Disappointed by Rally for Sanity

[many a good man]

I think PZ Myers at Pharyngula put it best:

But in the end, I was disappointed. It was also an afternoon of false equivalence, of civility fetishism, of nothing but a cry about the national tone, of a plea for moderation. And you can guess what I think of moderation.

A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.

Tom Paine

I don't want moderation, especially when the only people who will listen to Stewart and Colbert are the people on our shared side of the political aisle. I can understand where they're coming from; people like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin and Andrew Breitbart are poison, Fox News is a propaganda organ without bounds working for the far right-wing, we've got evangelical Christians demanding the installation of a theocracy, and on and on and on. But who, exactly, do Stewart and Colbert regard as the equivalent of Beck and Limbaugh on the left? Is it Rachel Maddow? Amy Goodman? Keith Olbermann?

Once again, we have someone bravely standing up and telling the people on their own side to stop being dicks, while being vague on the names and specifics.

So I'm at a loss about what we're supposed to do in the world according to Jon Stewart. Hey, all you people working for gay and lesbian equality, all you women asking for equal pay, all you workers trying to unionize, all you peaceniks trying to end the war in Afghanistan, all you nurses and doctors and clinic workers trying to maintain reproductive freedom and keep women alive, all you teachers trying to teach science and history without censorship, all you citizens trying to build a rational health care policy, all you scientists and doctors who want our country to progress in medical research, all you damned secularists who want to keep religion out of our schools and government, hey, hey, HEY, you! Tone it down. Quit making such a fuss. You're too loud. Shush. You're as crazy as the teabaggers if you think your principles are worth fighting for.

I, too, dream of a world with peaceful, reasoned discourse but this false equivalency does more harm than good. You have to point out the insanity. I don't want the lunatics to run the asylum while I civilly disagree. I want to disagree with reasonable people.

[blogslut]

1. I disagree

[Poboy]

2. recommend.

[MineralMan]

3. There's more than one way to point out insanity.

Some ways get a couple dozen people together. Others get a couple hundred thousand. You can choose your way.

All the ways are available to you.

[rawtribe]

4. It was a publicity stunt

to advertise a TV show. The people who showed up where just props for that ad. This was a corporate media event first and foremost.

[raven42]

7. I think Jon Stewert is so concernced

about preserving his likability to both the left and right, that he goes out of his way to exhort everyone to moderation, compromise, etc. I don't honestly believe he thinks the left is anywhere near as responsible as the right-wing for the poisonous political atmosphere in this country. But he's afraid to come out and say that. So what you end up with is this watered-down presentation that doesn't accomplish much of anything.

[rawtribe]

9. Stewert need audience numbers

to sell to advertisers. That's his number one concern. He doesn't care how he gets those numbers.

[Poboy]

13. This is the reason. Welcome to DU. -nt

[murielm99]

5. No.

I think all the people mentioned in the last paragraph are rational. The rally simply pointed this out. They go to a rally and behave sanely. The rally pointed out the differences.

It is false to say that we represent one side and they represent the other. They are not the other side of anything. They are a bunch of fringe lunatics who are getting too much attention.

Because I live in a red county, I see Republicans every day. I have to work and interact with them. Many of them are embarrassed by this group of nuts.

[woo me with science]

17. Yup.

I know many moderate Republicans who voted Obama after McCain selected Palin as VP candidate. They are upset at how their party is being dragged to the fringe.

People at DU like to imagine that the zealots on the right reflect all Republicans, but they really don't. There are a lot of sane, reachable Republicans out there, and I think this rally was very cleverly designed to appeal to them.

[many a good man]

20. I don't disagree with you but

I have to wonder if the rally reached Republican moderates or was merely preaching to the choir.

[woo me with science]

23. I don't know.

I do know that there was a lot of spin from the far right before this rally, predicting that it would be all about ridiculing "Middle America" and making fun of anyone who is not part of the "liberal elite" that we hear about all over the media lately.

The right wing was salivating, waiting for the clips and images along those lines. They planned to blanket the country with evidence that Democrats and liberals are arrogant and out of touch and nasty toward average Americans.

Instead, we got a rally about moving forward, reaching out to and laughing with each other, and identifying some (not all, but some) of the most important things that are making our country sick.

I thought they did a fantastic job.

[Doctor_J]

30. Well they have certainly found enough common ground to ruin the nation

Be it teabaggers or old-school repukes, they are both doing their damnest to take the country back to the failed Bush years.

[bobbolink]

6. Sadly, when these thousands of people realize what "moderation" has done in these times, it will be

too late.

I guess the only way they will learn that is by reaping the results.

:(

[Poboy]

10. Reaping the results-and they're coming. No doubt about it.

[many a good man]

18. "Reaping the results"...again and again

Half step forward, two steps back.

[bobbolink]

40. Sadly, its us poor folk who pay the price. Again and again and again.

But we are even more invisible than we were decades ago... when Johnson decided to put an end to "poverty as we know it".

[Proud_Lefty]

8. Stewart and Colbert never said they represented us

I'm in complete agreement with your points. The voices on the right are liars and promote hate and violence against the left. I look at all the conservatives in my office, my neighborhood, my family and even our circle of friends, and I am completely perplexed that they believe and live by that nastiness, because I know they really don't. I was a little upset to see Keith Olberman put into the montage of insanity when really Olberman stands up and speaks the truth with the forcefulness we want more representatives on the left to show. But there was a point they made that I liked a lot.

We can focus on our differences - divide and conquer

or

We can focus on how we can live together peacefully despite what these pundits say.

I pick the latter. And if we can get that message to the far right, maybe they can see us liberals as the good people we are. Maybe we can start making the changes you brought up from the vantage point instead of the sad place we've been at for so long, which seems like a no win situation.

