Though Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert intended to restore sanity with Saturday’s rally, a touch of the insane was present throughout Washington, D.C. as thousands of people flocked to the nation’s capital, sporting costumes, carrying signs and swarming the National Mall in the name of rationality and moderation.
The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear was launched as a reaction to events such as Glenn Beck’s Rally to Restore Honor, which featured conservative speakers and capitalized on the anger toward the current government that is often associated with the Tea Party movement. However, neither Stewart nor Colbert made any sort of political commentary or endorsed a candidate for office, instead advocating bipartisanship.
They called on the moderates of America to assemble, marketing their event on its Facebook page as being for “the people who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive, and terrible for your throat; who feel that the loudest voices shouldn’t be the only ones that get heard; and who believe that the only time it’s appropriate to draw a Hitler mustache on someone is when that person is actually Hitler.” They asked the reasonable people of middle America to show their colors, rather than having their voices drowned out by the shouting of those on either end of the political spectrum.
Signs seen on the mall ranged from political messages, to calls for rationality to ironic slogans mocking protest signs altogether. But although the rally was intended to be bipartisan, those who were willing to brave the crowded Metro system to stand in a throng of tens of thousands tended to be those with strong political opinions, a majority of which were liberal. Large sectors of the crowd were occupied by people who seemed far from moderate.
Although the intention of the rally may not have been entirely realized, with political messages flying at all times, what resulted may have been even better. They may not have endorsed a political message, but Stewart and Colbert inspired Americans to come out in hordes in order to show that, although they may be silent, they are certainly not apathetic.
In the run-up to the midterm elections, the rally mobilized people of all demographics to make sure their voices are heard, even if, or perhaps especially if, they don’t believe in shouting. Encouraging people to get to the polls on Tuesday, whether that was the goal or not, is an effect that has the potential to have a huge impact on the results of the election. Regardless of how people vote, getting them out to the polls and increasing political awareness is an admirable achievement.
Stewart and Colbert’s frustrations seemed to be more directed at the mass media than at any particular political group. In his closing speech, Stewart called out the flaws of the mainstream media outlets, which often give far more attention to those on the extremes than those in the middle. He said, “The press can hold its magnifying glass up to our problems and illuminate problems heretofore unseen, or it can use its magnifying glass to light ants on fire, and then perhaps host a week of shows on the sudden, unexpected dangerous-flaming-ant epidemic. If we amplify everything, we hear nothing.”
Stewart’s assessment is absolutely right. The extreme division and polarization that are often portrayed by the mass media are largely a fringe phenomenon and have nothing to do with the majority of the American population &- a majority that is rational, reasonable and willing to listen. Many news organizations have failed the American public by failing to reflect this, instead focusing on stories that will garner the most extreme reaction.
It is a sad commentary on the state of the media that so many rely on comedians rather than professional journalists for their news. But it is not surprising when Stewart and Colbert seem more in touch with the state of the nation than most news anchors.
Whether or not the rally lived up to Stewart and Colbert’s intentions, the overall message was expressed loud and clear, and the results were encouraging. The Rally to Restore Sanity and or/Fear showed that although there will always be people on the margins, the best things are accomplished through cooperation and rational thinking. And no matter what we see on the evening news, most Americans still live by those qualities.
In his speech, Stewart said, “Impossible things get done every day that are only made possible by the little, reasonable compromises.” The rally encouraged not only political engagement, but this spirit of compromise that makes progress possible.
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