Rally to Restore Sanity/Keep Fear Alive

Jesus Christ what a clusterfuck. I was all ready to enjoy the thing for what it was worth. I got there not too long after 10 and couldn't see or hear anything. The large age range just created a bizarre dynamic: lots of older folks who apparently thought this was an old-fashioned rally-type rally, and a million of the expected 20-and-30-somethings who would not stop making terrible jokes. I saw very very few "signs" that were anything funnier than a novelty T-shirt.

Left not too long after things started. Yes, I love the Roots, but I saw them on the Mall earlier this year from the front of a much more chill crowd for Earth Day. Instead, took advantage of the glorious day and took a lengthy urban hike with stops for half-smokes and yogurt with my crew.

I'm mystified about why anyone would travel from Cincinnati to stand in a giant crowd for hours and maybe see a jumbotron, especially when the "cause" was so nebulous. There was a large component of Obama-shirted stock liberals, and it seemed like the general consensus was that the "insanity" we were trying to combat was not the bi-partisan fear-mongering of the media (as Stewart and Colbert intended) but just all the people we disagree with (the Right). And that seems pretty counterproductive.

At least I saw the Dragon Bus and the samurai parade which, holy shit, and plus it gave me an excuse to enjoy the city on a nice fall day.

and here is a slideshow of mine…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexdc/sets/72157625150402919/show/

Hieronymus wrote:
I'm mystified about why anyone would travel from Cincinnati to stand in a giant crowd for hours and maybe see a jumbotron, especially when the "cause" was so nebulous. There was a large component of Obama-shirted stock liberals, and it seemed like the general consensus was that the "insanity" we were trying to combat was not the bi-partisan fear-mongering of the media (as Stewart and Colbert intended) but just all the people we disagree with (the Right). And that seems pretty counterproductive.

In case you haven't noticed, most of the crazies are on the Right.  If this motivates some of the people in the crowd to vote on Tuesday, it will not  have been counterproductive at all.  Even if you and your "crew" didn't get to see the Roots.

anywhere to watch a re-broadcast of the rally?  i was there today, but didn't actually get to hear much of what stewart and colbert said…

sweetcell wrote:
anywhere to watch a re-broadcast of the rally?  i was there today, but didn't actually get to hear much of what stewart and colbert said…

There are a bunch of clips already on youtube.
I stuck around long enough to see The Roots and the introduction of Stewart and Colbert; when it became evident that they weren't going to boost the volume so that those of us even a block away from the stage could hear what was being said my friend and I split.  A big thank you to everyone who suffered by taking the Metro making for almost no traffic on the 14th Street bridge and allowing me to park about 6 blocks away  ;D

Doctor wrote:
In case you haven't noticed, most of the crazies are on the Right.   

That's your opinion. From what I've witnessed, there are about the same amount of crazies within the extremes of BOTH sides.

I went to the mall at 8:30 because i had to go to the breast cancer walk, and at that time i already saw a lot of people going to the rally, afterwards i met my girlfriend at the exit of the smithsonian metro around 11:30, made our way right in between of the air and space museum and  the american indian museum. we  stayed there for the roots and the beginning of the show, then we thought we could go even farther up but it was the wrong move…when we realized it was going to be impossible to get a better spot we went to the media tent located behind the stage, where we found these two huge mastiffs dogs and it was pure joy to play with them a little bit. having been outside the whole morning-early afternoon, i got hungry and went home to watch the end of the rally, it was fun though, i don't think there was a political (partisan) message at all, but in the attendance there were plenty of politically motivated folks and also a lot of people who went there just for the entertainment, which is fine with me. i watched c-span afterward and a couple of republican callers said they were changing their vote after watching the rally…and that's a good thing…

i couldn't find a cat protesting the white house . . . but what's the difference.

Jaguar wrote:

Doctor wrote:
In case you haven't noticed, most of the crazies are on the Right.   

That's your opinion. From what I've witnessed, there are about the same amount of crazies within the extremes of BOTH sides.

Jaguar's got it. And did you listen to Stewart's speech at the end? 'Cos as far as I could tell, he was saying the same thing. Your crazy = Right reasoning is an obstruction to progress, and part of the same exaggerated characterization of viewpoints that he was calling out in the media.

clever t-shirt - check
clever and popular sign (see below) - check
a wide of ages represented around me - check

i'm feeling validated after Jon's speech

some bits works some bits fell flat, the train song bit particularly inspired, the gasp in my area when Yusef was announced was very cool, kinda wish he gotten a chance to the whole song since doesn't actually make that many appearance.

alot of the musical segments really fell flat, especially Legend's epically boring song. 

The Mythbuster's bit was fun, but they clearly suffered from some volume issues.

the pairing of Cobert's theatrics with John's talking head role really didn't wrong either for some their bits

fun afternoon out, seeing clever signs and lots of normal folks hanging worth the trip down!

Hieronymus wrote:

Jaguar wrote:

Doctor wrote:
In case you haven't noticed, most of the crazies are on the Right.   

That's your opinion. From what I've witnessed, there are about the same amount of crazies within the extremes of BOTH sides.

Jaguar's got it. And did you listen to Stewart's speech at the end? 'Cos as far as I could tell, he was saying the same thing. Your crazy = Right reasoning is an obstruction to progress, and part of the same exaggerated characterization of viewpoints that he was calling out in the media.

Sorry, I don't base my world view on Jon Stewart's opinions, or any other televised comedian.  While the right and left have equal numbers of crazies, the left's crazies are largely on the margins.   No mainstream Democrat respects 911 Truthers for example. The right's crazies are currently in the center, and the Republicans are at an advanced stage of purging their party of any reasonable people.