[aquart]

11. That's Obama's policy.

You think it's worked?

[many a good man]

15. Polls showed that's what people wanted

Obama bent over backwards to compromise but got nothing in return. He failed to point out the insanity of some of his attackers and gained no credit for it. Now we all have to pay for it.

[Proud_Lefty]

34. Obama is still trying - has made a lot of progress

despite all the assholes fighting him the whole way. Sometimes, I wish he would say, "F/U. We're doing it my way, with or without you" cause he gets blamed for doing that anyway. You make a point and I do wish Obama wouldn't be so passive. Obama is a democratic politician, voted in by his liberal base, but leans way towards the center. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are comedians that call themselves "neutral", but lean towards the left. There's definitely a difference.

[TheKentuckian]

21. How is easy. You just have to roll over for the bullies, lie down in the dirt and take your beatings

without complaint, eat shit, and die.

If that doesn't appeal to you then prepare for conflict because the people that your family, friends, and neighbors serve aren't interested in your kumbaiya moment or peace but rather getting every copper and a free run on every resource.

Unmitigated greed does not seek or even tolerate compromise.

[kenny blankenship]

25. "maybe they can see us liberals as the good people we are. "

Go ahead and "reason" with this.

[Proud_Lefty]

36. Forgot why I stayed away from the GD Board

Thanks for the reminder.

[kenny blankenship]

37. You're entirely welcome

[leftstreet]

12. K&R

[Arugula Latte]

14. Overall I think the rally was a good thing

however, I do think it is ridiculous to portray the viciousness and thuggishness of the right (and its exponentially more powerful media outlets pushing the propaganda 24/7) as being the equivalent of, what, a few uncivil words on a leftwing blog somewhere, or Keith Olbermann's occasional rants.

[stray cat]

16. I was surprised so many progressives enjoyed a rally based on working together versus mass hatred

since it was based on restoring sanity and not on building up any base

[coti]

19. I know what you mean. I kind of wish Stewart hadn't gotten into the mix.

It should have just been Colbert's rally, as originally intended. Stewart co-opted it.

A rally just surrounding Stephen's character would have been more effective and had a more accurate message- "You guys are idiots."

[Gabi Hayes]

22. have to agree with you there. the funniest moments were pretty clearly provided by

the 'fearmongers'

and, as for working together with one's opponent, the pugs have been practicing that for how long? pretty much never, you say?

they play the 'game' to WIN, and, if the polls are correct, it looks, once again, like lying, cheating, obfuscations, recalcitrance, bullying, appealing to the lowest common denominator, divisiveness, etc., win once again.

[TexasObserver]

24. Disagree. I thought it was superb.

It was well planned and well performed. It was entertaining and instructional. It made political points without belaboring them.

Unlike the typical political rally, it wasn't a boring mess of badly done speeches, by one person representing a special interest group after another. It lacked the long, bloviating speeches so common to rallies.

It was a three hour event, not an all day long marathon. That meant less trash and fewer demands for toilet facilities.

They made some points about acceptance of others. The whole thing was worth it to make the point that a billion plus Muslims haven't done anything wrong to anyone here.

They kept it entertaining and they kept it fairly light. My immediate reaction was that this was good for Democrats running for congress. The implicit message is that things are not nearly as fearful as major media make them appear. Jon's comparison to the Fun House mirrors and their distortion was sound.

[obxhead]

27. Good thing too. The porta potties were all being sat on top of

and the roofs of them were caving in.

[TexasObserver]

29. We should have permanent, sufficient toilet facilities there.

Our government should build sufficient toilet facilities to service these huge crowds, and those facilities should be made available in stages as the crowd increases in size. Such facilities would be closed except for large events. Porta potties in the Capital Complex? We can do better.

[obxhead]

32. Never going to happen.

That would only encourage more such events. The last thing the Government wants is people gathering on their lawn and telling them how badly they are doing.

[Peregrine Took]

26. I don't "get" either one of them. They aren't funny and all Stewart does

is mug to the camera. Ugh!

[obxhead]

28. ummm that's in his job description.

I find both of them endlessly hilarious myself though.

That's one of the great things about America. We can have our own opinions and have the choice of who and what to watch for entertainment.

[uncommon]

31. He wasn't telling those with legitimate grievances to tone it down.

He was telling the media and those whose only goal is to poison the well that a large percentage of the people are on to them and don't want to hear it anymore.

[LostInAnomie]

33. And if he would have made the whole event a full throated attack on RWers...

... you would have had people whining a him just adding to the divisiveness.

Stewart is right. The crazies, bomb throwers, and sensationalists should be ignored. The 24/7 cable media hype mediocre events and non-issues into catastrophes for the purpose of ratings. Lazy TV programmers stage political confrontation and shout-fests and try to pass it off as "presenting both sides".

The point of the rally wasn't to solve America's political divide. It was to tell the media that they are making things worse.

[Scruffy1]

35. This was all about lowering expectations

[Urban Prairie]

38. The name and intent of this rally was to "Restore Sanity"

It was never intended to be a rally with the intent of matching or outdoing assemblies of protesting teabaggers, or to incite, infer, or promote verbal or physical harm to rightwingers.

Why should the rally attendees been required, obligated, or expected to lower their standards to those Tea Party groups' level?

If there should be anyone feeling very disappointed with the results of this rally, it really would or should be the controversy-craving MSM and conservatives, because they were left with little or nothing worth criticizing or objecting to afterwards. IMO.

[many a good man]

39. Intentions

I didn't go to the rally expecting to see a partisan barn burner. I like JS and SC a lot and just hoped for a better job promoting sanity without resorting to the same false equivalency we see all over.

I also disagree that this event was aimed solely at the media. They were plainly addressing everyone: pundits, politicians activists and grass roots.