A couple of years ago, Stephen Colbert, who was known then only as a contributor to Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, appeared on All Things Considered to discuss his forthcoming new program, The Colbert Report.
He said at the time, "It's going to be a program that, with its will toward justice, will slowly change the great ship of destiny."
Now, with the publication of his new book, I Am America (And So Can You!), Colbert tells Robert Siegel that "at this point, we've driven the great ship of destiny aground."
"I don't expect anyone to read this book. If they buy it, well, my job is done. I'm not a huge fan of books. I am a huge fan of sales," Colbert says.
Colbert takes on everything from old people and endangered animals in his new book.
The New York Times and economist Paul Krugman, Colbert says, had the "temerity" to release his book the same week as Colbert.
"I'm going to crush him. ... This is unconscionable and will not stand," Colbert says.
Colbert reads The New York Times, for which Krugman is a columnist, only because he has to understand what "the enemy" is doing.
"I call it 'the juice' because, like steroids, it makes me very angry and it shrinks my testicles. I understand that is one of the side effects of reading The New York Times is you lose your cojones," Colbert says.
He has equally strong opinions about National Public Radio.
"I'm on record as saying reality has a well-known liberal bias, and you guys are just another example of that," Colbert tells Siegel.
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