Stewart speaks at the rally Oct. 30.
Equal parts humor and serious message, the “Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear” took place on Washington, D.C.’s famed National Mall Oct. 30. Jon Stewart, host of the satirical Daily Show, and Stephen Colbert, host of the sister show The Colbert Report, took to the stage to lead what have most termed a counter-demonstration against the right-wing Tea Party rallies of past months.
Specifically in their sights was clearly Fox News political pundit Glenn Beck’s “Rally to Restore Honor” at the Lincoln Memorial in August.
“The country’s 24-hour politico-pundit-perpetual-panic conflictinator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder,” Stewart said at the rally.
Comedy Central, the cable television station that broadcasts Stewart and Colbert’s shows, estimated 250,000 people turned up for the rally. Though Colbert sent a Twitter message saying: “Early estimate of the crowd size at rally: 6 billion.”
Colbert played his usual role of fake ring-wing pundit thus hoping to provide the “fear” portion of the event. Among the other highlights was an appearance by Colbert sporting a red, white and blue Evil Knievel-style jump suit.
Back-to-back performances by Ozzy Osbourne and Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) of Crazy Train and Peace Train, respectively, made for eclectic musical fare, along with showings by Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and The Roots.
Below are a few more of the “visual highlights,” and a whole lot more is available at Comedycentral.com:
Wit was in no short supply as the crowd clearly mirrored the irony of the comedians onstage.
The previous portrayal of U.S. President Barack Obama with a Hitler mustache at Tea Party rallies was a frequent topic addressed by signs.
Islam has also been targeted by signs at previous Tea Party rallies, prompting responses Oct. 30.
“Legalize sanity” put a satirical take on signs that usually tout legalizing assorted consumables.
While the rally was clearly politically oriented, humor was the real order of the day.
Comments are closed.