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The view from where I stood at the Rally to Restore Sanity. (Jim White photo)
Update: CBS News did employ airphotoslive, as I suspected. The crowd estimate based on the aerial photos is 215,000, beating Beck’s 87,000 rather handily.
Just wow. I had a tremendous time today at the Rally to Restore Sanity. The crowd was huge and entirely friendly. There were lots of creative signs, but people were very polite and lowered their signs when asked once the rally started. I did smell a little weed in the air now and then and saw a few folks sitting on top of traffic signals, but otherwise everyone present played by the rules. The musical guests were tremendous. By inviting Muslims Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) to take part in the rally, Stewart did a nice job of putting faces to Muslims as opposed to fanning the flames of hatred by stating all Muslims are terrorists.
We were standing fairly close to the last video display board on the right as you face the stage, just a few yards toward the Capitol from Seventh Street. The rally website originally stated that the rally was planned for the Mall between Third Street and Seventh Street, but the crowd spread back toward the Washington Monument very far past Seventh Street. The folks back there had a very hard time hearing the early portions of the rally, but the sound was boosted significantly after many people chanted to turn up the sound.
The photo above shows how tightly packed the crowd was. I was at the Obama Inauguration. The crowd that day filled the entire Mall all the way from the Capitol to the Lincoln Monument. I don’t know how far back today’s crowd went, but the density of people today was at least as high as it was that day, if not higher. For much of today’s rally, we were virtually shoulder-to-shoulder. Off to my right, I did note a large white balloon. It was tethered to a string, and made me wonder if airphotoslive was there to do a crowd estimate like the estimate they were commissioned to do for CBS News at Glenn Beck’s rally.
But no matter how many people were there, Stewart has done our country a huge favor by pointing out that the people of America “work together to get things done every damn day.” Pointing back toward the Capitol, Stewart then said that the people in that building are the only Americans who don’t know how to work together. Also, sanity did win over fear today, with Stewart delivering the most forceful line of the day when he said “We live now in hard times, not end times.” For three hours today, America took it down a notch.
94 Comments
Thank you for this wonderful report. On television, it was very hard to estimate the crowd. Frankly, I thought interrupting the musicians was rude and, as a gag, fell flat. Can’t wait for the white balloon folks to tell us their count!
Way to represent, Jim!
It looked like a blast! I read someplace that we’ll see the CBS news estimate at 6:00 eastern. Did you meet up with any other pups?
Outstanding :)
Glad you had fun. I hope the “hard times, not end times” is a keeper for the ages.
Toss that tube! Stop handing all those far right media barons a free pipe to pour propaganda into your brain.
I am thinking of how much my aunt would have enjoyed being at that rally today. She lived just outside DC and was frequently there demonstrating for anti-war and other liberal causes. In fact, that’s where she was going when she was struck and killed by a car in a parking garage on her way to take the metro into DC for a peace demonstration.
I hate being a curmudgeon when everybody seems to be having a good time, but this is bullshit. Dems bent over backward to work with republicans, and worked with Bush way too many times.
Also, did he ever apologize for falling for Breitbart’s ACORN video? Did he “balance” it by making up lies about conservatives?
Great report. Wish I could’ve been there, too. I’m happy that there were no crazy people with their insane agendas and tendencies to shout crashing the event to try to ruin it. Looked on tv like it went off very well.
Fine original reporting from JWNN; wish I could have been there.
I loved it when the mythbusters guys had the audience do the wave and then timed it. The crowd showed up pretty well on the camera and they kept saying 150,000 people were participating in their experiments.
I cried when Yusef began to sing…the very fact that he was there…wow…after being banned from entering the country by Bush. CSpan did a good job covering it I thought.
Agreed. He sounded wonderful, and really put a bug in the Hate all Muslims soundtrack. He and Kareem…Interesting that most of the musicians were of my generation!
That’s why the very serious media had nothing but scorn for this effort. They make their living off of the suffering of others. Electronic vultures if you will, picking the bones of peoples’ lives. Unlike buzzards though, they help things along. For profit news always becomes for profit narrative. It’s not surprising this rally was attended better than Beck’s Bund rally or The union sponsored get together in October. The fact that there are still more sane people than crazy, extreme ones blows the whole narrative.
Do you have estimates for the numbers of both rallies?
A very sad story, but there no more noble way to go than than to depart while working in a cause for peace.
“For three hours today, America took it down a notch.”
