My morning routine: stumble around for forty-five minutes employing my patented life-saving shortcuts. Number one is scrambling eggs in the microwave but only for forty-seven seconds. Any more and they’ve got the consistency of tires. Then, a coupla meds, hopefully avoiding the sort of fog where I might take today’s meds, promptly forget and then take tomorrow’s. Make coffee. Get cookies. (Think guiltily about maybe weighing in at Weight Watchers. Vow to think about salad later. Stop thinking. “Pivot” thoughts with the dexterity of a presidential candidate.)
Then my favorite part of the day: catch up on last night’s late night shows. First is always the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In the past year, it’s become one of the funniest, most distinctive and original late night shows in television history. So like always, this morning I settled in to watch, but today after twenty minutes I was launched across the room. What accounts for this miraculous burst of uncharacteristic morning alacrity?
You probably know people who are abstaining from voting for president this year. In good conscience, they refuse to cast a vote for someone they can’t morally support. Even though I disagree, I grudgingly understand and respect the point of view. But it just doesn’t sit right. Every person who doesn’t vote leaves a vote for the opposition unanswered. So how do you reply? Last night, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart responded with a ten-minute hybrid Broadway/Vaudeville comedy spectacular. It’s got musical numbers, a miniature Suffragette ragamuffin, spit takes, spit takes, Hamilton, the Voting Rights Act, a chorus and an unbeatable argument for using your voice and casting your vote.