The real obstruction to progress is the idea that both sides are equally the problem.  The Republican Party has basically forfeited their right to govern.   We need a two-party system, and we need people who represent differing viewpoints, but the GOP and the Teabaggers aren't it.

Stewart/Colbert Rally less than a month in planning 215K estimated attendance

Beck Rally several months in planning 87K

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20021284-503544.html?tag=stack

Metro said 400K riders today when normally 130K  and lots of people came by bus.

Doctor wrote:
The right's crazies are currently in the center, and the Republicans are at an advanced stage of purging their party of any reasonable people.

The real obstruction to progress is the idea that both sides are equally the problem.  The Republican Party has basically forfeited their right to govern. We need a two-party system, and we need people who represent differing viewpoints, but the GOP and the Teabaggers aren't it.

We're basically on the same page here – the only thing I was really objecting to was that not enough distinction is being made between the Tea Party and the GOP, which discredits what remains of the viable second party that it once was. And that only gives the Teabaggers more power. I think we can agree on that. Anyway, didn't mean to spark a debate, was just giving a report on the event.

Also: those numbers might be a sign that the Tea Party isn't quite as huge as we make it out to be.

the numbers prove Stewart's point of having the rally… the Tea-Party movement which is a whole lot more mainstream media savvy then they'll ever admit too…. so with their numerous protests ("big" and small)  which get plenty of coverage and then creates the perception they are current "voice" of American electorate.  John and his writers are very smart and level-headed so the closing remarks,  which served as part critic of the media and the current political system, part motivational speech to those attending.  Hopefully many beyond the rally were paying attention to his smart words, but doubtful because he'll be dismissed as merely being a "liberal" comedian..

also i saw this on twitter and it's a cool summation of the event -

"This is Comic-Con for political nerds"

edit: I also took walkie's advice and put my phone away  ;)

How come the only black people there were John Legend and the Roots?  I saw more African-Americans at the Beck/Tea Party rally.  Don't kid yourself about the "Rainbow" of people there yesterday.  It was more upper class Whitey than a Radiohead/Wilco/Arcade Fire show.

Brian

Hieronymus wrote:

Doctor wrote:
The right's crazies are currently in the center, and the Republicans are at an advanced stage of purging their party of any reasonable people.

The real obstruction to progress is the idea that both sides are equally the problem.  The Republican Party has basically forfeited their right to govern. We need a two-party system, and we need people who represent differing viewpoints, but the GOP and the Teabaggers aren't it.

We're basically on the same page here – the only thing I was really objecting to was that not enough distinction is being made between the Tea Party and the GOP, which discredits what remains of the viable second party that it once was. And that only gives the Teabaggers more power. I think we can agree on that. Anyway, didn't mean to spark a debate, was just giving a report on the event.

Also: those numbers might be a sign that the Tea Party isn't quite as huge as we make it out to be.

ok, we're good!

Brian_Wallace wrote:

How come the only black people there were John Legend and the Roots?  I saw more African-Americans at the Beck/Tea Party rally.   Don't kid yourself about the "Rainbow" of people there yesterday.  It was more upper class Whitey than a Radiohead/Wilco/Arcade Fire show.

Brian

more predictable than a teapartiers commentator anywhere on the interweb…

kosmo wrote:

Brian_Wallace wrote:

How come the only black people there were John Legend and the Roots?  I saw more African-Americans at the Beck/Tea Party rally.   Don't kid yourself about the "Rainbow" of people there yesterday.  It was more upper class Whitey than a Radiohead/Wilco/Arcade Fire show.

Brian

more predictable than a teabagger commentator anywhere on the interweb…

Exactly the very same kind of comments often thrown towards the Tea Parties about how light skinned their turn outs tend to be. Maybe, just maybe, that's more reflective of how Black people tend to regard these sorts of events. Don't really know the answer.

Doctor wrote:
The real obstruction to progress is the idea that both sides are equally the problem. 

Personally, I disagree with just about everything you wrote but not up for a big debate so I'll only address this one statement. In my opinion, among that of many others from both sides, this is the one that I could not be any more diametrically opposed to. A very large bulk of the politicians of both sides have proven that they don't represent the people anymore. Yes, even within your own beloved Democratic party. The very reason why so many of them are moving away from a number of their representatives that they've put in office, some even into the GOP's camp, which I do not believe will solve any of their concerns. Most of the ones that I know aren't necessarily leaving their preferred party (and that's from both ends) but are completely disgusted with the actions of what their representatives are doing, and yes, that includes some very, very hardcore dyed in the wool Democrats who are pissed off with the leadership within the Democratic party. They aren't turning Republican, or even Tea Party, but they recognize that there is too much toxic waste within that needs cleaning out. I agree that the Republican regular Joes took this step first with wanting to get away from the Neocons but give your own people some credit for recognizing a problem and wanting to put it back to what they believe it's ideals are supposed to be. 

Too much corruption and ownership within both sides… YES! Equally!
Both, all too often, end up leading us into:

* the escalation and even inciting of more wars, ala the military industrial complex (Can you say Blackwater?)
* the loss of decent American jobs… or jobs period!
* more and more Banksterism robbing us of our money and controlling political decisions even against the peoples desires
* the loss of more and more of our rights and freedoms
* more and more Big Brotherism spying and tracking every factor of our lives
* preferential treatment and benefits for the elite and top governmental politicians while continuing to put the screws to the majority of American tax payers
* the total collapse of the housing industry and the complete and utter fraud of the mortgage industry

That's a limited list but each parties' leaders have moved away from representing the people and, instead, doing what their puppet masters (too often some major bank or corporation) want them to do.

As they say, if you can't see this, or are in total denial of this, than you are part of the problem.