海角大神

Stephen Colbert鈥檚 whole world has been rocked by his sister Elizabeth Colbert Busch鈥檚 loss to Mark Sanford in this week鈥檚 special election in South Carolina鈥檚 First Congressional district.

That鈥檚 the way Mr. Colbert Wednesday night in any case, and we have to say it was so convincing there seemed to be truth peeking out from behind his blustering on-screen persona.

鈥淭onight I am angry, and for once that doesn鈥檛 make me happy,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y sister lost. How could this happen? I was so sure Lulu had won, because CNN called it for Sanford.鈥�

As a result, Colbert said he was renouncing his South Carolina-hood, and becoming a North Carolina Tar Heel, 鈥渨hatever the [bleep] that means.鈥�

Then he renounced the renunciation after tasting North Carolina barbeque, which he described as a 鈥渟auce-less, vinegar-based meat product.鈥�

Yes, Mr. Sanford is a Republican and his sister is a Democrat, and the first district is heavily GOP. But if you remember, Sanford got into trouble with an Argentinian mistress when he was governor. A story about his ex-wife accusing him of trespassing in their former family home broke late in the campaign cycle. The national GOP pulled its cash out of the race.

Colbert said he just did not get where his sister went wrong. Did she not raise enough money? Did she not campaign hard enough?

鈥淒id she hold too few debates against a cardboard Nancy Pelosi?鈥� said Colbert, lampooning a Sanford debate tactic.

The 鈥淐olbert Report鈥� host then said the whole thing had shaken him to his core, because it was the first time he鈥檇 seen a campaign where he knew one of the candidates before they entered politics.

鈥淚 saw firsthand how her opponents smeared her with outrageous accusations I knew to be untrue,鈥� said Colbert. 鈥淎nd that makes me wonder if other campaigns have done this as well.鈥�

OK, let鈥檚 stop right there. Sanford would probably disagree as to whether he smeared his opponent. But that brings up a question: is Colbert going to seek revenge?

Perhaps Sanford should be on guard here. He鈥檚 just beaten the sister of a man who on Wednesday鈥檚 show said he makes a living 鈥渁ttacking people without thought.鈥� Colbert has an audience of around two million people a night.

If you鈥檙e Sanford, what could go wrong?

Lots.

Later on, Colbert got into an interesting bit in which he talked about partisanship, and how voters鈥� political opinions are as much based on what team they perceive themselves as on whether they actually approve of a policy or not.

This involved breathing helium from balloons and . Trust us, it made narrative sense since it involved a congressional vote on national helium reserves. We鈥檙e not going to explain it beyond that.

But at one point, Colbert stopped, took a deep breath of helium, turned to the camera, and in his best high-pitch squeak said, 鈥淸Bleep] Sanford.鈥� The audience roared.

Look, Colbert is not like other comedians 鈥� he鈥檚 more dangerous. We鈥檝e written about this before. It鈥檚 like he鈥檚 a performance artist with a degree in political science.聽

He鈥檚 got no problem going past boundaries at which other funny folk stop. Thus when he was asked to address the White House Correspondents Association dinner in 2006, he roasted both the media and George W. Bush to the point where the audience was visibly uncomfortable.

So we bet the name 鈥淢ark Sanford鈥� comes up again on the show, and not in a positive way, even though the Colbert persona on screen is a conservative.

鈥淔olks, I鈥檝e always believed in partisanship, but now that it鈥檚 cost my sister a seat in Congress I have my doubts,鈥� said Colbert.