Stephen Colbert's Address to the Graduates

Stephen Colbert's Address to the Graduates

By Stephen Colbert, AlterNet. Posted June 5, 2006.

'Outsourcing is so easy that I had this speech today written by a young man named Panjeeb from Bangalore.'

The following is the full transcript of Stephen Colbert's June 3, 2006 Commencement Address at Knox College in Galesburg,

Illinois.

Stephen Colbert [Pours water into a glass at the podium, splashes face and back of neck]...

Thank you. Thank you very much. First of all, I'm facing a little bit of a conundrum here. My name is Stephen Colbert, but I

actually play someone on television named Stephen Colbert, who looks like me, and who talks like me, but who says things

with a straight face he doesn't mean. And I'm not sure which one of us you invited to speak here today. So, with your

indulgence, I'm just going to talk and I'm going to let you figure it out.

I wanted to say something about the Umberto Eco quote that was used earlier from The Name of the Rose. That book

fascinated me because in it these people are killed for trying to get out of this library a book about comedy, Aristotle's

Commentary on Comedy. And what's interesting to me is one of the arguments they have in the book is that comedy is bad

because nowhere in the New Testament does it say that Jesus laughed. It says Jesus wept, but never did he laugh.

But, I don't think you actually have to say it for us to imagine Jesus laughing. In the famous episode where there's a storm

on the lake, and the fishermen are out there. And they see Jesus on the shore, and Jesus walks across the stormy waters to

the boat. And St. Peter thinks, "I can do this. I can do this. He keeps telling us to have faith and we can do anything. I can do

this." So he steps out of the boat and he walks for -- I don't know, it doesn't say -- a few feet, without sinking into the

waves. But then he looks down, and he sees how stormy the seas are. He loses his faith and he begins to sink. And Jesus

hot-foots it over and pulls him from the waves and says, "Oh you of little faith." I can't imagine Jesus wasn't suppressing a

laugh. How hilarious must it have been to watch Peter -- like Wile E. Coyote -- take three steps on the water and then sink

into the waves.

Well it's an honor to be giving your Commencement address here today at Knox College. I want to thank Mr. Podesta for

asking me two, two and a half years ago, was it? Something like that? We were in Aspen. You know… being people who go to

Aspen. He asked me if I would give a speech at Knox College, and I think it was the altitude, but I said yes. I'm very glad

that I did.

On a beautiful day like this I'm reminded of my own graduation 20 years ago, at Northwestern University. I didn't start

there, I finished there. On the graduation day, a beautiful day like this. We're all in our gowns. I go up on the podium to get

my leather folder with my diploma in it. And as I get it from the Dean, she leans in close to me and she smiles, and she says…

[train whistle] that's my ride, actually. I have got to get on that train, I'm sorry. [Heads off stage.] Evidently that happens a

lot here. …So, I'm getting my folder, and the Dean leans into me, shakes my hand and says, "I'm sorry." I have no idea what

she means. So I go back to my seat and I open it up. And, instead of having a diploma inside, there's a scrap -- a torn scrap

of paper -- that has scrawled on it, "See me." I kid you not.

Evidently I had an incomplete in an independent study that I had failed to complete. And I did not have enough credits. And,

let me tell you, when your whole family shows up and you get to have your picture taken with them -- and instead of holding

up your diploma, you hold the torn corner of a yellow legal pad -- that is a humbling experience. But eventually, I finished. I

got my credits and next year at Christmas time, they have mid-year graduation. And I went there to get my diploma then. They

said that I had an overdue library fine and they wouldn't give it to me again. And they eventually mailed it to me… I think. I'm

pretty sure I graduated from college.

But I guess the question is, why have a two-time commencement loser like me speak to you today? Well, one of the reasons

they already mentioned… I recovered from that slow start. And I was recently named by Time magazine one of the 100 Most

Influential People in the World! Yeah! Give it up for me! Basic cable… THE WORLD! I guess I have more fans in Sub-Saharan

Africa than I thought. I'm right here on the cover between Katie Couric and Bono. That's my little picture -- a sexy little

sandwich between those two.

But if you do the math, there are 100 Most Influential People in the World. There are 6.5 billion people in the world. That

means that today I am here representing 65 million people. That's as big as some countries. What country has about 65

million people? Iran? Iran has 65 million people. So, for all intents and purposes, I'm here representing Iran today. Don't

shoot.

