Colbert at the White House in 2007 before the taping of a press-conference skit for “The Colbert Report.” Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images.

Reading this interview with Stephen Colbert gave my day a good start.

… I work very hard not to proselytize. I would never want anybody to think I was trying to convince them of my point of view. Because, hey, more Jesus for me.

If I’m enjoying a meeting I’m having with someone, I interrupt them constantly. If I’m bored by the meeting, I look like I’m very attentive… My mind is something of a squirrel cage. I scramble all over the place… Oh, I also cry easily.

The behavior I’m exhibiting fits my genre [comedy], which is not supposed to have respectability. There’s a reason it’s not a central part of polite society. But there’s supposed to be a polite society out there! It’s not my fault there isn’t one anymore.
(David Marchese, “Stephen Colbert on the political targets of satire,” NYTimes, 5-31-19)

(c) 2019 JMN