I’m not going to lie, I really didn’t want to write about Stephen Colbert because I knew that The Spectrum would cover it as a front page news story on Monday. Yes, it was amazing, but recounting all his jokes just will never be as funny as hearing them from the man himself. Every hilarious interjection and enlightening election comment, however, couldn’t compare to his main message: getting to the truth is a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Even if it makes them seek out a nacho-cheese sponsor.

After bounding up on stage to Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me,” Mr. Colbert proclaimed, “I am here to bring the truth! I’m going to bring it hot and bring it hard!” After screams of “I love you Stephen” died down, the man of the hour added, “Yes, that was a sexual metaphor.”

The sexy has indeed been brought back by the most unlikely of men–one whose sharp suit and spectacled visage speak of “truthiness” and “freem.” While many in the audience were there to see Colbert play his character, the one that challenges the ridiculousness of America’s politics and refers to the Peabody as the turducken of journalism awards, I was there to hear the real Colbert speak, the man who came from a small Carolina town, the man who is deathly afraid of bears, the man who rose up to become a national icon with his own television show. I wanted to hang on his every word to learn just how one becomes so successful, so funny, and so…right.

After being in my position at the magazine for a year, it is clear to me that doing what Mr. Colbert does is really freaking hard. Maybe bringing the fake news is sometimes easier than bringing to light hard hitting stories. There are legal issues and bureaucratic ways to go about things so you don’t step on anyone’s toes. Colbert gets to toss a release form in front of his eager guests, which pretty much says he may ridicule them, make false claims, and generally call their bullshit. Last Friday he eagerly announced that mostly all of them sign it. He wondered if they could even read, I mean why would they sign their dignity away for the sake of being on TV!?

Sadly, we have no magical forms at Generation, and getting the Stephen Colbert lauded truth out there has proven to be difficult. No one wants to get sued, no one wants to get in trouble for the potentiality of getting sued, and no one has the time or patience to wait until they…get sued.

Bringing the truth at a college magazine is usually easy. You talk to the right people and track down the correct facts, print them, and wait to see what happens. Around here, sometimes no one pays attention and instead they worry whether or not the “personals” were created “truthfully.” They are, thank you very much. But sometimes people do pay attention, and when this happens, when the facts are directed towards them, they don’t take things lightly.

We’ve covered our asses—even without something like Colbert’s magic release form. Let the truth be told, now, tomorrow, and always. Thanks, Stephen.