In an effort to steal some of the thunder from conservative pundit Glenn Beck, who hosted the impressive Restoring Honor rally in Washington D.C., on August 28 that boasted more than half a million attendees, liberal satirists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have announced their intent to host rallies on the National Mall. According to the National Park Service, Comedy Central, the station for which Stewart and Colbert work, has applied for a permit to host an event at the Washington Monument on October 30.
Stewart and Colbert are reportedly hosting two dueling rallies simultaneously, serving as comedic foils of one another. Both events have Facebook pages and Twitter feeds calling upon people to RSVP, and the Comedy Central hosts are competing to have the larger audience. Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity has already received RSVPs from 100,000 of Stewart’s fans, while Colbert’s March to Keep Fear Alive has 40,000 confirmed attendees.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that Becks Restoring Honor rally was the inspiration for the comedians. After Mr. Becks gathering, someone mused on the Reddit.com site that maybe Stephen Colbert should host his own public event. The Huffington Post picked it up, a Facebook page sprang from nowhere, and the next thing you know, Comedy Central stars Stewart and Colbert were both announcing that they would host something important at some point. Then [on September 16], they made the final announcement: dueling rallies on the same day.
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The website for the Rally to Restore Sanity reads:
I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!
Who among us has not wanted to open their window and shout that at the top of their lungs?
Seriously, who?
Because we’re looking for those people. We’re looking 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. Or Charlie Chaplin in certain roles.
Are you one of those people? Excellent. Then we’d like you to join us in Washington, DC on October 30 a date of no significance whatsoever at the Daily Show’s “Rally to Restore Sanity.” Ours is a rally for the people who’ve been too busy to go to rallies, who actually have lives and families and jobs (or are looking for jobs) not so much the Silent Majority as the Busy Majority. If we had to sum up the political view of our participants in a single sentence… we couldn’t. That’s sort of the point.
Think of our event as Woodstock, but with the nudity and drugs replaced by respectful disagreement; the Million Man March, only a lot smaller, and a bit less of a sausage fest; or the Gathering of the Juggalos, but instead of throwing our feces at Tila Tequila, we’ll be actively *not* throwing our feces at Tila Tequila. Join us in the shadow of the Washington Monument. And bring your indoor voice. Or don’t. If you’d rather stay home, go to work, or drive your kids to soccer practice… Actually, please come anyway. Ask the sitter if she can stay a few extra hours, just this once. We’ll make it worth your while.
Colberts webpage describes the March to Keep Fear Alive as a force meant to counter the dark, optimistic forces trying to take away our fear.
Despite the comedic nature of the dueling events, the satire very clearly indicates Stewart’s and Colbert’s lack of understanding of the Restoring Honor rally, which was non-political and positive in its message. Celebrating American exceptionalism and heroes of all varieties, Restoring Honor called upon Americans to rediscover their faith. Stewart’s and Colbert’s attempts to make a mockery of the event underscore their disdain for American pride and individual spirituality.
On his television program, Glenn Beck has asserted that the purpose of Stewart’s and Colbert’s rallies is to align the youth vote with that of the labor unions.
Beck has issued an official statement about the events. 8/28 was a historic event for a lot of Americans. I hope that Ed Schultz, the AFL-CIO, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and whoever else wants to plan a march in DC have the same great success that we had with Restoring Honor.