Almost forgot: BRAVO MR. STEWART & MR. COLBERT!
Went to the Denver rally to Restore Fear, and there was a bunch of weed in the air too – so terrifying!/s
I heard NPR coverage saying thousands; I think they said both Beck and this had thousands, but this was more…IIRC.
Thanks for the report; a breath of fresh air and sanity is nice to see for a change. We can argue about Stewart’s approach and other things, but I still like that he did this. If nothing else, it highlights that there are sane, thinking people out there who don’t feel the need to be bullying @ssholes throwing toddler temper tantrums, calling ugly names & whining incessantly in order to have everything “be their way.” Worthwhile on that score, imo.
The only estimates I have are my own judgment. I’ve seen photos of all three events and there were clearly more at this one than either of the other two.
Apparently, tea party heads exploded all over the country when Yusef started singing. I’ll take that a net win for the day.
Yes, I know Yusef made a big mistake in the 80′s about Salman Rushdie. Books are one of favorite things in life. That said, we’re all human beings. We all screw up. Right wingers aren’t the only one who get to screw up and have everything forgiven.
Newt Gingrich makes mistakes as bad as Yusef’s every day, and he’s back on TV the next day ranting again with previous screw-ups forgfotten.
Hear, hear! Install a bull run valve in that septic pipe and divert the toxic waste from your brain.
I add my thanks to the others. Great to hear this positive and uplifting report!
I thought pot makes people paranoid, not afraid. Kidding.
But but but those stoned liberal people were VOTING! It was TERRIFYING!
Maybe Gibbs was right. They really did need drug testing after all.
/s
Lisa Derrick is upstairs!
Los Angeles Fearmongering Sheriff Lee Baca Stirs Prop 19 Cauldron
Late to this thread but just want to say that I watched the gathering from home in California. My best friend (born in MX) and her fiance (midwestern guy) flew to DC for the rally, and I’ll bet that they had a fabulous time. I loved the crowd mixture and the civility……and the signs! “I can spell.” “Make awkward sexual advances, not war” and so forth. And “Hard times, not end times” is just a real call to those of us who aren’t radical righties. It was a great show! Well done, Mr. Stewart, well done.
HuffPo sez 250,000
What was the attendance. I hear that teabaggers, Republicans and libertarians are really pissed off and are in the process of cleaning their weapons and ready to shout “lock and load.”
Looks HUGE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDALorfjBig
When I think of the Legacy Media– which isn’t often– I think this quote from Jim Hightower (from an interview with Bill Moyers for The Journal, Apr. 30, 2010, video: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04302010/watch2.html [the transcript shows up in the window below]):
“We have to figure a way around these blockages of Wall Street today. Of the corporate interests that are squeezing out small business. Of the blockages in the marketplaces. The drug companies, for example, that are gouging consumers. Have to figure out a way around that. It’s not enough to whine. Even in the media.
You know? Because the populists faced that same thing of the media of the day, being primarily newspapers and magazines. Wouldn’t cover this populist movement. In fact, when I worked for Ralph Yarborough, years ago, a Senator from Texas, “The Dallas Morning News” just ignored the progressives of that day. And Yarborough could have a meeting in Dallas and there’d be 5,000 people there. And not a word in “The Dallas Morning News.” So, we had a new name, a new subtitle for the Dallas News. If it happens in Dallas it’s news to us.”
It was sad (but not surprising) watching Jon Stewart demonize the people with whom he disagrees – for demonizing the people with whom they disagree.
“We’re not the problem – it’s *those* people who are ruining America!”
Stewart, meet mirror.
Sadder still that so many people fall for it.
The teabagger marionettes and their Republican puppet masters will destroy the working and middle class. Their only hope is that the public has short memories. Remind the citizenry!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDr_h9AjQFI
I agree with you, there really was no difference between Glenn Beck’s Perpetuating Tyranny Rally and Jon Stewart’s Silencing Dissent Rally. Both rallies did accomplish one thing: keep people in line and demonize those who have legitimate dissent. Glenn Beck, Jon Stewart, and company are nothing more than gatekeepers of the status quo pure and simple.
Yeah, the world needs fewer people like Jon Stewart… and like me, for that matter. It’s not like Jon Stewart has ever been reasonable and respectful while interviewing people in power and people of influence. His over-the-top vitriol and blantant spinning of facts cannot be allowed to continue!
