At least 200,000 people showed up on the Washington Mall last Saturday. Ostensibly, the reason was to heed the clarion call of Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert, they of Comedy Central. The faithful mostly arrived on public transportation, comported themselves with dignity, watched the show and went home. There was no drinking (that I saw) and only an occasional doob wafting in the fall air. You know it's 2010 when the smell of marijuana causes the assembled multitude to nod in recognition. However, the smell of a tobacco cigarette caused irritation and annoyance. Not many Mad Men fans in the group.
Back to the reason that all those people decided to spend a beautiful Fall Saturday with 200,000 of their fellow humans. I haven't the foggiest. There might be a few Woodstockian parallels. The crowd was mostly young...by my standards anyway. There was a sense of a "happening". The idea that Jon Stewart had created an anti-Glenn Beck event caused younger DC types to want to show up and be counted. It would be nice if they remember that sentiment on Election Day but, if most are students, it's too late to vote back home. They weren't there for the food...Woodstock had better caterers. They weren't there for the music. That was fun but ancillary to the event. It was nice to see Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens (Honestly why not just use the name everyone knows?) in his most recent political/religious iteration. The point wasn't the show or the speeches. The comedy was OK but a distraction. The reason was to see how many people Stewart could get to show up. Think: How many people can you stuff into a phone booth times 200,000. Once everybody showed up, well, that was pretty much it. Actually, the visit from Father Guido Sarducci was enough for me.
There were signs everywhere. Some of my favorites are posted above. There was some soft-core politics, some representing a cause but most were just silly funny. The posters were perfect to the occasion: unfocused, random, even confusing. One poster said "God is a Sock". ? It was the national convention of non sequiturs. The universal factor was that everyone was having a good time. Smiles and good cheer were everywhere. There may be troubles aplenty in the Land but you would never know it in this crowd.
And that may have been the point. Stewart's message in his speech was that 24 hour media (read Fox News) fuels the notion that America is at war with itself, at war with President Obama and at war with Congress. Congressional Republicans want to be at war with Congressional Democrats. Democrats believe that Republicans are old, white and in the way. The rally symbolized the fact that a large percentage of the population isn't at war with anybody. If this had been 1968 the rally would have been called a "be in".
So America, see if you can stop being led around by Fox News and MSNBC. Try not letting air-headed chat specialists tell you what to be angry about. See if reading a paper (assuming you can get past the idea that all media is biased...mostly liberal bias) helps you form your own ideas and opinions. Regardless of your IQ, you can't really believe that Glenn Beck knows anything. You really don't think Keith Olbermann has all the answers. Try acting like the money your parents spent on your education didn't all go to waste.
So Stand Up! Go over to the window! Open it up and in a normal speaking voice say " I'm not actually mad at anyone and Rupert Murdoch should not tell me I am". Then close the window and go read a book...and not one of Becks.
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