I watched Jon Stewart’s speech at the end of the Sanity/Fear event in Washington DC. I didn’t really disagree with anything Stewart was saying. But, then, I didn’t disagree with Rodney King when he asked why we all couldn’t just get along with each other. There is a false equivalence in suggesting that the two parties in this country are both guilty of eschewing compromise and reason. I don’t think anyone is going to like what Stewart had to say. The right won’t like it because it was Jon Stewart saying it. The left won’t like it because he didn’t once suggest that his audience go out and vote and because it smelled like High Broderism. The media will hate it because his primary message is that the media is stoking fear and making us all act insane. Yet, it’s hard to fault Stewart for his idealism. And he’s funny. I understand why he chose not to be partisan in his message, but a rally of left-leaning people on the Saturday before a wipe-out right-wing landslide election day might have at least mentioned that it’s important for people who value reason to get out and vote…for whomever.
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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I’m surprised he didn’t end with a call to action. I thought that was the point!
Thing was. It was action. That was the point.
I agree on your last part. Would it have been wrong to tell everyone to vote, regardless of who you vote for?
I thought it was fantastic. And anyone who thinks that KO and Ed Schultz are not fear mongering aren’t really listening to their shows. It might be more intelligent but it’s still annoying at best and over the top fear mongering at worst.
There are more people in the middle than the left and the right and this rally was for them. None of my friends are as political as me – but they are liberal at heart- and they can’t stand any of the cable nonsense so they are tuned out to politics in general. However, several of them watched the show today and absolutely loved it. To them it truly was restoring their sanity.
It was so wonderful that Jon got Cat Stevens to come and perform “Peace Train”. It says a lot about both of them to make that happen. I had to wipe away the tears as he was singing – I still play “The Best of Cat Stevens” usually at least once a week when I’m puttering around my house. I loved the video of the cars merging while Jon was talking about who was possibly in each car. Very cool. We all get along every day in our regular lives – my boss is Republican boss as are many others who I work with daily and they know I’m a Democrat and they totally respect my work – we could not work better together. The cable shows and politicians who portray Democrats and Republicans as hating each other is poisoning the country.
The rally was original, fun and meaningful.
Cat Stevens’ singing was our Finny’s favorite part. And I loved it at the end when he was singing along with Mavis at the end…
Cat Stevens! It had to be special to him to do this. The beginning of that performance is already available on Youtube. Tragically it is cut off in the middle of the O’Jays performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c80LnOvKayg&feature=player_embedded
I kinda wish .. that Stewart intro’d him by not telling anyone who he was .. and just referring to him as a “scary Muslim” .. or some other poke at the RWNJ’s .. because how many people at the crowd would have recognized him before he started singing(and damn .. he still sounds the same 35 years later!!) if Stewart hadn’t intro’d him as he did?
I wished a lot of things too. I wished that he had Toby Keith perform on behalf of sanity.
I just got back from that rally. It was pretty insane how many people were there. All the reports of the subways being filled far over capacity, rally goers jammed into all the bars and restaurants around the Mall and beyond, etc. are true. Most of the folks who weren’t close to the stage (i.e. most of the crowd, including myself) could barely hear or see anything. But it was still great to be surrounded by so many people acting… well, sane really is the right word. Sane and calm and happy. Lots of funny signage too, my favorite being “I DON’T MIND PAYING MY TAXES BECAUSE I’M AN ADULT AND IT’S PART OF THE DEAL.”
I just finished watching the Stewart’s speech on Youtube and I have to disagree with Booman’s take. I liked it a lot. It didn’t feel like false equivalence or High Broderism to me. It felt like he was doing his part to try and bring the country back to a calm middle ground, just like Obama constantly tries to do. Just like people who try to engage reasonably with their friends and family and neighbors every day do (the importance of which TarheelDem always points out). I don’t really see any way out of our country’s current political mess if more of us don’t infuse that attitude into our day-to-day behavior. So kudos to Stewart and Co. for lending a hand.
As for the political impact of it, I hope and think that this rally had some benefit in terms of branding the center-left coalition as the best, reasonable choice in the upcoming election (and future ones too). And what better message do you want the media projecting all over the place, 3 days out from the election (which of course it will, since media LOVES stories about media more than anything else)? Especially to sway all that 10-15% of undecided indies? I think most people who were there, and many watching on TV, will be more enthusiastic to vote if they haven’t already. And to tell their personal networks to do so too. I don’t think it’s Stewart’s job to tell everyone to vote, as doing so would immediately dilute his impact as a neutral commentator (even if he isn’t really). The media would love to tar and feather him as an arm of the Democratic party, but they haven’t been able to do so yet because he’s been so consistent about behaving as an independent voice (and hiding behind his “just a comedian” label to some extent, although I think the effectiveness of that trick is gradually fading). We need Stewart out there as a powerful symbol of the reasonable center-left; not as a Keith Olbermann-style advocate. Stewart’s “neutrality,” even if his biases are pretty clear, is what keeps him in the spotlight and thus keeps him effective.
