Stephen Colbert should not be underestimated.

Misunderestimate Stephen Colbert at your peril. Just because he is an unassuming, bespectacled physical specimen whose business cards may read “TV comedian” is no reason to dismiss him as a lightweight funnyman. Since the very night he launched his own series on Comedy Central in 2005, Colbert has thrown some vicious elbows, and demonstrated a bravura that dares his enemies to, in paraphrasing his ironic hero George W. Bush, bring it on.

As both a humorist and a political and media commentator, Colbert is a stealth bomber. A gladiator of mockery. A comedy Rambo. He’s the most dangerous satirist out there right now, and neither the writers’ strike nor his failure to get on the presidential-primary ballot in his native state of South Carolina will stall his advance for long.

In fact, Colbert has reached such revered status at this juncture that even in a period of relative inactivity — not doing a show, not running for president — people are talking about him, wondering about him, and waiting for his next move. He’s the Al Gore of Comedy Central: even if he can’t or won’t run for office, he is nevertheless building anticipation. (Can a Nobel Prize be far off?)

This writers strike is completely ruining my end of the day ritual of laughing at all of the news items that made me cringe earlier in the day.

I rely on Colbert and Stewart to make the horrifying funny. Now when i go to bed in my flannel liberal pajamas I have to leave my Ted Kennedy nightlight on so that I don't have nightmares.

I hate to do this again, but I have to give a tip of my hat to Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, because they posted this article before me. Of course I would like to point out that they are like four hours ahead of Alaskan time. Not really fair.