Oh Stephen Colbert, how do I love thee? And how much did I miss you in the ten weeks that you weren't there to tuck me in at night? I know that last week we ran a poll about whether you prefer The Daily Show or The Colbert Report, and while I am still a fan of Jon Stewart's three-ring circus, I'm shocked that more people aren't as head-over-heels for Colbert's unabashedly (and unintentionally) gay-friendly Insano-Pundit as I am.

To demonstrate why I love Stephen so much, I'm posting two clips from last night's episode. How could you not love Colbert screaming "F*CK YOU OLD MAN" at hatemonger Bill O'Reilly (whom we lovingly profiled a few weeks back) through a mouthful of lo mein? Watch and learn:

Or how about a discussion of the political race in which Mike Huckabee's head is Photoshopped onto gay photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's legendary self-portrait (whip and all)?

It's not just his irrational fear of bears, or his love of monkeys on the lam, or even his impeccably-tailored suits and JC Penney Catalog hair. In fact, I haven't figured out exactly what it is about Stephen that I love so much, so I'm dating this post's headline with the expectation that I'll return to the topic ... because writers or no, he's bound to give me good reason to.