For the office folks (and others) here's a transcript of Colbert's The Word on Lieberman. Please forgive my misspellings, and feel free to correct them in the comments.
. . . Anyway, I saw this commercial. It's a great ad featuring my favorite Democrat, Senator Joe Lieberman. Something about the ad really made him seem presidential [Lamont ad where Lieberman morphs in to Pres. Bush]. It turns out I was wrong. It was an ad for Lieberman's opponent in the Democratic primary: some angry, leftist, millionaire cable executive named Ned Lamont. And this Lamont person has undertaken a vicious attack on Lieberman's character that I'd call blatantly partisan, were they not in the same party.
What's Ned's problem with Senator Lieberman? One tiny, insignificant issue: the war in Iraq. Lieberman supports the President, and the President has supported Lieberman right back [The Kiss!]. You know, Mr. Bush has such soft hands, I can only imagine what his lips are like.
Evidently, low approval ratings can be contracted through saliva, because Lieberman now could actually lose the Democratic primary in August. Well, when I look for analysis of internal Democratic party politics, I go straight to conservative columnist David Brooks.
Here's his take on the Lieberman-Lamont race. Quote "what's happening to Lieberman can only be described as a Liberal inquisition." He's right. It is the only word that could possibly describe it, and therefore, it's tonight's word.
INQUISITION
Folks, incumbent senators win back their seats 80% of the time [20% of the time have sex scandals]; and they're almost never challenged in the primaries. So listen up Connecticut Democrats -- you made your choice back in 1988. You chose Joe Lieberman [and acid wash jeans].
You don't get to have another primary 18 years later. You can't just say "oops, I made a mistake." [Apparently, neither can Lieberman]. You know, you may not agree with some or all of his positions, but you have to wait until a Republican beats Lieberman, and then 6 or 12 or 18 years later, you can elect a totally different Democrat [Davey Lieberman in '24!].
Joe Lieberman still has a lot to offer [To Republicans]. He's a major political figure on the national stage. He was the Democratic Vice Presidential national candidate [An inconvenient truth]. He was on the 2000 ticket and in 2004, he made an impressive showing in New Hampshire [Lieberman: we are in a three way split decision for 3rd place]. You cannot stop Joementum!
This is a man who was tied with other men who almost got nominated to lose the general election, and now Democrats are going to just kick him to the curb? [At the corner of Bland and Adequate] Well folks, if a jihad like this can happen to Joe Lieberman, it can happen to any Democrat [who tongues the President].
And if it does happen to Lieberman, soon you'll have members of Congress from all over the country facing primaries, having to defend their records. And folks, there's only one word for that: Inquisition [Democracy]. And that's The Word. We'll be right back.