I can see why people might be dismissive of the purpose, execution, or impact of this rally, but I don’t think it’s warranted.
One of my favorite signs said “I Can Spell.” And it was indeed spelled correctly.
I agree with you. I think his homily at the end was perfect in tone and pitch. I don’t doubt for a moment that the vast majority of those in attendance, as well those attending by “satellite” or watching online or via cable have every intention of voting on Tuesday, if they haven’t already voted. They don’t need anyone to tell them how important it is to vote. I hesitate to paint with a broad brush, but I think it’s safe to say that the people at the rally probably get it.
I thought Jon Stewart did a great job. This is not a political rally and I’m glad it didn’t turn out that way. Most of the folks who attended the rally already know there’s an election on Tues. Elections come and go, but civility, intelligent and respectful public discourse like good character should be things we should wish we have more of in this society of ours.
Sometimes, there’s more said when things are left unsaid.
I don’t agree, Boo. If you have one side that’s crazy and the other that’s sane, then saying “don’t be crazy” is clearly coming down in favor of the non-crazy side. And I don’t think it was necessary to tell people to vote. The people at the rally know there’s an election–you don’t need to tell them.
My thought when watching his speech is that Stewart’s real “enemy” is Fox News. Of course, there are other parts of the media that stoke ignorance and hate, but Fox is by far the largest and most important. Beating Fox News is our most important battle, more important than beating the Republican Party in one election or another. Because, as you have so often pointed out, the problem with Republicans right now isn’t that they are Republicans, it is that they live in a make-believe world that has little connection to reality. I would happily take a right-wing solution to, say, global climate change, if I thought it might work, but we never get a solution to this or any of our problems if our country is controlled by people who are systematically taught that reality doesn’t exist.
My beef is that a rally like this is a chance to get a punch of young people who watch Comedy Channel to go vote. Not the people who attended. The people who watch Stewart because they just left the teevee on when the last show ended. I live with people like that. They’re called teenagers. If you don’t tell them this isn’t just entertainment, they’ll watch it and then they’ll watch whatever is on next. A rally with no call to action is a failure, even if it was great fun.
You know how irritated you get when people tell you what you SHOULD be blogging about, and how you’re not addressing their pet topic? You sound like one of those people right now. Or to paraphrase Stewart from his legendary Tucker Carlson takedown, he’s not your monkey. Everybody I saw there was clearly politically engaged: you seem to have forgotten that public mockery can itself be a political act.
read my latest post. I am not criticizing those who attended or the quality of the entertainment.
I watched the whole thing on C-Span and listened to all of the viewer calls before and after the event. Before the event, the conservative callers were all just SURE that he was going to spend hours making them look stupid and not balance it with criticism of the Left.
When the rally was over, I was surprised to hear that most callers really enjoyed it, even the conservative ones. The callers were really calm and cool, unlike usual. A couple of Republican callers even claimed they’re changing their votes to Democrat this time because they’re sick of all the fear-mongering and the lack of any plans from their side. Many came away realizing that their “side” (whichever that might be) has done a lousy job and allowed all of Us regular people get ripped off and screwed over by powerful interests in the last 10 years or so. Not placing blame all on one side or the other, they seemed determined to throw all of the bums out, regardless of party.
I think that’s healthy. It takes way too much energy being mad at each other all of the time and it doesn’t help that our corporate media are so determined to keep stoking the flames of hatred and fear all in the interest of ratings. Why do we put up with that?
I agree, I listened to the callers at the end as well on Cspan and was very surprised, only 1 didn’t like the rally most thought it was wonderful.
.. and it doesn’t help that our corporate media are so determined to keep stoking the flames of hatred and fear all in the interest of ratings. Why do we put up with that?
Maybe for the same reason we put up with corn syrup in bread.
Not necessary for nourishment, not healthy, not always even recognized, but it serves the bottom line & people keep buying it.
A couple of Republican callers even claimed they’re changing their votes to Democrat this time because they’re sick of all the fear-mongering and the lack of any plans from their side.
I was surprised at this also. I think that people really did feel that the entire event was ‘sane’ and gave them a feeling of a return to ‘sanity’. And I think that they appreciated that feeling!
