In the lead up to Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington DC on October 30, it seems the major media talking points were:
- What secret political message would Jon Stewart insert into his supposedly 'apolitical' event?
- What impact would he have on the upcoming Midterm elections?
No matter how much he protested, or how many different news outlets he appeared on - Larry King Live, NPR's Fresh Air - no one believed Jon Stewart when he (repeatedly) promised that his rally would not be political in content.
And low-and-behold, it wasn't. There were Zero politicians involved in the rally, no political talking points, and no references (snide or supporting) to political candidates. A day before Halloween, and there wasn't even a single Christine O'Donnell/ Witch joke.
Stewart & company went to great length to deliver exactly what they promised - a major rally in the nation's capital just 3 days before the midterm election that wasn't about politics.
Sure, some liberal groups seized on the assumed demographics to promote their own agendas - such as "Vote Sanity," which carried no specific partisan slogan, but which assumed a strong voter turnout among rally participants would ultimately skew Democratic. MediaMatters.org, a decidedly liberal, anti-Fox media group was also there pushing its message with crowd-pleasing "Fox News Keeps Fear Alive" posters. Also, free towels from Reese's and Team Fear/ Team Sanity sun shades from Yahoo! The $5 cheap plastic American flags were just as popular for the Daily Show crowd as they were for the Tea Party denizens. What could be more Free Market/ American than opportunistic capitalism and brand affinity promotions?
the special guest line up was not only balanced, it was hard to say where - or even if - it fit into the political spectrum. Former LA Laker Kareem Abdul Jabar, for example, is neither a hit with Liberals or Conservatives politically, and at 63 he's been out of basketball since many in the crowd were even old enough to follow it. He was at the rally as an example of a "nice Muslim," and managed to seem teddy-bear sweet even as he dwarfed both comedians at 7'2".
Other guests included the Mythbusters, SNL comedian Dan Novello, and Sam Waterston of Law & Order fame. While each seems to grab for different subniches of the audience - math/engineering geeks, 70s comedy fans, crime drama enthusiasts - none are known for having strong political opinions.
And when they did speak, whether Jon, Stephen, or any of their IRL or video-taped guests, it was not on the subject of politics. Detroit Tigers Pitcher Armando Galarraga was awarded a Medal of Reasonableness for not over-reacting when a referee improperly awarded a runner a base in what would have otherwise been a rare "perfect game." When contacted at his home in Venezuela, he said the referee was a nice man, trying his best to do a hard job, and that he appreciated that.
Stewart's apex came in his closing remarks - a mere 15 minutes at the end of the 3 hour event.
He called for cooperation, for compromise, for listening to the other side's argument. Everyone in the Moderate Majority will benefit - personally, socially, economically, even if not politically - from the acceptance that the 'other guy' can have a good point, even if we don't agree with them.
That was the message of Jon Stewart, delivered through throwback staged music contests, horribly off-tune anthems, forced crowd participation, 10 giant jumbotrons, 215,000 (plus?) participants, and one giant paper mache Stephen Colbert Fearzilla.
Dada and the Absurd more generally have often been pointed to as the mechanism employed by Stewart and his ilk, and if they do manage to affect, in any way, political events in this country or elsewhere, that will be the most bizarre outcome of all. Because it's not what they're trying to do, and people in the media need to stop reading tea leaves about the hidden Comedy Central agenda.
For those unable to attend the Rally in person, or stream it live on your computer, or watch it live on Comedy Central, or catch the coverage & commentary on CNN, NPR, or Fox News.... Here's a quick recap of what Stewart actually said in his various empassioned - but not overly exaggerated - calls for a return to sane, rational, civil discourse:
"We live in Hard Times, Not End Times"
One of Stewart's oldest pet peeves has always been the inappropriate application of hyperbole, such as calling someone you disagree with "Hitler" without really having any reason to back it up, much less a reason on par with orchestrating the Holocaust. Some of the best signs at the rally bore this trend out, such as "There was Only One Hitler," or "I disagree with you, but I'm pretty sure you're not Hitler." More generally, Stewart has accused pundits and politicians of intentionally ratcheting up the rhetoric so as to make realistically difficult, but not life-chaning issues, into matters of existential annihilation. Will the new Health Care system really sanction 'death squads' to hunt down elderly citizens? Can something I don't know about broccoli really kill me? Will a 'post-colonial' President work to destroy America?
No. That will not happen. In fact, that cannot happen, and asking leading questions as a means to drive ratings is not only facetious, it's unethical. The sky is not falling, and we all need to take a deep breath, and prepare ourselves to reaction with the type of moderate response that is actually called for by a proposal to raise taxes on just 1% of Americans, or witness the Republican takeover of just 1 house of Congress.
"We can have Animus without becoming Enemies"
Admittedly, he had to go into the Thesaurus to make this soundbyte work, though the more common saying would be a willingness "to agree to disagree." The idea that holding different opinions - even radically, diametrially opposed ones - no matter how passionate, does not - and need not - disqualify two individuals from being able to agree, coexist, and cooperate on other issues. Pro-Life and Pro-Choice activists, for example, would not be expected to set aside their differences on the Abortion questions. But where do they stand on Campaign Finance Reform? Sex Education? American Idol? Apple Pie? In all the complexity of our lives, no single issue - or even single arena, such as politics - should be allowed to overrule the diverse majority of who we are and how we live our lives.
