For years US comic Jon Stewart has been a popular voice of reason in American broadcasting - the face of the US media it's OK to like. He has done his bit to douse, through satire, the flames of extreme conservatism fanned by the right-wing media.
But as parts of the US embrace more enthusiastically their own breed of fear and fundamentalism it seems Stewart is upping his own game.
As such, the TV star has announced his "Rally To Restore Sanity" - a planned coming together of like-minded moderates (from both sides of the political divide), launched via his Comedy Central vehicle The Daily Show.
The event is planned for the National Mall in Washington DC on 30 October, 2010. And although attendees will be furnished with tongue-in-cheek placards, such as "I disagree with you but I'm pretty sure you're not Hitler" (a dig at US extremists who have likened President Obama to Hitler, with no apparent sense of irony regarding their own beliefs), it sounds as though Stewart is at least serious about encouraging people not to take things so seriously.
Speaking on The Daily Show, Stewart said:
"You may be asking yourself, but am I the right person to go to this rally? The fact that you would even stop to ask yourself that question, as opposed to just jumping up, grabbing the nearest stack of burnable holy books, strapping on a diaper and pointing your car towards DC – that means I think you just might be right for it."
In a spoof of recent right-wing rallies, fellow US comedian Stephen Colbert plans to 'balance' out Stewart's event with 'The March To Keep Fear Alive' on the same day.
Was The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear March a Success?
http://dj6ual.viviti.com/entries/politics/was-the-rally-to-restore-sanity-and-or-fear-march-a-success
Posted by: DJ6ual | Oct 31, 2010 at 00:26