I think that it helped me a little bit also. I have been fighting tears yesterday and today just at the thought of what ‘could’ happen on Tuesday. Which is pretty silly, who knows, maybe it won’t be as bad as we are led to believe. And if it isn’t that bad, it will be a little bit because of the ‘sanity’ rally and also because of the President’s very hard work with numerous rallies coming possibly late enough that they are not reflected in the polls, at least accurately. Bill Clinton has also been working really hard.
What does upset me is when I hear, or read, of Hillary’s supporters saying things like… well, if Hillary was President we wouldn’t be in this fix. Poppycock! It would probably be worse!
Hillary would never have been elected because the Republicans were prepared to run against her and her husband’s sexual dalliances sine he left office. They wanted to run against her because she would be VERY easy to defeat by talking endlessly about “The Clenis” and HIS desire to return to power. Hillary would have been completely discounted. The Limbaugh crowd was so disappointed when they couldn’t work out a Primary win for her. Remember all of that?
Gotta disagree with you on this one. I drank the Obama Kool-Aid from the very beginning – volunteered at his first Feb. 2007 rally in LA, actually – and I saw firsthand the dirty tricks the Clinton crowd pulled during the Nevada primary. But still, there’s no question in my mind that had Hilary been the nominee she would have won. She was an excellent candidate derailed by her campaign, but even they wouldn’t have been able to fuck up the general election.
As for Bill’s escapades, remember that he survived exposure of them during his own election in 1992 (not to mention the Lewinsky stuff later on). I think if new stories about him had come out, even during Hilary’s campaign, it would have dominated a few news cycles but not had much impact beyond that. Just not shocking enough – not like Edwards or Spitzer, who both had squeaky-clean images before their scandals. For a scandal to really have an impact and damage a politician, it has to surprise people and change the way they think about the pol, usually for the worse. A new Bill scandal wouldn’t have changed the way the public thinks about him. We almost expect it at this point, and some in the polity (particularly among the generally Bill-approving cohort of Southern white men) might have been amused by it in a wink-wink/nudge-nudge way. And it might also have boosted some sympathy for Hilary among women too. The downside would have been a reinforcing of the image of Hilary as the cold, soulless pol willing to do anything to get ahead, including standing by her man even when she knows what he does behind closed doors.
But again, all that said I still don’t think it would have had much impact at all. You’d still have the Sept. 2008 economic collapse coming at the same time, effectively destroying whatever chances McCain had. I imagine they wouldn’t have picked Palin (not sure if that would have helped or hurt them, as there is some evidence that Palin is the only VP candidate in history to actually hurt her Presidential candidate’s chances.) Hilary would have crushed McCain in the debates, lots of people would have been glad to have seen a Clinton Restoration. She definitely would have won.
Now as for a Clinton Presidency, my personal opinion is that it wouldn’t have been nearly as successful as Obama’s has been so far. There’s a reason so many of us worked our asses off for the guy in the primary, after all. But that’s another story.
My only real beef with Hillary supporters is that they have refused to move on from her loss. They are stuck in a time before the primary election of 2008 and they are, well, just not very helpful to the process now, 2 plus years later.
At ‘Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear’ by Two Satirists, Thousands — Billions? — Respond – NYTimes.com
I disagree too Boo, Stewart did an awesome job. Is there more hate spewed by the right? Yes, probably. Is there NO over the top rhetoric from the left? Ummmm, NO!!! LOL!
Park estimates of 200K are awesome, what it doesn’t take into account is the hundreds of thousands that WANTED desperately to attend, but needed to be adults and tend to their obligations.
My favorite quote? “If everything is amplified, we hear nothing” So very, very true. The 24 hour a day news channels have destroyed the nations ability to think on their own. It has also caused many Americans unable or unwilling to understand the difference between opinion and fact.
I liked what Stewart said too. And we do all know there’s an election Tuesday…if all those folks made it to DC, they can make it to the voters booth too.
It was just great to watch a zillion happy getalong people, silly signs, silly hats, good music and think that for the Beck listeners maybe they noticed that there was no threat of violence anywhere.
The pundits sounded like they’d lost their minds on CNN afterwards, Gloria B just couldn’t find a way to spin it as a political event and she was literally gritting her teeth.
Hopefully everyone left the Mall tidy as Jon asked them to do. And yes, Finn has the best taste of all, Cat Stevens few minutes of Peace Train were smilemakers.
Some images from the rally, courtesy of the LA Times including a priceless pic of Ozzy with Cat Stevens. Who’da thought.
Color drawing of an eagle with red stripes, a blue field and stars on its head.
