Stephen Colbert grew up reading and loving Garry Trudeau's comic strip, "Doonesbury". He came to Alpha House (2013) through Executive Producer Jonathan Alter, whose wife, Emily Lazar, is a co-executive producer of The Colbert Report (2005).
The word "meme" is derived from ancient Greek but British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined the modern usage in his book, "The Selfish Gene". He described a meme as a "unit of cultural transmission".
The New York Times reported in 2012 that Senator Chuck Schumer's match making had led to nearly a dozen marriage among staff and former staff.
Politicians often "evolve" on issues, as President Barack Obama says he did on gay marriage. In this case, Gil John (John Goodman) is trying to pander to the Tea Party voters who are likely to turn out in significant numbers in the North Carolina Republican Senate primary.
Earlier in his career, the Rev. Al Sharpton often injected himself into tense racial situations was accused of "playing the race card". When he was faced with accusations of sexual harassment from Anita Hill in 1991, Clarence Thomas said at his Supreme Court confirmation hearings that he was a victim of "a high tech lynching".