Wow. It obviously was in the thousands, but I couldn’t get a big enough view to say just how many. That’s huge!
Huh? How was Stewart’s rally about “demonizing dissent”? The point was that demonizing ANYTHING is wrong and that rational discussion of difffering points of view, including dissent, is what we need now.
Well, if you had BEEN to this event you might have credibility.
I was at the Denver one, and the ACLU was there, RockTheVote was there and there’s a new petition going on for complete legalization of weed in Colorado.
Far from quashing dissent, the event I was at was encouraging PARTICIPATION.
Your sarcasm is as clear as air. I wonder what Jon’s executive producer have to say after he got arrested for assaulting a 9/11 activist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AejXiwapfIA
“Restore Sanity” my ass.
While Stewart has always had something of a political agenda, he is known to be a *comedian* who works on *Comedy Central.* I don’t watch Stewart’s TDS a lot, but what I’ve seen of it, Stewart comports himself pretty sanely and is generally respectful of his guests. It’s also clear that he plays a sort of court jester role and is a good stand-up comedian. People, I believe, a drawn to Stewart because they relate to his sense of fun and humor, and Stewart’s fans probably lean left.
This rally, insofar as I know, is one of the few/only things that Stewart’s done that has more of a political overtone to it, although from what I can gather (and I’m not well informed, I admit), Stewart & Colbert seemed more intent on promoting more civility and sanity in the national discourse. For that I tip my hat to Stewart.
Beck is completely a horse of a different feather to Stewart. It’s clear that Beck’s out to brainwash his fans. Beck is totally weird and over the top inciting his fans to violence and worse. Now he’s adopted a “pose” as tent-show revivalist preacher, which is one of the older tricks in the book for hoodwinking the credulous and ripping them off.
It’s a completely false equivalency to compare Stewart to Beck; they operate on totally different levels and evidence completely different value systems.
One may argue with Stewart’s approach, for sure, but I get back to: Stewart’s a comedian first, not some phony fake “christiany” revivalist out to rip off the rubes by selling overinflated gold line junk.
Let me try to explain it.
You see, some people find tolerance to be intolerable while they insist that their intolerance must be tolerated.
They wave American flags and shout about free speech, insisting on their right to spew intolerant and ignorant shit from their mouths while complaining about what other people say who don’t agree with their narrow-minded stupidity.
They wave American flags and shout about their guns, trying to remind reasonable Americans that they have guns and are not to be fucked with, as if the rest of us don’t have guns, too.
Jon Stewart is nothing like Glenn Beck. But some people in this country have a whole lot in common with the Taliban…
It poured down in PDX as it’s that time of year. However, we had a great musical line up including a Zombie rock opera (http://www.amandarichards.net).
Did you not listen to the guy? I suppose I can wander over to the TiVo and replay the quotes, but his point is that a small group of extremists are threatening the country. And those people are shunned and castigated as “insane” (since that must be the condition if “sanity” is what is to be restored), and true Americans must rally together to defeat them.
So Beck has insane Muslims as the threat, Stewart has insane people who refuse to be polite as the threat to America *wave flag, sing patriotic songs*
It doesn’t matter what the “out” group is. Whether that’s black vs. white, left vs. right, or in Stewart’s case the self-appointed middle versus the sides, it’s the same old thing – division and hatred.
Troofer gets up in someone’s grill, refuses to back off, shoves to escalate, wonders why he gets clocked…
*mindless yawn*
What was the purpose of this gathering?
A bunch of rich entertainers telling the masses to calm down, stop with the anger and be nice to each other?
Okay. Count me out then.
You’re arguing for not drawing any lines in the sand and for standing for nothing.
I’d say the comments about where Stewart plies his trade:
“While Stewart has always had something of a political agenda, he is known to be a *comedian* who works on *Comedy Central.*”
are at best a red herring.
When *the President of the United States* chooses your show to go on days before a critical mid-term election – it’s a politics show.
And it seems your argument rests mostly on your personal belief about Stewart’s title, “comedian.” This seems to be 1) your own defense of the issue, as if whether you think he’s a comic or not affects the behavior, and 2) an attempt to have things both ways – when the rally to one’s political cause (whatever it may be) has the effect one wants then one takes credit, when there’s criticism then there’s the get-out-of-jail-free “I’m only a comedian.”
I don’t really care what he calls himself. I’m interested simply in the effects.