But the best reason for me to come to speak at Knox College is that I attended Knox College. This is part of my personal

history that you will rarely see reported. Partly because the press doesn't do the proper research. But mostly because… it is

not true! I just made it up, so this moment would be more poignant for all of us. How great would it be if I could actually

come back here -- if I was coming back to my alma mater to be honored like this. I could share with you all my happy

memories that I spent here in… Galesburg, Illinois. Hanging out at the Seymour Hall, right? Seymour Hall? You know, all of us

alumni, we remember being at Seymour Hall, playing those drinking games. We played a drinking game called Lincoln-Douglas.

Great game. What you do is, you act out the Lincoln-Douglas debate and any time one of the guys mentions the Dred Scott

decision you have to chug a beer. Well, technically 3/5 of a beer. [groans from audience]

You DO have a good education! I wasn't sure if anybody was going to get that joke.

I soon learned that a frat house -- oops -- divided against itself cannot stand.

How can I forget cheering on the team -- the Knox College Knockers? The Prairie Fire. Seriously, the Prairie Fire. Your team

is named after something that can get you federal disaster relief. I assume the "Flash Floods" was taken.

Oh, yes, the memories are so fresh. It was as if it was just yesterday I made them up. And the history, you don't have to tell

me the history of Knox College. No, your Web site is very thorough. The college itself has long been known for its diversity. I

am myself a supporter of diversity. I myself have an interracial marriage. I am Irish and my wife is Scottish. But we work it

out. And it is fitting, most fitting, that I should speak at Knox College today because it was founded by abolitionists. And I

gotta say -- I'm going to go out on the limb here -- I believe slavery was wrong. No, I don't care who that upsets. I just hope

the mainstream media give me the credit for the courage it took to say that today. I know the blogosphere is just going to

explode tomorrow. But enough about me. if there can be enough about me.

Today is about you -- you who have worked so hard to pack your heads with learning until your skulls are all plump like --

sausage of knowledge. It's an apt metaphor, don't question it. But now your time at college is at an end. Now you are leaving

here. And this leads me to a question that just isn't asked enough at commencements. Why are you leaving here?

This seems like a very nice place. They have a lovely Web site. Besides, have you seen the world outside lately? They are

playing for KEEPS out there, folks. My God, I couldn't wait to get here today just so I could take a breather from the real

world. I don't know if they told you what's happened while you've matriculated here for the past four years. The world is

waiting for you people with a club. Unprecedented changes happening in the last four years. Like globalization. We now live

in a hyperconnected, global economic, outsourced society. Now there are positives and minuses here.
_________________
Le Mensonge peut courir un an, la vérité le rattrape en un jour, dit le sage Haoussa
Ma devise:
se SURPASSER ,ne JAMAIS ABDIQUER,TOUJOURS RESTER HUMBLE

And a positive is that globalization helps us understand and learn from otherwise foreign cultures. For example, I now know how to ask for a

Happy Meal in five different languages. In Paris, I'd like a "Repas Heureux" In Madrid a "Comida Feliz" In Calcutta, a

"Kushkana, hold the beef." In Tokyo, a "Happy Seto" And in Berlin, I can order what is perhaps the least happy-sounding

Happy Meal, a "Glugzig Malzeiht."

Also globalization, e-mail, cell phones interconnect our nations like never before. It is possible for even the most insulated

American to have friends from all over the world. For instance, I recently received an e-mail asking me to help a deposed

Nigerian prince who is looking for a business partner to recuperate his fortune. Thanks to the flexibility of global banking, a

Swiss bank account is ready and waiting for my share of his money. I know, because I just e-mailed him my Social Security

number.

Unfortunately for you job seekers, corporations searching for a better bottom line have moved many of their operations

overseas, whether it's a customer service operator, a power factory foreman, or an American flag manufacturer. They're

just as likely to be found in Shanghai as Omaha. In fact, outsourcing is so easy that I had this speech today written by a

young man named Panjeeb from Bangalore.

If you don't like the jokes, I assure you they were much funnier in Urdu…

And when you enter the workforce, you will find competition from those crossing our all-too-poorest borders. Now I know

you're all going to say, "Stephen, Stephen, immigrants built America." Yes, but here's the thing -- it's built now. I think it was

finished in the mid-70s sometime. At this point it's a touch-up and repair job. But thankfully Congress is acting and soon

English will be the official language of America. Because if we surrender the national anthem to Spanish, the next thing you

know, they'll be translating the Bible. God wrote it in English for a reason! So it could be taught in our public schools.

