Somehow Stephen Colbert is the comedian we need in all the moments.
On the anniversary of Trump's GOP mob insurrection at our nation's capitol, Colbert opened his show doing what nothing else had been able to do that entire day: make me laugh about it. This January 6th was my youngest's 18th birthday, and was spent in a whirlwind of trying to make it amazing, in spite of his astute awareness of the political taint of the date that he'd always associate with it (thanks, MAGAts.) Add to that the ongoing pandemic/Omicron surge, which also meant he couldn't spend his big day with his friends doing anything fun (thanks, COVIDiots and Maskholes.)
Combine that with doing the work of this job — which I love, for which I'm grateful — but it means being immersed in reliving the moments of last year's horror, and the worry its anniversary might bring more violence as commemoration for still-free traitors, and lemme tell you, Jan. 6, 2022 was a day spent trying to tamp down tension and anxiety while trying to focus the joy that is the life of my 6'3"+ amazing youngest kid.
So, believe you me - watching Colbert's opening musical take-off on "Rent," entitled "Abhor-rent," let loose the bundle of nervous tension into peals of near-maniacal laughter that felt like medicine. That's what music is...that's what good comedy is, right? Medicine.
As an added bonus, of course his monologue was primo, too.
