our political discourse these days is so perverse that when stephen colbert announced on his show last night that he is running for president, we see weird pieces like this show up on the website of the new york times:

How far Mr. Colbert is willing to go — and why exactly he is doing this, beyond stoking interest in his show and a new book, "I Am America (And So Can You)" — was not at all clear. He did not return messages left with various publicists this morning.

But assuming he is serious, what would Mr. Colbert have to do to get on the Democratic ballot in the South Carolina primary, which is expected to be held on Jan. 26?

i wouldn't be at all surprised if team colbert is honestly trying its best to get stephen's name on the ballot in south carolina. the joke becomes that much more powerful if south carolina voters can actually go into the ballot box in january and file a real vote for him. but... "assuming he is serious"?

update: forgot to mention possibly the most interesting detail in the story. the filing fee to get on the ballot for the democratic party in SC is $2,500. if you can't afford that, you can instead collect 3,000 signatures.

in contrast, the fee to get on the ballot for the republican party is $35,000. that really demonstrates the difference between the two parties.¶