So we must build walls. A wall obviously across the entire southern border. That's the answer. That may not be enough --

maybe a moat in front of it, or a fire-pit. Maybe a flaming moat, filled with fire-proof crocodiles. And we should probably

wall off the northern border as well. Keep those Canadians with their socialized medicine and their skunky beer out. And

because immigrants can swim, we'll probably want to wall off the coasts as well. And while we're at it, we need to put up a

dome, in case they have catapults. And we'll punch some holes in it so we can breathe. Breathe free. It's time for illegal

immigrants to go -- right after they finish building those walls. Yes, yes, I agree with me.

There are so many challenges facing this next generation, and as they said earlier, you are up for these challenges. And I

agree, except that I don't think you are. I don't know if you're tough enough to handle this. You are the most coddled

generation in history. I belong to the last generation that did not have to be in a car seat. You had to be in car seats. I did

not have to wear a helmet when I rode my bike. You do. You have to wear helmets when you go swimming, right? In case you

bump your head against the side of the pool. Oh, by the way, I should have said, my speech today may contain some peanut

products.

My mother had 11 children: Jimmy, Eddie, Mary, Billy, Morgan, Tommy, Jay, Lou, Paul, Peter, Stephen. You may applaud my

mother's womb. Thank you, I'll let her know. She could never protect us the way you all have been protected. She couldn't

fit 11 car seats. She would just open the back of her Town & Country -- stack us like cord wood: four this way, four that

way. And she put crushed glass in the empty spaces to keep it steady. Then she would roll up all the windows in the winter

time and light up a cigarette. When I die I will not need to be embalmed, because as a child my mother hickory-smoked me.

I mean even these ceremonies are too safe. I mean this mortarboard… look, it's padded. It's padded everywhere. When I

graduated from college, we had the edges sharpened. When we threw ours up in the air, we knew some of us weren't coming

home.

But you have one thing that may save you, and that is your youth. This is your great strength. It is also why I hate and fear

you. Hear me out. It has been said that children are our future. But does that not also mean that we are their past? You are

here to replace us. I don't understand why we're here helping and honoring them. You do not see union workers holding

benefits for robots.

But you seem nice enough, so I'll try to give you some advice. First of all, when you go to apply for your first job, don't wear

these robes. Medieval garb does not instill confidence in future employers -- unless you're applying to be a scrivener. And if

someone does offer you a job, say yes. You can always quit later. Then at least you'll be one of the unemployed as opposed

to one of the never-employed. Nothing looks worse on a resumé than nothing.

So, say "yes." In fact, say "yes" as often as you can. When I was starting out in Chicago, doing improvisational theatre with

Second City and other places, there was really only one rule I was taught about improv. That was, "yes-and." In this case,

"yes-and" is a verb. To "yes-and." I yes-and, you yes-and, he, she or it yes-ands. And yes-anding means that when you go

onstage to improvise a scene with no script, you have no idea what's going to happen, maybe with someone you've never met

before. To build a scene, you have to accept. To build anything onstage, you have to accept what the other improviser

initiates on stage. They say you're doctors -- you're doctors. And then, you add to that: We're doctors and we're trapped in

an ice cave. That's the "-and." And then hopefully they "yes-and" you back. You have to keep your eyes open when you do

this. You have to be aware of what the other performer is offering you, so that you can agree and add to it. And through

these agreements, you can improvise a scene or a one-act play. And because, by following each other's lead, neither of you

are really in control. It's more of a mutual discovery than a solo adventure. What happens in a scene is often as much a

surprise to you as it is to the audience.

Well, you are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what's going to happen, often with

people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say "yes." And if you're lucky, you'll find

people who will say "yes" back.

Now will saying "yes" get you in trouble at times? Will saying "yes" lead you to doing some foolish things? Yes it will. But

don't be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the

ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because

cynics don't learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it

will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying "yes" begins things. Saying "yes" is how things grow. Saying

"yes" leads to knowledge. "Yes" is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say "yes."

And that's The Word.

I have two last pieces of advice. First, being pre-approved for a credit card does not mean you have to apply for it. And

lastly, the best career advice I can give you is to get your own TV show. It pays well, the hours are good, and you are

famous. And eventually some very nice people will give you a doctorate in fine arts for doing jack squat.

Congratulations to the class of 2006. Thank you for the honor of addressing you.
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/37144/
_________________
Le Mensonge peut courir un an, la vérité le rattrape en un jour, dit le sage Haoussa
Ma devise:
se SURPASSER ,ne JAMAIS ABDIQUER,TOUJOURS RESTER HUMBLE