In today’s political world, sanity is hard to find. Turning on the television, we find ourselves constantly hammered by pundits and talking heads on both sides of the aisle whose sole aim is to cover the juiciest news for the highest ratings.
That system is inappropriate. On Saturday, two well-known comedians, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, decided to team up and put on an event to protest that system, calling it the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, a direct jab at Glenn Beck’s Rally for America earlier this year.
The rally, in many ways, was hugely successful. Though the official permit made space for 60,000 people, CBS Corp. estimates put the rally attendees closer to 215,000. Compare that to CBS’s estimate for the Glenn Beck rally of 87,000 (although Fox estimated more than 500,000 visitors).
That shouldn’t be surprising. Most of us are in the middle, and that’s where Stewart and Colbert cater. It makes sense that such an event would attract a greater number than a rally focusing on one far-right fringe group.
Besides the hundreds of thousands who showed up, a number of celebrities also made an appearance at the event. The list includes The Roots, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Mavis Staples, Tony Bennett, Sam Waterston, Jeff Tweedy, Kid Rock and Ozzy Osbourne.
Yet, the rally’s success goes beyond the numbers.
At its base, Colbert and Stewart are protesting what politics in this country stand for today. They’re protesting that we’re becoming too heated and disrespecting our fellow Americans. Our cable and television stations promote heated and sometimes downright mean arguments, as the guy who yells the loudest, cries the most or says the most ridiculous things often dominates the ratings.
It’s both sad but appropriate that it took a pair of comedians to remind us of our values.
The rally showed the reality of the middle. It showed that most Americans really are not represented by the Fox News Channels or the MSNBCs. It showed that most Americans just want a few simple things that our politicians can accomplish without so much discourse. It showed just how out-of-touch our politicians have become and how our television news shows have become a horrific mix of talking heads and pundits seeking to divide us.
Those realizations, and the fact that they were broadcast to the world, is why this rally was so powerful.