Love the Ozzy/Yusuf pic, but the signs are all great too. I hope Second Nature drops by to give us an update.
Golly gee. We are taking this rally much too seriously and ignoring the satire. The right wing is taking it seriously and missing the point. The media is taking it too seriously have are offended that it happened and that they were pwned.
I think there were a bunch of left-leaning people there but also moderates and conservatives who like Jon Stewart’s satire. I don’t think a guy with a Clemson University sports fundraising (IPTAY- I Pay Ten a Year – with the inflation since 1955) tee-shirt on necessarily leans left an might even miss Strom Thurmond.
He didn’t tell anyone what to do because they were doing it–being together with maybe 150,000 of their friends (coincidentally the target count to win a Congressional election) on the Mall in the nation’s capital city celebrating mundanity, normalcy, banality. To do that after 9/11 is quite revolutionary. Because it is the fear that has entrapped this country. Fear of all muslims and fear of all white Southerners, to begin with. Now not everyone or even a majority have those fears, but the culture reflected in the media and in the blogosphere wouldn’t let you know that — or at least the blogosphere is perceived that way on the left and the right.
You are right. The media will hate it because its primary message is that the media is stoking fear and making us all act insane. So what brings us together and allows us to lighten up? Entertainment, diverse entertainment (he wasn’t completely Broderesque–Toby Keith was not there). Sappy patriotism brings us together and coming from the “left” will drive overserious right wing folks nuts. Singing and doing silly stuff like the wave brings us together. Comedy that laughs at all of our diverse selves brings us together.
John Stewart is not primarily a political analyst although, by default and the lack of other intelligent analysts in the corporate media, a lot of his audience casts him in that role. He is an entertainer. But he also is a human being, a citizen, and a whole lot of other roles. He is a comedian who started and maybe still operates in improv. And his humor targets the most prideful, whether Democrat or Republican, right-wing or left-wing. Is he a progressive? Who knows? Who cares? His satire speaks. He has shown courage when appearing on other folks’ shows and is not intimidated by anyone, including Bill O’Reilly and President Obama.
People who are sane and value reason know what to do and will do it and probably have encouraged their neighbors to join them.
Only at the end did he state his purpose. It was to show that people can get together without rancor, can understand other folks’ trials, fears, anger, and that Americans in their everyday lives, not their political or sports discussions, cooperate every day, deal with frustration every day. A fact that seems to have less importance to a media that attracts eyeballs with conflict. And that getting together as Americans and having a good time poking fun at our fears and celebrating our sanity was enough. And his idealistic hope was this: he hoped that all who were there were entertained and thought that the investment of their time and money to attend was worth it.
It is staggering to realize how critical we have become of what is essentially not a philosophical or political statement. It is not High Broderism because Stewart’s statements are based on an understanding of what is going on with ordinary people and a celebration of what they are already doing instead of a lecture on compromise for compromise’s sake. Having Kareem Abdul Jabar and Yusuf Islam on was not something Broder would ever do. Mixing hip-hop, rock, pop, doo-wop, country, and gospel music is something Broder would never do. Asking people to do something as stupid as the wave or having them jump simultaneously and compare the results to and earthquake is something Broder would never do. And not taking himself seriously is something that Broder definitely would never do.
I hope the folks call-banking had some chance in breaks to see a part of it. I suspect a lot of people who were getting out the vote will TiVo it or watch in on streaming on the web. They are the ones who have mentioned how important it is for reasonable people to vote. And being local, they probably will have more influence that Stewart would have with a formal pitch.
I thought that given what the media hyped it as being, it was pitch perfect. As much the opposite in form, content, and spirit from Beck’s rally as could be imagined. And the signs people brought were outstanding; look at 40 of them on TPM.
BTW, Arianna Huffington bused 10,000 or so folks from New York to it.
Notice that I only commented on the part Stewart wanted me to take seriously.
I was not just addressing your comments but giving a general reflection after having seen the entire event on probably the finest streaming jobs I’ve seen. They apparently got sufficient server power to handle the load, which is not always true of the show.
And I was addressing some comments from other blogs in which folks were in a snit about a whole bunch of things. Rich entertainers. Middle-of-the-road messaging. Flag waving. Older performers. No hit’em over the head satire. There’s a crude way of describing the attitude, one that refers to a tough audience that just won’t laugh.
In this case, the medium was the message. And apparently 200,000-250,000 folks (Viacom-MTV-Comedy Central estimates) agreed to play extras in the drama. The joke is on the Village. What you saw was a huge part of the real America.
