jodies” are those call-and-repeat songs you sing while marching (“I don’t know but I been told…”).

The scene where the drill sergeant tells him to take off his sunglasses made me want to start a GQ thread asking about when soldiers are allowed to wear shades.

That’s because most such songs contain detailed lyrics describing exactly how Jodie is fucking your wife’s brains out.

I guess that’s what I meant - a lot of “stars” go and tell jokes and play songs and go through the motions and what not but that’s kind of really putting your money where your mouth is.

Well, he’s not running through a MINE FIELD or anything but there’s two days left. :stuck_out_tongue:

He’s actually pretty fit for a guy in his mid 40s with a sedentary job. Although I remember seeing a shirtless pic of him in some magazine and being really surprised that he’s pot-bellied; he looks slim on the show, but just as some guys have tone that seems to come out of nowhere when they take their shirt off I guess some have paunch.

I wondered, just out of curiosity, if the drill sergeant and others shown in his “condensed basic training” were assigned him or if he they volunteered for it.

And hard to believe that’s one of dozens of palaces that Saddam Hussein had. Boy was compensating just a tad.

I’m surprized how bad he looks with a shaved head. Ew - Matt Lauer-esque.

He reminds me of my grandfather’s World War I picture.