Toby Keith Uncomfortable on The Colbert Report

When watching The Colbert Report last night when host Stephen Colbert interviewed country music star Toby Keith, a part of me felt bad for both parties involved. I felt bad for Stephen because of Keith's ignunce (yes, I meant to spell it as such) and I felt bad for Keith, well, for the same thing.

At the start of the interview, Colbert offered Keith a water bottle as a gift and Keith threw it. I don't know if it was a sad attempt at humor, he was just in the mood to throw something, or if he was, for lack of a better word, being a... jerk. But, that wasn't even close to being the worst part of the interview. At one point, Keith even gave a nervous chuckle and said, "I don't know if I can take anything you say seriously." Throughout the interview, Keith seemed utterly confused on whether Colbert was being frank or facetious. It was quite troubling to watch. Colbert probably felt like he was speaking to a brick wall. Keith probably didn't know what in the heck he was speaking to. The writers had to of been laughing every second of the way, having fooled a guest in such a manner.

Keith spoke about how he had recently gone to Afghanistan and things are going well there. This is reminiscent of Senator John McCain's recent remarks about how well Iraq is going following his trip there. He later refuted his own remarks. What, Toby, do you think they were going to place you at the center of a combat zone? No, I don't think so. You were taken to the neverneverland of Afghanistan (if there ever was such a thing). That'd be like me being taken to Louisiana following the Katrina disaster, but taken to a spot that wasn't hit very hard (ala not New Orleans) and then coming back and saying, "Well, I just went to Louisiana and things are tip-top shape."

Colbert asked Keith about the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines and if he wished to issue an apology toward her. He responded with a nervous, "Who?" followed by, "I won't apologize for being patriotic. Now, can we get back to the CD?" Yeah, that's how most of the interview ensued. Colbert was as quick as a cheetah (as usual). Keith was slower than a sloth (as usual). The combination of the two made for a unique and awkward juxtaposition, even more so than the Letterman/Oprah-Uma bit at the Oscar's.