On the return of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on September 7th, both hosts teased the audience and viewers with an announcement of a huge announcement – Stewart speaking more generally about something ‘unknown’ but of epic proportions and Colbert actually referencing the online movement; both toying with our hearts and minds.
This tease was in relation to the recent movement “Restoring Truthiness” that exploding on the internet just this last week. In summary, it is to hold a rally to “Restore Truthiness to America!” on October 10th, 2010. It is essentially a satirical response to the Glenn Beck” “Restoring Honor” rally that occurred on August 28th. As mrsamercer put it in the post that launched it all “There’s no way to have a logical public discussion with the teabaggers. The best we can do is to mimic them. ”
Before the launch of Restoring Truthiness, the idea of Jon Stewart holding a rally was floated around; it was soon realized that this idea just has Colbert written all over it. However, as it appears from last night’s shows, what ever they choose, they are choosing together (and let’s be honest, Colbert and Stewart doing this together was a given.)
To me, the way both Stewart and Colbert handled this can be taken a couple of ways. Either they have no intentions of following through and are milking it for all the comedy that its worth. Or the hosts have taken the internets’ idea for serious consideration and have begun the planning process. I can’t.. no.. I won’t believe the former, it has to be the latter. Has to be. The viewers trust them too much and a fake out will cut too deeply.
So if they are taking “Restoring Truthiness” seriously, why not announce it? Why the charade?
I am not an expert on rallies, having only dealt with planning conferences and professional development events in the past. However, I do know that there is a lot of behind the scenes work that needs to be accomplished even before something – anything- can (or at least should *ahem*) be officially announced, including rallies. Luckily, we also have the internet to tell us how to do things! eHow has a list simplifying “How to Organize a Protest in Washington, D.C.”, but here I will look at the inital steps with a little more detail.
Location, location, location . . . and availability
The Lincoln Memorial was originally tossed around as the location for the rally, mainly due to the fact that was where Beck held his rally. But to hold a rally at the Lincoln Memorial, you need a permit.
Permits for the Lincoln Memorial are issued by the National Parks Service and takes approximately 48 hours to be approved from the moment of receipt. Applications have to be delivered in person (in DC), or by mail, which adds a week of delay. Ideally one would request a permit before announcing the rally, something that Glenn Beck forgot to do. Most people would prefer to do it the other way around and make sure the space is actually available first before announcing an event.
To have the rally held on October 10th there shouldn’t be any external conflicts. A quick look at Wikipedia shows that there isn’t anything significant on that date, so the date is clear if they want to use it (See Glenn.. Was that hard?)
Colbert and Stewart’s and their staffs schedule is another matter…
Costs related to the permit
There is an initial non-refundable $50 processing fee (if not a First Amendment activity.) Additional costs for things like police security and clean up are also the responsibility of the applicant to pick up the tab – the National Parks Services does the arrangements and sends the bill. These costs are dependent on estimated crowd size, which may be difficult to determine. In Vancouver, Colbert filled saw crowds of over 5,000 people, but the show was also filmed early in the weekday morning outside in the cold in Canada with silly distractors, such as Olympic events keeping people pre-occupied. A rally in DC on a mild autumn weekend afternoon within travelling distance of several universities and colleges on a Sunday with nothing else to do? If they got less than 10,000 from locals alone I would be shocked.
For larger events:
…a bond in the form of an irrevocable letter of credit, certified check, or money order, and/or documented liability insurance coverage may be required. Any costs will be discussed with you the applicant, prior to issuing the permit.
Their liability insurance most likely doesn’t cover something like this, meaning they will need to obtain a rider for this special one-time event, which shouldn’t be any issues and can be achieved very quickly.
Will a filming permit be required, too?
No doubt it will be filmed. But for what reason? There will be news cameras there to cover the rally. But should Comedy Central (or whoever decides) want to make this rally into some sort of TV ‘special’, a filming permit may be required, too. It takes a minimum of 4 business days… Meaning they won’t know until Monday at the earliest.
Whoever is footing the bill will want something out of it and if that means filming and selling DVDs, so be it. Personally, I think the mere exposure of these two great people on to the mass is a priceless investment. Whoever sponsors it will secure a spot in the Nations heart and it will be remembered.
How to get people to there
Glenn Beck’s rally had so many in attendance partly because he offered free bus rides to the event. Restoring Truthiness could easily break 10,000 without any transportation support (more likely higher with the number of Universities and Colleges in the vicinity). To guarantee higher numbers, they could do what Beck did and set up charters from various cities at approximately $1000 per bus per day.
But this may not matter.
The Nation is a resourceful and patriotic bunch that will go out of their way to help others find a way to support their dear leaders. In fact, there is a Facebook group for that.
The internets is doing a pretty good job promoting the event as will the two shows, but for an event like this to be a huge success and to reach those who may not watch the shows for reasons beyond their control or live in a cave, they will need outside help to get the word out. I would assume that MSNBC and CNN will gladly report on this, but it would be interesting to see if FOX NEWS does so as well. Hopefully some of the more active nation members will make a push in their local communities and schools to arrange group trips. Either way, that Facebook group might be helpful starting point to coordinate transportation thus ensuring a larger crowd.
As per the application there seems to be hoops to jump through for what food is at the event (Nation has got to eat!), what can be sold/display (crossing fingers for wriststrong bracelets) and probably many other details. One thing I know for sure, is that what I have listed here is maybe just 1% of what needs to be done; this is just to clear the site!
What will they do?
I have no clue. All I know is that it will be great. They could sit there playing chess in flannel pyjamas while eating apple pie and I would still be happy. Bringing everyone together like this is reward enough. But I have a suspicion that their standards are much higher than mine. I can only imagine the amount of behind-the-scenes work that would go into something like this. Add in the short notice on top of their already full schedules, this will be a stressful month.
To organize the content, book possible guest speakers and music acts will no doubt be a lot of extra work. Some potential guests may be apprehensive attending a rally with a purpose of mocking a small (but loud) group of voters, others will volunteer for the same reason.
When will WE know?
I obviously don’t know, but can make a guess. I predict the earliest we will get a confirmation will be Monday. This is taking into account the time it takes to get the apparent legalities out of the way just for the location. It also takes into account that the next two days, The Colbert Report is about the troops. They won’t want to put off the announcement too long as their potential crowd does need some room to plan.
When Jon Stewart first announced that there will be an announcement, he said: “the most important announcement in human history…change not just this nation, but the history of this nation – past, present, and future…”
I don’t think this is much of an over statement. When was the last time a rally was held with the sole purpose of mocking an illogical far-leaning political movement? And for said rally to have started on the internets? By people who otherwise would never bother attending a rally? The silent majority?
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