http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/08/AR2010090807955.htmlA hot dog vending cart was wheeled back and forth. Cocktail waitress hurried past with trays full of beer. Vice President Joe Biden led New York Yankees great Yogi Berra by the arm.
Such was the bizarre, red-white-and-blue circus backstage at comedian Stephen Colbert's celebration of U.S. troops' return from Iraq. The Comedy Central host pulled out all the stops Wednesday night for the first part of his two-episode special, "Been There: Won That: The Returnification of the American-Do Troopscape."
It was a somewhat rare show of exultation to what President Barack Obama has called the end of combat operations in Iraq. Some 50,000 troops remain in the Middle East country, where local forces have a tenuous hold on security. Fighting in Afghanistan also continues.
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The show's studio audience was packed with active troops and veterans, whom Colbert lavished with hot dogs, beer and ice cream. Biden played the part of hot dog vendor. Gen. Ray Odierno, the outgoing U.S. military commander in Iraq, donned a toupee of Colbert's hair. (Odierno famously shaved Colbert's head - on Obama's orders - when the comedian broadcast four episodes of "The Report" from Baghdad last year.)
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Before morphing into character, Colbert took questions from his uniformed audience. Asked to which political party he was registered, he replied, "None of your business," before confessing he wasn't registered to any party. Asked if he voted for Obama in 2008, he replied, "Are there any other questions?"