We’re headin’ to Washington! The entire American Freethought crew will be in attendance at Jon Stewart’s “Rally to Restore Sanity” October 30th on the National Mall.
If there’s one drum The Daily Show beats on over and over, it’s that politics in this country has become absurd, in a way it didn’t used to be. It’s not enough just to disagree with Obama. Politically viable opposition nowadays means you have to assert that Obama is not an American citizen, is a terrorist-loving socialist, or a Communist, or a secret Muslim. (And lest liberals think they’re off the hook, they should remember the days when George W. Bush was equated with Hitler. He was a horrible president, but Hitler?) Nobody can debate the issues anymore on merit alone. It’s not enough to have ideas that win–the object now is to win, period.
And the media isn’t helping. Fox News started the ball rolling on this one. It’s not so much that they offer a conservative take on the news–it’s that they turned TV debate into gladiatorial combat. Get Al Sharpton talking to G. Gordon Liddy, and it’s pure gold entertainment-wise, but it adds nothing substantive or productive. And it’s led to absurdities like Sarah Palin being a viable political force, and candidates like Rand Paul and Christine O’Donnell having an actual shot at federal power.
Anybody remember Jon Stewart’s 2004 appearance on Crossfire? Where he chastised the news commentary business for being “partisan hacks” and for “hurting America.” Here’s a taste:
We’d like to hear from our readers/listeners on why they’re attending (or not attending).
What a fun coincidence, I watched that video of Jon Stewart just today myself to remember how he demolished that weaselly Tucker Carlson. I can’t go, I just can’t make the time and I loathe crowds.
I’ll be there! I’m only about an hour away from the District, Metro parking’s free on weekends (although it may be packed that day anyway) and the release date of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn was pushed back to November 29th so I don’t really have anything to do that weekend!
And, of course, I’m sick and tired of the extreme ideologues and special-interest groups screaming over everyone else (although not to be confused with the SIGs and corporations that just silently wave their money over everyone else’s heads) and hijacking the political discourse in this country over the stupidest frigging things.
But most importantly to try and help this rally be bigger than Beck’s. As long as there are more people at Stewart’s rally than at Beck’s, I shall consider it a trip worthily made.
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Great to hear Free Thought will be at the rally! As free thinkers I believe our primary goal is to restore sanity in all aspects of thought. Love the show and if you guys are all gathering somewhere you should let us know, I’m sure my Ohio group would love to show Free Thought Support. Keep spreading the word about the rally, I hope it hits number higher then Glenn Beck’s rally.
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