Colbert for President! Mercer for Prime Minister! MTV too

Stephen T Colbert is a Facebook phenomenon. At 6:29 p.m. Eastern time today, a Facebook group “1,000,000 Strong for Stephen T Colbert” had 922,983 members. This group has grown from nothing to nearly 1 million in just over a week.

Colbert, the satirical host of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, says he is running for president, but only in South Carolina. He is apparently seeking the nomination of both the Republican and Democratic parties. If that isn’t thumbing your nose at the whole political process, I don’t know what is.

Whether you take him seriously or not, there are nearly a million people who are joining him for the ride. I would expect that number to grow higher. He’s only just started. I jumped on the bandwagon too. I’m not sure what the count was at that time. It was earlier today, only a few hours ago really, and I think he was around 850,000.

If you want to jump on the bandwagon too, you have to be on Facebook to join the 1,000,000 Strong group. You can also sign a petition to support Colbert, and the other thing you can do to support him is vote for him in this online presidential poll.

Whatever you think about Colbert, he is quite funny. I don’t think he could do a worse job than the current president (who could?) and I think he’d do a better job than any of the current crop of Republican and Democratic candidates. It really says something about the state of politics in the U.S. when a joke candidate (or is he?) can command this kind of attention.

His “campaign” may run afoul of federal election laws in the U.S., but apparently only if someone complains. Don’t be surprised if someone does. I’m sure all the candidates are really pissed about Colbert stealing everyone’s thunder and overshadowing their petty bickering. On the outside the press will likely see the candidates laughing about it all good naturedly, but inside, they’re seething and they’d like to shove an icepick between his ribs. Mr. Colbert, I’d like to suggest that if you interview any candidates, you do it remotely, or have a cage to protect you.

Damn you Americans are lucky for having Colbert running. I wish we had someone like him as an option in Canada. Hmmm. Wait. We do. Rick Mercer! Yes! I wonder if I could get a million people to support him for Prime Minister here? Worth a shot!

There is a group Rick Mercer for Prime Minister of Canada. Please support it! I joined that one too, but it’s only at around 24,843. Multiply that by 10 (as we usually do in Canada) and that gives an equivalent U.S. group of 248,000. He’s got a ways to go, compared to Colbert, but he can do it. And for those Americans who don’t know who Rick Mercer is, he’s kind of the Canadian equivalent of Colbert, sort of. They’re both hilarious.

Me on MTV?

On another note, I had a good laugh yesterday when I discovered that my post on Finger Eleven grabbed the attention of MTV. Yes, believe it or not. What made me laugh is that the writer focused on my comment that I wouldn’t have know Finger Eleven from a bunch of bums on the street.

I shouldn’t be surprised but sometimes I’m really am when I find out who is reading my blog or looking at my sites. When you’re writing these things you have a vague idea who your audience is, so it’s interesting when they comment on what you’re doing.