So which is it Nation? Are you going to support the Rally to Restore Sanity or a March to Keep Fear Alive?
Last night Jon Stewart’s and Stephen Colbert’s tortuous teasing finally came to an end with the epic announcement of their respective rallies. Both will be held in Washington DC at the Washington Monument on October 30th. One is a rally for the 85% of us that usually have better things to do than to scream and shout and compare those we disagree with to Hitler. The other is to help keep fear alive and well embedded in the national dialogue because “Reason” after all, is only one letter away from “Treason”.
Even their images are polar opposites
For Stewart’s rally, since we are busy indifferent people, he has even offered to provide us with pre-made signs saying things like:
“I disagree with you but I’m pretty sure you’re not Hitler”
“Got Competence?”
“9/11 was an Outside Job”
“legalize pot” and
“I’m not afraid of Muslims/Tea Partiers/Socialist/Immigrants/Gun Owners/Gays… but I am kind of scared of spiders”
Now that we have a date and a location, the Nation needs to work to get us all there. Facebook or Reddit may be good spot to start to for those that can’t afford to make the trip on their own and are looking for carpooling /sleeping on floors options.
But while most of us are excited, a couple of groups will be displeased with this news.
One group that will be very disappointed with this news is Power of One. They are the group that has a permit for a rally in Washington DC on October 10th and have been pushing for the Colbert Nation to share the date with them with repeated posts on Facebook and this funny and frightening open letter posted on their site. Reading their site, I still have no clue what their purpose is; the wording reminds me of a pyramid scheme sales rep who just discovered how to use a thesaurus.
Another, and more prominent group will be the One Nation Working Together, a progressive rally in answer to Glenn Beck’s rally that was held in August. They are protesting for jobs, education and equality rights (a fairly blanketing approach not unlike Beck’s rally.) Some have argued that the Restore Truthiness rallies should join them, but to me, it wouldn’t make sense.
Restoring Truthiness isn’t about one side or the other yelling and being angry. Stewart summed it up best with his final sign “Tone it down a notch for America.” This rally is a parody rally against those rallies and the narrative which the media loves to showcase, which would explain the lack of coverage of this true grassroots movement in the media.
Despite the growth of this movement online without an official call from a figurehead or the backing of a large organization, and despite the fact that this group of individuals were able to raise over $200,000 in less than 49 hours for a charity and that number is still increasing by an average of $51.57 a minute, it received barely a peep from the MSM. It wasn’t until after last night’s shows where Stewart and Colbert announced their rallies on-air that it received some attention from the MSM. But even then many are leaving out those important details behind the rallies and why Stewart and Colbert are actually holding them. It is as almost if they don’t want the rest of America to know that this criticism to the media is anything more than a “joke” by two comedians.
The question now is, will this just be a temporary blip on the MSM radar, or will they follow through and give it the same type of attention they give their pet projects and their foes pet projects.
And to end this post, an oldie, but a goodie and more importantly still relevant message:
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