And the *effects* are exactly the same. The methods are different because the audiences are different, duh. But the effects – identical. “We’re the ones who are right, and it’s those dangerous people over there who are the threat to America.”
(That’s also why Stewart does such a devastating impression of Beck.)
Jane Hamsher is upstairs!
ABC/Facebook Election Night Commentary by Andrew Breitbart: Batonga, Batonga, Batonga!
Honest entertainment and comedy always takes it down a notch.
It’s amazing the number of folks who can’t get it when the corporate media is pwned by the corporate media. And Congress is told why Americans don’t like them.
Some folks are just too damn earnest and serious about their politics. And can’t lighten up for a mere three hours. Then like those waiting for the end times, there are some waiting for the revolution. And all of their critical thinking an left-oriented analysis can’t tell them that we are not right now in a situation conducive to revolution, and neither is France. And if they had paid a little more attention to what they had read they would know why.
And I understand that it is going to take some real changes in order for a lot of political junkies to be “ready to make nice”. But lowering the yelling and especially the fear gives folks the mental space in which to think without the lizard brain kicking in. And having the swing voters and some conservatives be less panicked is a good thing.
First, Faux (corporate) NEWS; now faux (corporate) demonstrations! It’s all just spectacles in the collapse of Amerikan EMPIRE!! Maybe not End TIMES, but certainly ENDTIMES for US!!!
The Tea Party events are all about “encouraging PARTICIPATION,” too.
The point is that for both groups it’s participation with like-minded people *against* some other group.
It’s the same old us-vs.-them.
Worse, in Stewart’s case it’s us-vs.-them to justify and support continuation of the abominable status quo against which people at FDL rail all the time.
-
To be clear, I have no problem with an us-vs.-them mentality some of the time. It’s a tool like any other. What I’m attempting to identify is the unconscious projection and hypocrisy of “the problem isn’t us, it’s *those people* over there – with their ‘us-vs.-those people over there’ mentality.”
(And I suffered through all three hours on TV – though it’ll be a stretch to suggest Comedy Central’s coverage of their own event was somehow negatively biased.)
You “suffered” all 3 hours with such evident disdain for it?
I’ll agree with you – you are “attempting to identify [is] the unconscious projection and hypocrisy of “the problem.”
“We live now in hard times, not end times.”
very opaque, that ‘end times’ thingy. God, doesn’t talk to Stewart, so it’s not about those ‘end times’. Could he be misjudging the current state of the middle class?
more great stuff fr. jim white my FL group buddy
I almost went to that rally today, Jim, but decided on Friday that I had too much to do this weekend, and told my daughter that I wasn’t going to go with them today, after all.
Too bad! We all could have met somewhere.
Estimates range from 87000 (Beck) to 300000. gotta wait for CBS.
Well said. I loved those signs you mentioned.
I think you are reading this wrong. He did not demonize dissenters. He just wants to keep it sane. You know no nazi haters and everyone loves this country not just a few.
Exactly my thoughts. Corporate sponsored faux demonstration led by TV personalities and not actual activists. Well, demonstrations shouldn’t be led by any individuals but rather be an expression of discontent and desire for better among all participants.
Oh but he totally nails that asshole Beck though, doesn’t he?
I couldn’t make it. Why, because when I tried to board at my Metro stop, Shady Grove, the farthest stop on the Red Line, the line of people waiting to board was more than 300 yards long!
I tried to drive downtown, and couldn’t find a parking spot for half a mile. By the time I decided to throw in the towel and just follow it on the web, it was after 2 p.m. So 2 1/2 hours, and I couldn’t get there. Tells you something regarding the crowd size.
Yep, it was a good thing. Take it down a notch the man said. Right.
It’s fun to skewer the crazies, and Stewart does a fine job of that, but beneath it all I detect an air of smug self-congratulation.
Sanity, as in let’s stop fighting and meet in the middle for big neoliberal group hug. It’s hard to see how this whole thing isn’t at bottom just a big Obama pep rally, another weapon of mass distraction.
If ever there was a time when the center is the wrong place to be, this is it.
Agree. Watch TDS during demonstrations from those on the left and see how they cover it. The show is harsher on the actual left, what little there is, than the parties. They present the grassroots left as part of the insane crowd and electoral politics is for the sane. They call out individuals in both parties and both parties as a whole sometimes, but they still present electoral politics as the only sane choice for participation. It’s also reflective in their guest selection. Colbert usually has a more diverse range of guests, but TDS is mainly politicians, actors, media personalities, and mainstream pundits.
