this is "the colbert report." captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing ) ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: welcome to the report, everybody! thank you for joining us. thank you, everybody. stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! >> stephen: beautiful, thank you so much, everybody. you're too kind. (cheers and applause) >> stephen: folks, thank you, thank you here, up there, i want to say i had to any half -- thieves who are joining us tonight. hope all your attacks are plus two. nation, tonight you are witnessing history so i hope you all remember where are you right now. for me, i'm right here. (laughter) write that down so i don't forget. because i just flew back from washington, and boy, is my everything tired. (laughter) because today i changed the course of america, appearing before the federal election commission to convince them to let me form colbert superpac. the key issue, folks, would talking about my pac on the air constitute an in-kind donation from viacom forcing vi

they ruled today that colbert can in effect advertise the colbert super pac on the show without treating the air time used to discuss the colbert air pac on the show as oy contribution from the network comedy central or its parent company, viacom. colbert contained himself and allowed his attorney to handle most of the questions. but once it was approved, the artist currently known as colbert returned to form. >> i am here to represent your voice, so please quiet down. so we can all hear what you have to say with my mouth. there will be others who say stephen colbert, what will you do with that unrestricted super pac money? to which i say, i don't know. give it to me and let's find out. because i don't know about you, but i do not accept limits on my free speech. i don't know about you, but i do not accept the status quo. but i do accept visa, master card, and american express. >> joining me now, "huffington post" reporter and msnbc contributor alex wagner. have you made your contribution yet to the colbert super pac? >> in a donation under $50 so that he does not have to disclose it. >>

this is "the colbert report." (cheers and applause) captioning sponsored by comedy central ( theme song playing ) ( applause ) (cheers and applause) >> stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! >> stephen: wow! >> stephen, stephen, stephen! (cheers and applause) >> stephen: welcome to the report, everybody! good to have you with us. i got to tell you, that chant -- that chant was so good, that if i did not know better i would have thought you just practiced that. (laughter) nation, i hope you had a great fourth of july. i did. i blowed up [bleep] real good. (cheers and applause) i celebrated with my annual fireworks show. i like to make it big enough to be seen from england. sends a message. (laughter) but enough about me, folks. let's get to the big news, me. you see before the break the fec gave me permission to form colbert superpac and collect unlimited donations. when i merged from that crowd my g-string was stuffed with dollar bills. and i wasn't even wearing a g-string when i started. so thanks

very colbert.e for political ads. smart move, fec, if there's one thing you don't want it's a feud with stephen colbert. although i have to say when that opportunity presented itself to anderson he didn't shy away as you'll see in this ridiculist classic. >> all right. time for the ridiculist. i got to admit i struggled tonight whether or not to add this person to the list. but i decided in the end that enough is enough. so tonight we're adding a man by the name of steven colbert to the list. now, at first i must admit hyde forgotten who steven colbert is. colbert? really? the t is silent. stephen colbert, apparently, my team of p.r. professionals actually tell me i have been on mr. colbert's show but i have no memory of that. anyway, a couple of weeks ago i put sean hannity on the ridiculist because a clip he showed of me which changed the meaning of what i said. mr. colbert took issue and accused me of copying him. he went so far as to create something called the absurd you chart just to put me o

colbert? really? you're sure. the t is silent. stephen colbert, apparently. my team of p.r.ave been on mr. colbert's show but i have no memory of that. i put sean hannity on the the ridiculist a clip of me on air which was edited to change what i said. mr. colbert took issue and accused me of copying him. he went so far as to create something called the absurd you chart just to put me on it. look. >> you, sir, are nothing but a thief! because your segment, the ridiculist, is a clear ripoff of my on notice board. and for stealing my idea, i'm putting you and your ridiculis on my absurdu chart. >> words hurt, mr. colbert. words hurt. the idea that i'm copying you is redonculous. i cannot believe it you of all people say i am copying you when in fact, sir, that's right, sir, i'm going there, it has been you who has been koipg me for years. that's right. i said it. i you exhibit a. here you are on the cover of the current issue of "outside" magazine. like you ever go outside. but oh, wow, where could you have come up with the idea of being on the cover of "outside" magazine. cou

everybody is a member of colbert superpac and if you are not go to colbert superpac.com. we will send an e-mail or go to superpac and click on, i stand for, and that will take to you a page where you can write in what you stand for and we'll have those results next week, okay? sound like a good idea? (cheers and applause) >> great idea, great idea. >> stephen: now okay. now once i figure out what i stand for what do the pacs do? >> well, one of the things once you have money that you are raising very well and you figure out what you stand for, you want to communicate what your message is. >> stephen: i want to turn that money into speech. >> you want to turn that money into speech whether it is candidate speech, a person speaking or television ads which are an effective means of communicating your message and i would suggest, if i were advising you-- . >> stephen: are you advising me? >> no, i think i'm going to keep my day job, thank you. >> stephen: okay, all right. if you were advising me what would you advise? >> i would put together some ads that represent what you w

what is stephen colbert really doing?a while on his show, he's been taking on the ever-loosening rules on campaign finance, aiming his jokes at a supreme court ruling last year that opened the doors for more corporate donation to campaigns. now in typical colbert fashion, he's parodying the system by seemingly joining it. >> ladies and gentlemen, i am sorry to say we won! i am a super pac and so can you. >> reporter: in character as always, stephen colbert jumps into the mind-numbing world of campaign finance. the federal election commission gives the okay for the comedian to form his own so-called super pac, a political action committee that will be able to raise and spend unlimited money on ads for the 2012 campaign. it's part of colbert's ongoing satire, poking fun at last year's supreme court ruling that allowed corporations to spend whatever they want on elections. >> i don't know about you, but i do not expect limits on my free speech. [ cheers ] >> i don't know about you, but i do not accept the status quo. [ cheer

