Matt Leight- The Corsair
On the September 16th airing of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Jon Stewart announced that he would be hosting a rally on Oct 30, 2010 at Washington D.C.’s National Mall. The purpose of this rally, according to Stewart, is “a clarion call for rationality” for the 70 to 80 percent of everyday Americans who are fed up with the recent eccentric displays of protest by both sides of the political spectrum and could agree on the primary debates . He joked, “we’re looking for people who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive, and terrible for your throat.”
He aired media clips of what he claimed to be the “15 to 20 percent” of Americans who represent the Liberal and Conservative sides of the political fringe movements. Citing what he perceives as their lack of creativity and in an attempt to discredit them, he went on to satirically say, “Obama is Hitler! Bush is Hitler! What’s the problem people? Do you have no idea what a ‘Stalin Mustache’ looks like?! It’s very distinctive. It’s easy to draw. Just think Super Mario’s mustache with Wario’s personality.”
Shortly after his announcement, Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report entered the set claiming that he to had an announcement of his own to make. Subsequently Colbert said on his program, directly following Stewart’s announcement, that he too would be holding a rally at the same time and place. However, his rally will be entitled “Keep Fear Alive.” The two did not divulge any exact details of the rallies other than their times and the location. However, Jon Stewart promised that more information was soon to come.
We should talk more about this rally. It can bring a new perspective the right and left extremists that generally dominate the political conversation. Extremism is the killer of cooperation and growth.