I just put up a couple of dozen or so pictures that Mrs. JP and I took at the Stewart/Colbert rally today. Some of the signage was hilarious.
I did too, gotta admit. But when did he shorten his name to “Yusuf” from “Yusuf Islam”? My first thought was that the rally was chopping his name to avoid controversy.
I would have liked to hear him finish the song, too, but I liked the sense of humor he showed by playing along with the gag.
We need lots of voices speaking and acting in different languages to make progress forward to the full realization of what America could be. This rally here, that demonstration there, this book here, that pot of stew there… make your choices and don’t complain because others choose differently. It’s a big rock and we are pushing uphill.
The signs were great, I did not see misspellings but I did see some great intelligent humor. My favorite: BIRTHERS FOR HAWAIIAN STATEHOOD
PS didn’t John Stewart’s use of the word “end times” refer to the “rapture”?
Mining American’s endless need for self-congratulation and complacency is good business it seems.
Re status quo: did you watch Stewart’s interview of Obama? He held his feet to the fire more than once, pointing out that many Americans think he has not done enough when he could have.
Re participation: Stewart says, “vote.” The Tea Party types show up at town hall meetings and shout. They are among the least informed. And they are hyper-partisan, even more to the right of most Republicans, if anything.
Re us vs. them: Stewart argues that people should be informed about the hypocrisy and try to see through the spin, wants populists to vote their interests. The Tea Party appears to be populist in a way and definitely pretends to be populist, but it isn’t.
You’re comparing apples and oranges.
Anybody who uses a massive bully pulpit to stigmatize those who would question bush/cheney re 9/11 is a gatekeeper.
Calling 9/11 questions “insane” is in the same ballpark as Obama saying that nobody can question Bush’s love of his country.
If you were Goldman Sachs, wouldn’t you support a rally like this to diffuse well placed rage at a brutal one-sided class warfare and fake war on terror designed to never end
Stewart had Obama on the dshow hot seat. Nuff said.
Fanboy gatekeeper.
Stewart’s Jewish. Not sure what his views on the rapture might be.
How does assaulting somebody who dares to question Bush’s 9/11 truthiness promote sanity
PNAC and the Bush supported Jonathan Institute approve of your post though.
Jim White, do you have an opinion on 9/11 skepticism
Do you think it’s insane to question Cheney’s version of events
If anything is insane, it’s never questioning the events of that day, and not demanding a new investigation, since even the 9/11 Commission’s Chairmen admitted they were “set up to fail.”
Jim
Obama headed further right after election, just as Tom Daschle has already said. Can’t wait for another 2-6 years of Stewart mocking Glenn Beck while Obama continues to sell us out. Civility has it’s place. So does dividing, distracting, and conquering.
Stewart wasn’t holding a rally for civility when he was tearing Bush apart every night…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/30/AR2010103004388.htmlnav=rss_email/components
Well put, gatekeeper indeed.
There’s a lot of things more insane than FOX news, Glenn Beck and the teabaggers. Saying you’re more sane than that crowd isn’t much of an accomplishment I would think.
It’s all so Post-Modern…a rally about media messaging. Even as comedy, it ain’t funny. “Take it down a notch.” Fuck you, Stewart.
nice, clean, dead on.
I like Stewart and Colbert, but to me, there’s something hollow about this whole enterprise.
Your comment about “the center is the wrong place to be” is spot on.
You have a point. I didn’t go because I live too far away, but I wouldn’t have gone anyway. I agree that it was a corporate media event run by a corporate media person. There was supposed to be a rally in my town but didn’t go either.
Guess I just found it refreshing to have a 3 hour pause where people *appeared* to show up with a more *peaceful* and a kinder disposition… with some signage that was truly amusing & witty.
I didn’t watch any of the “show,” so, as I said, I’m pretty ill informed about how it all came down. Personally I never saw this as some kind of political rally. It was an entertainment rally… but to me more refreshing because it wasn’t a bunch of people who had been ginned up in a very fake and phony way to be insanely angry over nothing… when in fact, it might actually be useful to be angry… but it would be helpful for the anger to be directed a real stuff, not dumb junk and racism.
I did admit that I watch TDS infrequently, so…
Guess I’m just thinking it might be useful to lighten up a bit. Seems like some folks wanted to gather in a more sane manner. Perhaps the energy could be harnessed to go further in a more useful direction. Interesting to witness how many turned out (helped that it was a nice day).