[laughter] this is "the colbert report." captioning sponsored by comedy central ["the colbert report" theme music playing] [cheers and applause] thank you very much. [cheers and applause] [crowd channeling stephen] --] crowd chanting stephen] welcome to the report. good to have you with us. please sit down. [cheers and applause] i know you are excited. the holidays are coming up. folks, monday is july fourth, named for our four fathers: george. benjamin, thomas, and ringo. [laughter] i always check my calendar to find out what day it falls on, and this year, it's on july 4th. wow, feels like it's getting earlier and earlier every year. there are so many great traditions. of course, every year, i take the kids out and we cut down an american flagpole. take it home, put it up, and decorate it with flags. [laughter] not everyone loves america like i do. i'm sad to say. so unfortunately it's time once again for 4th of july under attack! [cheers and applause] little known factoid: they're called roman candles because jesus stole

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i'll be on the upcoming stephen colbert, "the colbert report," short shortly.ou watch. tell everybody on gawker to watch. >> yes. >> let's talk about president obama. a light in a moment news conference this week when he said congress could learn a lesson from his school-aged daughters about how to meet a deadline to reduce the deficit. but that there was a problem. why don't you listen to this. >> malia and sasha generally finish their homework a day ahead of time. malia's 13, sasha's 10. it is impressive. they don't wait until the night before. they're not pulling all-nighters. [ laughter ] >> they're -- they're 13 and 10. >> all right. so did he get ahead of himself on malia's age? >> he -- he did. she's actually only 12. she's turning 13 next week. these moments when obama ad libs about his family, he's previously referred to milia's growth spurt and a test she took when he was talking about education, they're interesting moments because we see a little of how obama reconciles his private and personal lives, that he does keep his daughters away from cameras

what made you want to work with stephen colbert recording artist?e, malleable. >> stephen: i want you to make me the next bob seeger. >> all right staoerpblgts on three, name your favorite bob seeger song. ready? >> okay one, two, three. >> two is on my mind. >> stephen: all of them. which what is not to love? >> i like them. >> stephen: born in kathmandu, a little too tall, could have used a few pounds. any time you want to jump in. night moves. ♪ night moves, he got the fire down below ♪ ♪ rock 'n' roll never forgets. ♪ ♪ down on main street. ♪ hollywood nights those hollywood hills. ♪ we've got tonight who needs tomorrow. >> you are familiar with his catalog. >> stephen:. ♪ i got that old time rock 'n' roll that kind of music just soojs the soul ♪ ♪ who wants to go to fire lake. >> i haven't heard fire lake in a while ♪ like a rock. clearly jack liked what he heard. tune in tomorrow as i close the deal and land my big record contract. i love to watch her strut. in the dramatic another part of stephen colbert presents 2001 and wun a rock odyssey.

colbert comes to washington to make a point about campaign finance regulation. today comedian stephen colbert won approval from the federal election commission to start his own political action committee. the colbert super pac will allow the tv host to raise unlimited cash from conformations and individuals. the recent supreme court ruling allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections. >> some people have cynically asked if this some kind of joke? i for one don't think that participating in democracy is a joke. i don't think that wanting to know what the rules are is a joke. >> the cash will be used to support or oppose candidates in the 2012 elections. the commission also said colbert can use his tv show's resources to boost his pac but he has to disclose some of the major expenses as contributions from the show's corporate owners. >>> a zero tolerance law is about to go into effect in virginia. shawn yancy has that and more on your fox 5 top five. >> up first tonight you might be surprised to hear d.c. drivers are on board with red light

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i'm very glad that you played that stephen colbert thing.f -- that was sort of the best new thing in the world today among our staff. that was amazing to see him out of character. >> yeah. i saw it today, i thought we've got to throw it right in the show. >> yeah, it was great. thanks, lawrence. and thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. this is one of those days in news and politics where it simultaneously feels like nothing is happening at all. after all, again today, congress still can't decide whether or not to destroy the economy. still working on making a decision on that one.

the very next night after that aired, it was the colbert report's turn.ere's stephen going after me for not asking a guest about his most noticeable trait. >> no, don, ask him about being a vampire. you see the little teeth right there, those are vampire teeth. ask him, ask him. forget it. i know what to do. come on. let's go. taxi. go. >> and thousands of people milling around, shops open. none of that is happening now. >> sanjay, thank you very much. stay safe out there. much more of the flooding coming up. >> excuse me, excuse me. >> stephen colbert, what are you doing here? >> don, i have a question to ask you. >> i am in in the middle of a broadcast. >> who isn't. hold on, and jay. did you or did you not interview a man who foreclosed on a bank? >> yes. >> did you not notice that he was vampire? >> stephen, i did notice when he starred talking that he had sharp teeth. >> at no point did your journalistic instincts click in and say hey, maybe that's a more interesting story? >> it wasn't about his lifestyle. it's about a bank. >> excuse me. i didn't r

why is colbert doing this, ryan? >> evening it's part of an elaborate ruse on the commission to poke fun on some of the lack campaign finance regulations that have come up and sort of been an issue in recent months. it's something that a lot of -- you know, some of the good government groups are very concerned about. the implications this decision could have for other politicians. you have a number of politicians who have pacs and they also have their own programming on fox news. you have sarah palin, karl rove who's constantly talking about their super papac on his progra. >> what does this tell us about campaign finance law in a post citizens united world? >> well, i think there's a lot of good questions that sort of come up because of citizens united. the fec has come under criticism because a lot of people don't think it's enforcing to a great extent. it's not enough disclosures. i think this sort of poked fun at the situation and brought it to a larger audience. this is something the fec typically never has anyw