I know a Republican who went from watching Bill Maher during the Clinton administration (he remembers Christine O’Donnell’s appearances and thought them weird) to watching Stewart and Colbert. He’s not wild about the loonies in the GOP and loves the way Stewart and Colbert take them down and also the faux pas of the wimpy Democrats (not all Democrats are wimpy in his opinion but Stewart and Colbert certainly take down the wimpy ones). Needless to say, he’s not your stereotype of a Republican and now tends to do a lot of ticket-splitting. He would have enjoyed this rally immensely.
I suspect that there are more folks like him out there than hardcore Tea Party types. It is just that the GOP and the Village haven’t a clue what is going on in America (or want to create their own reality still).
Right. And I can fly by flapping my arms.
As an event, it was mostly entertaining. It was fun. It was true to what Stewart and Colbert are all about. I was only interested in Stewart’s speech. And, his speech was basically impertinent when measured against what’s about to happen. As a testimony, it was good. As an aspiring message, it was good. But to tell me that all his wanted was the audience’s presence? That’s bullshit. Or, it better be bullshit. What he should want is for what is about to happen not to happen. The more I think about this the angrier I get. I’ve been down on Olbermann lately, but tonight I’m taking his side.
To the extent that it was watched by other than left-leaning people either there, on cable, or streaming, there will be an effect. Measured against what is predicted to happen, the event provided some folks (like my Republican buddy if he saw it) an opportunity to stop fearing, stop being angry, and to think. That is all it was.
It is magical thinking to imagine it could be more. Just like it is magical thinking to imagine that Glenn Beck’s rally changed any minds or affected the election in any significant way.
There is no way out of our situation, no matter what happens Tuesday, but to continue to do the hard work of persuasion of our personal networks. That sort of persuasion by Republicans is a major reason we got into this situation. We are now where they were in 1982. Just as they did not sweep in enough conservatives with the election of Ronald Reagan, we did not sweep in enough change agents with the election of Obama. But the groundwork has been laid. In 1982, Democrats wound up with 269 seats and Republicans with 166 seats. In 1982, the Senate was in Republican hands (Howard Baker) and there was no change from its 54R – 46D composition. But out of that election, Reagan went to run in 1984 on “Morning in America”.
The trap that a Republican majority in the House lays for itself is the fact they have to move legislation or their fingerprints are on the inaction. And if they go down the road they are outlining of shutdown and impeachment, the backlash will come fairly quickly.
We will get what we will get on Tuesday, and we will figure out how to deal with its consequences. We are nowhere near the Constitutional crisis we had during the Nixon administration and nearly had during the Bush administration. A branch of government can be gridlocked for a time but movement eventually occurs. When the three branches of government are gridlocked, that becomes serious because checks and balances depends on one branch being able to legitimize the actions of one of the other two. When they are going in three different directions, the situation can get dicey; who is the umpire.
Sounds to me like someone needs to get a sesnse of humor. This wasn’t a GOTV rally: it was an enormous and successful practical joke. I’d write more, but I’m on an iPod. But I pretty much agree with the stuff Mum and THD wrote.
I was there in the massive, happy crowd. Everyone knows there’s an election in 3 days, Boo. I don’t think the pictures convey how motivated and engaged everyone was. We’ll see if it translates to more people actually bothering to vote, but it was such a royal pain in the ass to get there, with the rail/bus nightmare, that I’m pretty sure everyone who made it there is already motivated to walk a block and a half to their local polling place on Tuesday.
Stewart hit the right tone. And the media “elites” (Yay, I get to use elites!) don’t know what to do with him because he so often does their job better than they do. All their pearl-clutching is funny to watch.
I know several people who went to D.C. and took advantage of early voting, and I too feel that those who attended are probably already motivated to vote.
And I also enjoy the pearl-clutching.
‘Sometimes, it’s just New Jersey.’ More and more everyday I’d say. The greatest country in the world can’t even find the will and the means to build a tunnel under the Hudson River—just an ordinary tunnel, which isn’t any kind of rocket science by any means and which every other developed country in the world can build with its eyes closed—says everything about the state of the USA. We have created retro-reality. The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel must have been moved to Afghanistan or to the moon for that matter. The commute from New Jersy to New York is an absolute hellhole, every single day, going and coming. It can’t be helped, the wars must go on, the top 1 percent must continue to enjoy historically low taxes otherwise they might might claim foodstamps, etc.
To translate Brecht, Berlin, 1928: ‘Some people live in the light, others in darkness. Those in the light are visible, while those in darkness have disappeared from sight.’
And one other very subtle but important aspect of the rally: At a rally hosted by comedians, somehow Stewart helped us take back the “I’m an American, I’m a patriot” persona that the Right stole from us after Vietnam. It was perfect.