double meaning, considering Colbert's fear of bears.[32] Colbert displays fear and suspicion of nearly any animal and is quick to declare they are "training" to attack humanity. He is also highly di

otion of an extensive range of fictional merchandising and products, including perfumes, sci-fi novels, medications, his own "man seed", and other products, all of which are either produced or endorsed by Colbert. He has also convinced his viewers, whom he addresses as "the Colbert Nation", to vote for him in various public naming polls: the mascot of the Saginaw Spirit, an Ontario Hockey League team, has been named after him (Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle).[28]
Colbert's character holds a recurring grudge against everything related to France and the French language. Ironically, he pronounces both his Irish[29] last name "Colbert" and the word "Report" in "The Colbert Report" with an elided "t" in accordance with French pronunciation. In an interview on NPR's "Fresh Air" Colbert acknowledged the pronunciation of report referring to the word "rapport": A close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other's feelings or ideas and communicate well.
Colbert's character has been described as a "caustic right-wing bully".[9] On the interview segment of the show, Colbert frequently attempts to nail his guest by using various rhetorical devices and fallacies to prove them wrong.[30] Despite his bluster, Colbert's character suffers from "arctophobia", the fear of bears, which he refers to as "giant, marauding, godless killing machines".[31] This bear phobia was inspired by Colbert's real-life fear of bears as a child.[30] Colbert refers to Bill O'Reilly as "Papa Bear", a title with a double meaning, considering Colbert's fear of bears.[32] Colbert displays fear and suspicion of nearly any animal and is quick to declare they are "training" to attack humanity. He is also highly distrustful of technology, particularly robots.[33] Over the months of May and June in 2007, Colbert begged Apple to give him a free iPhone, and finally received one in July. Once he received it, however, he claimed the phone knew so much about him that he had become virtually dependent on it, and that the iPhone itself was a threat.[33] Colbert was one of the first public figures to receive a pre-production iPad, which he used in a joke at the 2010 Grammys.
Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando[edit]
Main article: USO trip to Iraq


Drill sergeant SFC Chantz correcting PVT Colbert at Fort Jackson.
From June 7–9, 2009, Colbert filmed a series of four episodes for the troops in Baghdad, Iraq. He had a suit tailored for him in the Army Combat Uniform pattern and went through an abbreviated version of the Army's basic training regimen. On the first of the four episodes, Colbert had his head shaved on stage by General Ray Odierno who was jokingly "ordered" to do so by President Barack Obama, who appeared on the episode via a pre-recorded segment from the White House.
Bears[edit]
Bears commonly appear in Colbert's ThreatDown segment. Colbert refers to them as soulless, godless, rampaging killing machines.
Truthiness[edit]
Main article: Truthiness
In "The Wørd" segment of the first episode of the Report, Colbert featured the term truthiness, defined as "the quality by which one purports to know something emotionally or instinctively, without regard to evidence or intellectual examination". Colbert said that, "I don't trust books, they're all fact, no heart. And that's exactly what's pulling our country apart today. Let's face it folks, we are a divided nation...between those who think with their head and those who know with their heart."[34] In December 2005, The New York Times selected truthiness as one of

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