Brian Haas

bhaas@tennessean.com

Tennessee's death penalty is making national headlines as Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert Wednesday night took on the secrecy behind the state's lethal injection process.

In "The Colbert Report's" segment called "The Word," Colbert mocks Tennessee's unwillingness to reveal the source of its lethal injection drugs. Relying heavily on The Tennessean's coverage of the death penalty, he jokingly brought up the prospect of a "Soylent Green"-like conspiracy.

"It's great because Americans support the death penalty but don't want to know how the sausage is made," he deadpanned. "By the way, until we know how they're killing people, I'd stay away from Tennessee sausage."