anyone watching the rally?

[Crackpot]

It's on Comedy Central and Cspan

[The Hen]

Are we talking this Rally?

Thousands drawn to TV comedians' rally

* From: AP
* October 31, 2010 4:32AM


A SANITY rally blending laughs and political activism has drawn thousands to the US capital, with two popular hosts of satirical cable TV news shows offering an appeal for moderation and civility in polarised times.

Organisers insisted Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear," just days before Tuesday's congressional elections, isn't about politics.

Still, that hasn't dampened the hopes of supporters and left-leaning advocacy groups seeking to rekindle some of the voter enthusiasm for Democrats seen in 2008, particularly among young adults.

Festive crowds swarmed on to the National Mall hours in advance, stickers and signs reflecting the call for people to take it easy. "Vote sanity," stickers said. Slogans urged "relax."

But one sign read: "Righties, don't stomp on my head," a reference to an incident before a Senate debate in Kentucky when a liberal activist was pulled to the ground and stepped on.

Stewart, host of Comedy Central's Daily Show, is popular especially with Democrats and independents, a Pew Research Center poll found. Colbert of The Colbert Report poses as an ultraconservative commentator. Both shows draw a younger audience than for many cable programs, a key segment since adults 18-29 are half as likely as those 30 and older to vote.

The stage on Saturday was stacked with entertainers associated with Democratic causes or President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign.

Even so, Stewart said the day was about toning down anger and partisan division. "Shouting is annoying, counterproductive and terrible for your throat," he said on his website.

The list of entertainers included musicians Sheryl Crow and The Roots. Actor Sam Waterston and comedian Don Novello, who years ago played Father Guido Sarducci on the TV comedy show Saturday Night Live, were also expected to appear.

The rally generated extensive buzz on the internet, with more than 226,000 people on a Facebook page created for the event saying they would attend. The liberal Huffington Post was sending a caravan of 10,000 people on 200 buses from New York, while TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey expressed her support by providing travel expenses to a Daily Show studio audience of about 200 members so that they could attend.

Comedy Central's park permit puts the crowd estimate at 60,000. There were plans for satellite rallies in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver and Honolulu.

Stewart and Colbert encouraged attendees to bring signs with slogans such as "Real patriots can handle a difference in opinion," "It could be worse but let's not make it that way," and "Death to Nobody."

Organising for America, Obama's political operation based at Democratic National Committee headquarters, was setting up a "Phone Bank for Sanity" after the rally to urge people to vote on Tuesday.

Groups planning to enlist supporters at the event include Naral Pro-Choice America, which supports abortion rights; D.C. Vote, which aims to give the US capital a voting representative in the House of Representatives; and backers of California's Proposition 19 to legalise marijuana.

"The vitriol and hatred toward our president and Democrats, it has become so extreme that it kind of scares me," said Margaret Espaillat, 49, of Orlando, Florida, who's hoping the rally will improve the political tone and galvanise Democrats. She planned to attend with her three sons who are in college and her husband, an Army colonel.

Saturday's event mirrors the "Restoring Honour" rally held in August by Glenn Beck, the Fox News commentator popular among conservatives. Beck, too, played down his event as a political rally; Stewart has described his simply as an alternative format for the mock-news humour seen by millions of Comedy Central viewers each night on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

On his radio show this week, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh mocked the Saturday event. He says it will give the tea party movement and other conservatives a chance to build voter turnout for Tuesday while Democrats go to Washington to "smoke some doobies" and listen to a "couple of half-baked comedians."

The rally is promoting charitable causes. Stewart is asking attendees to help restore the National Mall, which has a $US400 million backlog of deferred maintenance. Colbert is asking people to contribute to Donors Choose, which raises money for school supplies; proceeds from sales of rally merchandise also will go to the Yellow Ribbon Fund to help wounded soldiers.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/th ... 5945648569

[loCAtek]

Oh yeah! It's the first mobile news page I've seen reach 38 ...no, 39 pages!

[Crackpot]

one of the better write ups (youtube links in the link)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20 ... -d-c-rally

Stewart knocks media, political class at D.C. rally

By Michael Calderone
1 hr 29 mins ago


Jon Stewart made the case for sanity; Stephen Colbert argued for fear. And for most of Saturday's joint rally, the Comedy Central hosts played their parts—the reasonable, liberal talk show host and faux right-wing cable news blowhard. It seemed like an extended live version of "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report."
But Stewart got serious in the final minutes, criticizing the political and media establishment for turning a magnifying glass on minor differences instead of what binds people together. Stewart, a cable host himself, routinely skewers the press on the "The Daily Show" and singled out the media for extended criticism during his closing statement. "If we amplify everything," he told those who flocked to the National Mall in Washington D.C., "we hear nothing."
You can watch Stewart's speech in full below:

"The country's 24-hour-politico-pundit-perpetual panic-conflictinator did not cause our problems," Stewart said. "But its existence makes solving them that much harder."
Stewart, continuing on that theme, said that "we hear every damn day about how fragile our country is" or that there's "polarizing hate," and that "it's a shame we can't work together to get things done."
"The truth is, we do," he said. "We work together to get things done every damn day," Stewart said. "The only place we don't is here"—meaning Washington D.C.—"or on cable TV. But Americans don't live here or on cable TV. Where we live, our values and principles form the foundation that sustains us while we get things done, not the barriers that prevent us from getting things done."
In a press conference after the rally, Stewart batted down recent media chatter about his role—whether as an entertainer, a media critic, a political activist, or something else altogether.
"I don't know what it accomplished," Stewart said when asked about the media impact of the event. "But I'm sure we'll find out." He told another journalist he "couldn't care" what's written about him, and brushed off questions about whether people should vote and his show's influence in Washington politics. "Our currency is not this town's currency," Stewart said.
Stewart has an ongoing gripe with the media and political establishment—as was evident late in the afternoon and in the post-rally press conference. But most of the "Rally to Restore Sanity And / Or Fear" was much more lighthearted, with the two hosts playing off one another throughout.
Click image to see photos from the rally

Reuters/Jim Bourg
Stewart and Colbert debated sanity vs. fear during a segment called "Formidable Opponent," with Colbert saying that "every point must have a counterpoint—that is physics."
They also acted in a skit about which musical act best expresses the rally's theme.
After Stewart brought out Yusuf Islam—formerly known as Cat Stevens—to sing "Peace Train," Colbert burst in with special guest Ozzy Osbourne to overpower the folk singer with his classic, "Crazy Train." The two hosts kept interrupting until Islam and Osbourne left the stage arm-in-arm and a compromise was struck: The O'Jay's "Love Train."
There were other gags, including awards for reasonableness—Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga for his graceful handling of a blown umpiring call that ruined his perfect game—and for fear, with news organizations getting recognition for warning staff not to attend the rally because they might be perceived as partisan. (Colbert gave the award to a seven-year-old girl since news outlets were scared to come). The Roots warmed up the crowed and musicians Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, and Jeff Tweedy also hit the stage throughout the day.
Organizers estimated that 250,000 people attended the event, but there is not going to be any official estimate since the parks service no longer does their own tallies. CBS News plans to have an estimate later today.
Related:
Jon Stewart's rally raises questions about comedian's role
How many will attend Stewart-Colbert rally?
Obama makes historic appearance on 'Daily Show'

(Photo: AP/ Carolyn Kaster)