Colbert vs NASA: Congressional ally

by Ben Meyerson

Faux-pundit Stephen Colbert's fans are a notoriously active bunch, influencing everything from a Hungarian bridge to Wikipedia at the host's command.

Colbert's latest effort aimed to put the Comedy Central host where no late-night funnyman has gone before - space.

The Colbert Nation's fans overwhelmed NASA's Website in a recent poll to name a room in the international space station, with 230,539 votes for "Colbert" trouncing its closest competitor, "Serenity" by a margin of more than 40,000.

But after the votes were counted, NASA said the poll was nonbinding, and reserved the right to pick any name from the top vote-getters, possibly disregarding the rightful winner. Rumors floated that Colbert's name might be used for a space toilet.

And the plot has just thickened - Congress got involved this week.

Well, maybe just one congressman - Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), an early participant in The Colbert Report's "Better Know a District" segment, and a member of the House subcommittee that controls NASA's funding.

"NASA decided to hold an election to name its new room at the international space station and the clear winner is Stephen Colbert," Fattah wrote in a statement. "The people have spoken, and Stephen Colbert won it fair and square - even if his campaign was a bit over the top."

(Photo above of Rep. Chaka Fattah, right, watching a woman in his district receive discounted heating oil from Joseph P. Kennedy II, chairman and president of Citizens Energy Corporation, as part of the CITGO-Venezuela heating oil program. (AP photo by Matt Rourke)

Always willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, Comedy Central's blog promptly mocked Fattah's use of time.

"This is obviously serious business, which is why it makes complete sense for a US Congressperson to intervene," blogger Matt Tobey wrote.

In an exclusive interview with The Swamp, Fattah defended his statement.

"Funding for space exploration is something where getting the public's interest is challenging, and having Colbert would bring interest to NASA's program," Fattah said. "Over a quarter of a million people or so came online to chime in on the naming question ... It just shows what happens when you reach outside the normal circles."

Fattah said he's not planning any further action with NASA and hasn't contacted any officials personally, but the power of the purse is an influential thing.

He was adamant in his statement, though, that it wasn't about funding, but simply about real American values.

"This is not about dollars, but it's got to make sense to the American people," Fattah said. "We insist on democracy in orbit."