Just saying…
I appreciate both your responses.
What I’m trying to do, for those who are willing to see, is point out where those who say they are trying to make things “better” are in fact making things more like the way they already are, i.e., worse.
And those ways can be hard for people to see – because if they were easy to see people probably would have seen them already.
So the tricky part here is saying “I support your intent to make things ‘better’ (though there isn’t always agreement on what ‘better’ would be)” while also saying “and here’s where your well-meaning attempts actually do the complete opposite of what you claim you intend.”
Part of the “tell” of reactionary groupthink is how, even in threads about an event that was supposedly about “respect” and “reasonableness” and “politeness,” when a critical voice is raised so many responses are quick, close-minded, and personal.
A response in true and honest alignment with the claimed goals of the event would be “We welcome your dissenting view. Tell us more about why you feel that way so we can understand it better.”
But if you’ll look here and on the other threads, the responses are mostly the exact opposite – to reject and demonize. Which is exactly the behavior I was trying to identify and warn against, both at the rally, and much more importantly by its supporters afterwards.
All that’s a preamble to say to you that it seems like your heart is in the right place, generally wanting to make things somehow “better” – but the devil is in the details, for all of us. And so that general sentiment needs to be coupled with a willingness to walk one’s talk, and to first look at oneself as the source of a problem.
It’s in that latter requirement, the willingness to look at oneself, that Stewart and his followers fail so, I don’t know whether to call it spectacularly or frightfully.
To really see one needs to be able to ask oneself “how are my opponents right and being helpful?” “how am I being exactly like that I oppose?” and most of all “how am I the one who’s wrong and a problem?”
P.S. Perhaps this rally was people who were “ginned up in a very fake and phony way” to be “reasonable” about *everything*? The other half of the yin-yang, equally unbalanced and needing the other half to be whole. And you probably won’t build many bridges to that other side if you continue to choose to see the things that matter to them as “dumb junk.”
Just sayin’…. ;-)
I still like Stewart (can’t stomach Rachel or Keith any more, but perhaps they’ll stop relentlessly shilling for the Dem establishment after Tuesday and become at least marginally tolerable again), though haven’t appreciated some of his recent denigration of activists in conjunction with his rally.
But he’s no radical – not today’s comic equivalent of Lenny Bruce nor political equivalent of even Stokely Carmichael (let alone a REAL firebrand): he’s just a TV comedian, definitely left-leaning and willing to criticize some of the Dem establishment’s more blatant hypocrisy but, in the end, a very talented comic with an audience to cater to (also left-leaning in nature but also predominantly far from radical).
So I think this rally was much less a political statement than just part of his schtick, and should be taken in that light rather than as ‘gate-keeping’ or other political activity. Perhaps, as happened with Obama, some have invested it with their own goals and are now dickering over its failure to mesh with them, while others with more modest aspirations for it have just enjoyed it for what it was.
A rally against being pissed off, against caring, against being sincere, against doing anything about it. Just what we don’t need.
A feel-good, corporate-sponsored rally in favor of being nice, not raising your voice, ignoring reality, believing there’s always two-sides to every story, demonizing civil disobedience and political activism. I imagine Stewart would think sitting in at lunch counters was too strident.
A rally in support of nothingness. By people who can afford to “lighten up” and “take it down a notch” so that they don’t have to feel bothered by a conscience or people who “do something” or who need something done.
Stewart’s an ass. I’m guessing that the people at the rally didn’t just lose their job, their home, their health insurance, won’t be depending on social security for their retirement, won’t be forced to join the military and really would rather not think about those in that unfortunate “other” category. People who are happy to clap without any idea why when Obama says he got “ninety percent” of what he wanted for the health insurance companies and who aren’t yet affected by the war-profiteering, “austerity” programs of our global financial rulers. They will be.
If only there were more true humor and art challenging the insanity of our parade towards neo-feudalism. Like Dada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada But you’d never see that on corporate teevee.
Not sorry to be an earnest downer. Stewart’s soothing “it’s better to be apathetic – or why can’t you just write a letter to the editor” message is dangerous, counterproductive, and calculated. About the only good thing I can see about his rally is it that it demonstrates rather clearly the equal emptiness of the Beck rally – that all it takes is a celebrity platform and the power of mega media and you can pull thousands of idiots onto the Washington mall and get it covered non-stop.
