Rally to Restore Sanity

[tin00can]

Anybody else go to it, or at least watch it? I went to the LA rally, it was OK.

http://tin00can.wordpress.com/2010/10/3 ... with-pics/

If you don't wanna read that (and get the chance to see me with my sign), then here's Jon's speech at the end, which I thought was quite good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXmbzLI3pnk

[dtmfs]

sometimes I dig stewart, sometimes I can't stand him, Colbert I find just about as unfunny as it gets, I watched a few clips here and there, not really my scene but I hope you had fun, Which pic was you?

[tin00can]

sometimes I dig stewart, sometimes I can't stand him, Colbert I find just about as unfunny as it gets, I watched a few clips here and there, not really my scene but I hope you had fun, Which pic was you?

I'm the guy with the sign.

OK, the one that says "Carrying a sign like a boss."

[CrouchingStonerHiddenBong]

I was at work when it was on TV, but Mr. Bong texted me to tell me that Cat Stevens and Ozzy were doing a duet.

[Skate4RnR]

I don't like Cobert either because he makes fun of my beliefs.

[JakeYonkel]

I think the idea was cool, especially as a direct knock against what Beck did... but Stewart playing this off as anything but a giant liberal circle-jerk is laughable.

[Nevermind]

It was a nice convention of the clueless, a meeting of the mindless.

[tin00can]

I think the idea was cool, especially as a direct knock against what Beck did... but Stewart playing this off as anything but a giant liberal circle-jerk is laughable.

And what Beck did wasn't a big conservative circle-jerk?

At least this one had a punchline and the attendants were in on the joke.

[JakeYonkel]

Ya, but the difference was that, being presented by Beck, you knew it was a big conservative circle-jerk... it was essentially billed as such. Stewart tried to paint this as a non-partisan event. Call it like it is.

[tin00can]

Ya, but the difference was that, being presented by Beck, you knew it was a big conservative circle-jerk... it was essentially billed as such. Stewart tried to paint this as a non-partisan event. Call it like it is.

Fair enough. I think it's safe to say there weren't many tea-partiers in the crowd.

[EvilMadman]

Rick from Pawn Stars?

[JakeYonkel]

Tin is built like a brick shithouse.

(never quite understood that saying but it's applicable)

[EvilMadman]

Ya, but the difference was that, being presented by Beck, you knew it was a big conservative circle-jerk... it was essentially billed as such. Stewart tried to paint this as a non-partisan event. Call it like it is.

Non-partisan?



I wonder if the boob holding the sign with Republican Rep. Eric Cantor with a Hitler moustache knew or even cared that Cantor's Jewish?









I just don't believe that Stewart & Colbert intended that rally to be "non-partisan". I think they intended it as a way to boost the Democrats and/or counter Beck's rally, and gain some attention from the MSM at a crucial time (i.e. just before an election). They could've staged this thing 2 or 3 months ago. Maybe I'm just being too cynical.

[Luminiferous]

It was a nice convention of the clueless, a meeting of the mindless.

So pretty much like a Palin speaking event..

[MasterOfMeatPuppets]

Ya, but the difference was that, being presented by Beck, you knew it was a big conservative circle-jerk... it was essentially billed as such. Stewart tried to paint this as a non-partisan event. Call it like it is.

Non-partisan?



I wonder if the boob holding the sign with Republican Rep. Eric Cantor with a Hitler moustache knew or even cared that Cantor's Jewish?









I just don't believe that Stewart & Colbert intended that rally to be "non-partisan". I think they intended it as a way to boost the Democrats and/or counter Beck's rally, and gain some attention from the MSM at a crucial time (i.e. just before an election). They could've staged this thing 2 or 3 months ago. Maybe I'm just being too cynical.

Am I being cynical when I ask why you didn't mention the Bush photos were not taken at the rally?

[vlad]

Am I being cynical when I ask why you didn't mention the Bush photos were not taken at the rally?

I don't think so. It would be nice if EM would post a link to show these were taken from that rally, and not years ago. After all, Bush has been out of office for nearly two years. Even left wings wag know that. And what!?, he left out the obligatory "Free Mumia" protester.

Btw, here ARE some pretty cool signs that ARE from the rally.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-100- ... ore-sanity


edit: Tinnie...looking good.

[Nevermind]

Am I being cynical when I ask why you didn't mention the Bush photos were not taken at the rally?

After all, Bush has been out of office for nearly two years. Even left wings wag know that.

What? When did they figure that out. Last I heard, Obama and disciples still blame everything on Bush.

[tin00can]

Am I being cynical when I ask why you didn't mention the Bush photos were not taken at the rally?

After all, Bush has been out of office for nearly two years. Even left wings wag know that.

What? When did they figure that out. Last I heard, Obama and disciples still blame everything on Bush.

Way to dodge the subject.

[tin00can]

Am I being cynical when I ask why you didn't mention the Bush photos were not taken at the rally?

I don't think so. It would be nice if EM would post a link to show these were taken from that rally, and not years ago. After all, Bush has been out of office for nearly two years. Even left wings wag know that. And what!?, he left out the obligatory "Free Mumia" protester.

Btw, here ARE some pretty cool signs that ARE from the rally.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-100- ... ore-sanity


edit: Tinnie...looking good.

Thanks toots! I'm actually way fatter than I should be right now but I'm working on getting back to where I wanna be.

[Luminiferous]

Am I being cynical when I ask why you didn't mention the Bush photos were not taken at the rally?

