So by now everyone out there has heard of this Stephen Colbert gentleman, right? He’s the guy with the swooping eagles and the American flags. He stands up to bears, and stands up for Doritos.

Alright, now that we’re all on the same page, how about we try something new? Something interactive!

Quick, by a show of hands, who out there thinks that Stephen Colbert — the person from the teevee — is a fictional character whose conservative viewpoints are exaggerated for comedic effect?

Keep ’em up!

Now look around you. Apparently, unless you’re at a stop on the Glenn Beck Comedy Tour or, I don’t know, Rick Santorum’s house all the hands are up. Otherwise, everyone’s just scratching his head…all confused-like.

Why? Well, here’s the science!

(From a study conducted by researchers at The Ohio State University)

Using data from an experiment, we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert’s political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism.

Jiminy Christmas! Did you see what they said? They said the wingnuts don’t realize Colbert is a character! There’s a huge chunk of people — folks who can be separated by political ideology — who think it’s not an act. They think Lou Dobbs + Bill O’Reilly = Stephen Colbert!

Nevermind that Colbert himself told 1,000-year-old sarcophagus Morley Safer that he doesn’t even let his own kids watch the show because he doesn’t want them to confuse the character he plays on TV with their actual dad:

“It’s just like a pure silly thing. But you know, I truck in insincerity. With a very straight face, I say things I don’t believe,” Colbert tells Safer. “Kids can’t understand irony or sarcasm, and I don’t want them to perceive me as insincere,” Colbert says, “Because one night, I’ll be putting them to bed and I’ll say … ‘I love you, honey.’ And they’ll say, ‘I get it. Very dry, Dad. That’s good stuff,'” jokes Colbert.

Ha ha, very dry indeed. But guess what, Stephen Colbert. Apparently kids aren’t the only ones who don’t understand irony or sarcasm.