And here’s insanity.
The conservative Beck weirdly claims the inspiration of Martin Luther King for his rally. http://mediamatters.org/research/201008250039
And the so-called liberal Jon Stewart with his rally in favor of wishy-washiness pointedly rejects Martin Luther King, his inspiring call to civil disobedience and his “fierce urgency of now.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail
The “Just Chill Rally” represents tone deafness to the 10th degree.
It had the feel of a group of performers on a book tour or promoting a weeklong Christmas gig at “Chuckles Comedy Club” in Dover, or even a tune in Monday feel for a recap of this “historic” event.
It’s a stark contrast to 40-some years ago when the Smothers Brothers were putting their careers on the line to make political statements; Or Johnny Cash- a man of God- telling CBS execs and censors to fuck off – it’s my show; I’ll pick the songs & the guests and if you don’t like it, I’ll leave. Mort Saul publicly ridiculing the Warren Report – before it became fashionable. And guys like Pryor, Carlin and Dick Gregory “going rogue” in lieu of Commercial TV stardom.
Yeah, Just Chill gang…it’s not the end of times.
Counterculture, 2010 celebrity-style.
Different times, different generation.
Stewart would be a fish out of water if he were performing in the late 60s/early 70s milieu. But he’s considered cutting edge today.
Another interesting observation–comics in the Countercultural Era never wore suits. A lot weren’t clean shaven. Look at Stewart. Dude is clean as a whistle. Folks, we have retreated back to the 50s, maybe even worse. They’ve erased the hippies from time.
I’m also ticked that Stewart, a so-called media critic, dismissed Rick Sanchez as “Jew baiting” when Sanchez pointed out that our handful of mega-media conglomerates are dominated by Jewish people.
It was a great opportunity for Stewart to point out that our piss-poor “insane” media discourse is driven by a handful of people from the same tiny ethnic, religious, and zionist ideological background.
How is that not fundamental to our understanding of the crap media Stewart claims to despise
CBS/VIACOM – Redstone and Moonves
CNN President – Jonathan Klein
ABC/Disney – Ceo Bob Iger
Nbc Universal/GE – Jeff Immelt Jeff Zuckerman
NYTimes – Sulzberger family
Washington Post – Graham family
Fox/Wall St Journal/NY Post/Direct TV – Israel devotee Rupert murdoch
Daily News/US News+ World Report – Mort Zuckerman Newsweek – Jane Harman
Not to mention all the publishing houses owned by the above individuals, and the 8 biggest Hollywood studios that happen to be run by people who happen to be Jewish and uniformly pro-Israel.
America’s foremost media critic considers pointing this out to be Jew baiting, and pretends to wonder why Muslims are constantly demonized and Muslim countries are constantly invaded and brutally occupied.
And never look behind the 9/11 curtain that excused it all.
Stewart is quite tribal at heart, in my opinion, hence his constant reference to his Jewish roots.
If he were more of a humanist at heart, he might use his bully-pulpit to illuminate the obvious once in a while.
I do wish you’d crank it down a notch about “zionism” and carping that Stewart is proud of his Jewish roots. Why shouldn’t he be?
As to 9/11, Stewart appears to have cognitive dissonance about this event – like most Americans. However, you’re not going to “cure” his uncomfortable inability to look at the truth behind 9/11 (scientists have confirmed it was a controlled demolition) by going on a anti-semitic rant. What is the point?
Please, Jessabrams, grow up. You do the 9/11 Truth Movement a huge disservice. Some of us are Jews….and proud of it.
Update: It looks like I did see the balloon used for the crowd estimate. CBS has now posted that the aerial photos from the balloon estimate the crowd size at the rally at 215,000. Just a tad bigger than Beck’s (87,000).
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20021284-503544.html
What is my point I already made it.
In a representative democracy, it is potentially extremely unhealthy for 80-90% or more of our media information to be controlled by members of 1.5% of the population.
It is not neccesarily unhealthy, but in this case it obviously is, hence the rally to restore sanity by our formost media critic.
Stewart knows, as do you, that the non-stop Muslim bashing and hate-mongering, and the push to start and continue brutal, economically and morally bankrupting wars against muslim countries, have a direct connection to the lock-step zionist ideologies of our big media owners.
