After the take-no-prisoners Democratic Caucus chairman advised freshman members to steer clear of the cheeky late-night "Colbert Report," the comedian set his sights on the Illinois Democrat this week.

"There is a new witch hunt in Washington," Colbert said on his Comedy Central show. "First they went after Scooter Libby. Then it was Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. And now the Democratic leadership has unleashed a vicious attack on everything America holds dear: me."

He was just warming up.

"I know what you're thinking, nation. Why would [Emanuel], whose erotic adventures taught a generation the elusive art of sensual love, return from space to counsel freshman congressmen?" said Colbert, making an allusion to a television series from the 1990s.

"That would not make sense, but this is a different Emanuel. This is Democratic congressman Rahm Emanuel, the man who led the Democratic takeover of Congress last November. Apparently Emanuel, who has got a reputation as a bit of a tough guy, thinks my 'Better Know a District' series could threaten the Democratic stranglehold."

"The Colbert Report" is ostensibly doing profiles of all 435 House districts and interviewing their representatives. Emanuel would be correct in suggesting that the legislators could end up in risky territory. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., held his own this month as he joked his way through a debate on the merits of throwing kittens into a wood-chipper. "Sometimes the only thing you can do, you don't have a shovel, you don't have a garbage can, if there's a wood-chipper handy, then you're going to have to use the wood-chipper," Yarmuth deadpanned.

But Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., looked befuddled as he struggled to decipher Colbert debating him about Iraq and slavery in the United States.

Despite the political downside, a senior House Republican said the GOP has made no similar demand of its members to avoid Colbert. "We don't do edicts," he said. But, he added, "I don't think my wife would let me go on the Colbert show."