Additionally, and maybe this is more where Stewart was going with it, even the Pro-Life and Pro-Choice advocates can debate, picket, even scream at each other for hours, but that doesn't sanction elevating their differences into the realm of hatred or physical violence. This has happened - clinic bombings, shootings, etc. - and it is exactly the scenario Stewart doesn't want to see develop elsewhere. Republicans and Democrats need not behave like Bloods and Crypts, knifing each other in an on-going turf war, etc.
The Press as Magnifying Glass Metaphor
One of my favorite Stewart metaphor's was a brief one he made about the Press as a Magnifying Glass. His words:
"The press can hold its magnifying glass up to our problems, bringing them into focus, illuminating issues heretofore unseen. Or they can use that magnifying glass to light ants on fire, and then perhaps host a week of shows on the dangerous, unexpected flaming ants epidemic."
What I like most about this point is that it shows how passionately Stewart is a proponent of the practice of journalism; this, then, explains his vitriol for the majority of our so-called journalists today as who pander to popularity and take the easier path of flammable insects. It's the reason why Fox News, MSNBC and CNN receive most of his attention - and barbs - and why more respectable journalistic institutions like the New York Times, NPR, etc. are less frequently on topic (the recent NPR kerphuffle with Juan Williams being a notable exception).
Stewart doesn't hate the media; he hates those in the media who do their job poorly. A Quarterback who thows more INTs than TDs, a Congressman who admits to taking bribes, or a childrens' toy manufacturer who continues using lead paint because it's cheaper... there are all people who would be appropriately ridiculed for not doing their job properly. Why not apply the same standards to those calling themselves journalists?
"If We Amplify Everything, We Hear Nothing."
Again, back to the 'End Times' anti-hyperbole argument. The idea that if everything - EVERYTHING - that is reported in the news is done in such a way as to seem like it is THE MOST IMPORTANT, MOST DANGEROUS, MOST IMMEDIATE issues EVER, then it becomes difficult to sort out which stories and issues are really worth our attention, and which we can reasonably ignore if we're busy feeding the kids. The benefits to the news media of convincing us that a child up in a balloon is really must-watch-tv are obvious, but one wonders how many times we will be fooled before we just stop paying attention. Asteroid headed for Earth? Whatever, you reported on that last week.
The Lincoln Tunnel / Zipper Traffic Metaphor
Stewart's closing argument, and an unusual apex to this unorthodox rally, was a visual case study on how Americans of slightly, moderately, and radically different opinions and life styles are able to put their ideological differences aside in pursuit of a common practical solution - a practice Stewart would like to see more of in governance and the media.
The example was the Lincoln Tunnel, traveling under the Hudson River from Manhattan to New Jersey, the entrace to which is just a few blocks away from The Daily Show studios in New York. As several aerial photographs drifted across the screen, Stewart identified the hypothetical drivers using 2-3 word categorizations.
"That's a schoolteacher who probably think his taxes are too high, he's going to work. There's another car, a woman with two small kids, can't really think about anything else right now... A lady's in the NRA, loves Oprah. There's another car, an investment banker, gay, also likes Oprah. Another car's a Latino carpenter; another car, a fundamentalist vacuum salesman. Atheist obstetrician. Mormon Jay-Z fan."
Unlikely though some of these combinations are, they do exist. And, even as much as it contradicts the media-fueled premise that 1-dimensional 'red' and 'blue' Americans can't get along, that is indeed exactly what happens. Even when, as the photos demonstrate, construction in the Lincoln Tunnel reduces traffic to a one-lane crawl in the middle of Friday rush hour.
"Every one of the cars that you see is filled with individuals of strong belief, and principles they hold dear--often principles and beliefs in direct opposition to their fellow travelers'. And yet, these millions of cars must somehow find a way to squeeze, one by one, into a mile-long, 30-foot-wide tunnel, carved underneath a mighty river. And they do it, concession by concession: you go, then I'll go. You go, then I'll go. You go, then I'll go. 'Oh my God--is that an NRA sticker on your car?' 'Is that an Obama sticker on your car?' It's okay--you go, then I go."
The end result of all this compromise, patience, and cooperation is that - eventually - everyone gets where they wanted to go. Home, work, church, their girlfriend's house, or just out of the city for the weekend. It's progress, and with each car that gets through, another can follow, and a new group of dissimilar people instinctively adopt the same system of apolitical compromise.
"Because we know, instinctively, as a people, that if we are to get through the darkness and back into the light, we have to work together. And the truth is there will always be darkness, and sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel isn't the promised land. Sometimes, it's just New Jersey."
You can find the full text of Stewart's closing speech (which I really do encourage to read) here, a very well-written recap by a rally attendee here, or a wonderfully casual conversation immediately after the rally between NPR's Andrea Seabrook & Guy Raz here.
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