Are you denying any of this, or does it just make you feel uncomfortable
Fighting for a decentralization of media ownership and a breakup of the conglomerates would be good for tolerance, good for peace, good for fiscal solvency, and good for representative democracy. It would also make you feel more comfortable when somebody ticks off the actual deciders or our media information.
Imagine Muslims dominated our handful of conglomerates, and were constantly fearmongering about the Jewish street, Jewish garb, Jewish fanaticism, and the need to predator drone Jewish towns across the world.
Imagine if Glen Beck and those on the left disagreed about much, but were in lockstep in ignoring muslim mulitary beligerence. Imagine if Iran had over 200 nukes, refused to sign the non-proliferation treaty, and no major news outlet ever found it worth mentioning, while demonizing and sanctioning Israel for trying to make nuclear power.
Imagine Jewish wedding parties being bombed by the order of high rankinking muslim civilians in the Pentagon, only for the purpose of creating more jewish resentment and resistance, so that more bombing of jews could be excused.
Imagine that 50% plus of campaign donations were from this small population, and muslim groups could get 75+ senate signatures in one day, dismissing UN reports detailing crimes against humanity against Jewish refugee camps.
You feel uncomfortable just having the ownership of our media conglomerates listed off, as does Stewart, our “foremost media critic”.
Other “persecuted minorities” suffer from the failure of our press to ever mention this obvious and centrally relevant fact.
Surely being proud of one’s Jewish roots can co-exist with an open acknowledgement in the domination of our media by bigoted pro-Likud Zionists. And Stewart being excessively tribal shouldn’t affect you pride either, nor should PNAC’S centrality to the “new Pearl Harbor”.
If I could have made the same vitally important observations more delicately, please let me know, and my apologies for not stating them more sensitively the first time.
But who controls what networks are important facts, not secrets that must be kept hidden if we don’t like the answers. Power corrupts, and sunlight is the best disinfectant.
I’m on your team. The media moguls are not, nor is the banking cartel they work for.
The central premise of the rally is false. There simply is no meaningful extreme left in the USA at this time. We have a pre-modern proto-fascist right-wing movement taking over the republican party. The top of the democratic party is run by Wall street, it is the business community party which used to be east coast republicans. At the bottom of the Democratic party we have the corpse of the rank-n-file of the New Deal Coalition, liberal professionals, people of color and unions. The right wants to chop the center’s head-off, the center wants to work with the right and left are too scared to fight for their own politics and thus each and every election end up supporting the business class. The insanity is one-sided (on the right), and the political cowardice is one-sided (on the left).
Protests are about showing who can get the biggest crowds come election day.
Jim we got over twice what Glen Beck got but somehow the MSM still thinks we are going to lose this election can you explain why? :)
Anyone willing to drive too and hangout all day at a protest is also likely to spend an hour waiting to vote.
I don’t see how we can lose this election. Polls are numbers and can be fixed actual bodies going to a protest are a better indicator.
I am sure some GOP trolls will say but Arianna bussed in a bunch of people but unless she bussed in over twice the number of people Glen had then the complaint won’t matter.
Well, for starters, the left is going to lose this election regardless of who wins.
More specifically, the fact that a centrist rally like Stewart’s can draw more than a nutjob like Beck can draw just proves that there are more centrists in America than nutjobs. A lot of those centrists will be voting Republican rather than Democratic because a) the Democrats have been massively disappointing over the past 4 years since they first took control of Congress and then the presidency as well and b) far from all the Republicans are as overtly beyond the pale as people like Angle and Beck are.
I can appreciate your perspective. The participants and the context may not have the same gravitas relative to what you know from your experience but I’ll take it as something constructive from this generation to repudiate the head-stomping, “there must be blood” approach of the fascist front groups. Most of the musicians and performance art folks I know trying to do something constructive in this very toxic political arena are so *not* “A bunch of rich entertainers telling the masses to calm down, stop with the anger and be nice to each other” and they are doing it regardless of their poverty-level status and with little or no moral support. Despite the art criticism leveled at Lady Gaga, I can appreciate her comment and visual statements as follows:
‘If we don’t stand up for what we believe in, if we don’t fight for our rights, pretty soon we’re going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones.’ (see link: http://www.billboard.com/news/lady-gaga-explains-her-meat-dress-it-s-no-1004113855.story#/news/lady-gaga-explains-her-meat-dress-it-s-no-1004113855.story)
I think (and I attempt to apply this to myself) we have to watch ourselves for generation-centric biases and skin-deep analyses they tend to tempt.