While Sarah Palin, who apparently still exists, may have spoiled the surprise a little while back, it’s still good to hear confirmation that Stephen Colbert will be taking his act to Baghdad.  Here’s a snippet from the Variety.com report:

Stephen Colbert will broadcast four shows next week from Baghdad, where he says he’ll be “Bob Hoping” it for the troops.

 …

 The series of shows, each to be taped in front of an audience of about 450 troops, have been dubbed “Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando.” It’s the first time anyone has broadcast from Iraq for a USO tour.

You know, this is the first time in a minute that something genuinely interesting has happened in television.  Colbert’s one of the few fellows on the small screen who can bring the funny on a consistent basis, and throwing him in the midst of this sort of situation can only heighten the comic tension.  It looks, however, as if it’s not going to be an all-out laugher from start to finish.

Colbert said he feels a “special guilt” and responsibility to keep the soldiers’ story alive because of the political nature of his program. The comedian is also guest editing next week’s issue of Newsweek magazine. (A mock-up sits on his desk with the question “Remember Iraq?” splashed across the cover.)

“I don’t want to forget that people are struggling through the things that I sometimes make jokes about,” he said.

As much I’d like to jump on that comment and launch a curse-laden mini-rant in his direction, I can actually see his point.  It might be a byproduct of the fact that Maury is the closest thing to news I watch on a daily basis, but I plumb forgot there was a war going on.  With all the talk of recessions, depressions and piggy sniffles, that dusty clusterfuck clean went out of my mind.