I don't think so. It would be nice if EM would post a link to show these were taken from that rally, and not years ago.

Since he forgot to include the link and the quote before them..

"Well, just to remind the Guardian of the hate directed towards President Bush by the American left while he was in office, here’s a bit of a retrospective:"

http://cifwatch.com/2010/10/31/guardian ... more-14206

[lerxstcat]

Although Colbert and Stewart can both be characterized as liberals, I don't think thios rally was designed to get out the Democratic vote as much as to emphasize the dissatisfactions most Americans have with our current political system, BOTH parties. As in the politicians no longer work for US, they work for special interests. Doesn't matter what party they belong to, it seems they all sell out, or let's say most of them on the chance that there a few who try to work for the people.

Here in Mississippi, Congressman Gene Taylor is one of those few. He's a Democrat but definitely a Blue Dog, endorsed by the NRA. The Republicans are runing Steven Pallazzo against him - or rather, they are running Pallazzo against Nancy Pelosi. That's all you hear, "Gene Taylor voted for Pelosi for Speaker. Get rid of Taylor to get rid of Pelosi".

This guy is the only one who was sweating on the ground after Katrina, helping people tangibly. It's atrocious the hatchet job they're doing trying to get rid of a man who has held his Congressional seat for 20 years in a state that is overwhelmingly Republican - because he serves the poeople of his district.

Sorry for the threadjack, but I think this rally was about the dissatisfaction of the people with the status quo, not so much a liberal rally as it might seem.

[KneelandBobDylan]

Am I being cynical when I ask why you didn't mention the Bush photos were not taken at the rally?

After all, Bush has been out of office for nearly two years. Even left wings wag know that.

What? When did they figure that out. Last I heard, Obama and disciples still blame everything on Bush.

You mean like (wait for it) the Bush administration blamed everything on Clinton even 8 years into Bush's presidency?

Republicans, the party of personal responsibility, but never take responsibility for anything.

[Iron Duck]

I don't like Cobert either because he makes fun of my beliefs.

I think the idea was cool, especially as a direct knock against what Beck did... but Stewart playing this off as anything but a giant liberal circle-jerk is laughable.

Though I'm sure the vast majority of the audience at least identified as left-leaning if not liberal, the message given was that polarizing media and political practices were tearing the country apart, and that, as one country, the people of America need to work together despite what personal political or social beliefs they hold. It was a call for sanity to all Americans, which is exactly what it plugged itself as, and the people who heard the call showed up. Stewart did not, in the least, pander to the liberal party and its supporters. If you take the time to watch his closing speech, that will be abundantly clear.

[JakeYonkel]

That's your opinion and you're entitled to it.

I saw it as a giant rally mocking Beck's, showing that Stewart/Colbert are just as popular and could galvanize a ton of (if not more) people. All of this done under the guise of non-partisanship, of course.

And yes, I read Stewart's closing speech - everything that guy says, even when he's trying to appear non-partisan, comes across as a smug liberal trying to claim we're all a little crazy and "insane" yet really pointing the blame squarely at the right (more specifically, the Tea Partiers). Shit, the name of the rally was a direct mockery of Beck's!

Once again, on an organic level I think he's exactly right but this thing was just a giant party for Daily Show fans.

[lerxstcat]

That's your opinion and you're entitled to it.

I saw it as a giant rally mocking Beck's, showing that Stewart/Colbert are just as popular and could galvanize a ton of (if not more) people. All of this done under the guise of non-partisanship, of course.

And yes, I read Stewart's closing speech - everything that guy says, even when he's trying to appear non-partisan, comes across as a smug liberal trying to claim we're all a little crazy and "insane" yet really pointing the blame squarely at the right (more specifically, the Tea Partiers). Shit, the name of the rally was a direct mockery of Beck's!

Once again, on an organic level I think he's exactly right but this thing was just a giant party for Daily Show fans.

Don't forget Colbert Report fans. And I do think that while it was obviously attended by liberals, they were expressing their distaste with the liberal Obama Admnistration for engaging in politics as usual, with the Democratic Congress for its infighting preventing more of the expressed agenda of 2008 from being accomplished. So I think it was a protest of lack of results from "their" side despite being iin power and holding all the reins.

[Iron Duck]

Once again, on an organic level I think he's exactly right but this thing was just a giant party for Daily Show fans.

Fair enough.

[SeminiferousButtNoid]

Rally To Restore Generation X Hipster Banality.

[vanitybinge]

I thnk John tries to stay in the middle, he's got friends in republicans and demicrats. He has a lot of conservative fans.

What does it say that this outnumbered Beck's rally 3 to 1? Does it mean anything? Is it just social commentary or does he really have an influence?

[Luminiferous]

Pretty cool interview with Mick Foley after the RTRS..

Mick Foley is the last person that you'd expect to be honored at something called the Rally to Restore Sanity. In the world of pro wrestling, he's known for taking sports entertainment to its most masochistic extremes. He's lost an ear in the ring, and just a little over a week before his appearance at Jon Stewart's "Million Moderate March," Foley body slammed a half-naked, 61 year old "Nature Boy" Ric Flair onto a mat covered in very real thumbtacks on Spike TV's "TNA Impact." But there is a kindly Dr. Jekyll to Foley's grappling Mr. Hyde. Outside the ring, he helps build schools in Africa through his giving to Child Fund International and is a passionate supporter of RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), an anti-sexual violence nonprofit that Foley first learned about through his devotion to singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Yes, the man dubbed "the Hardcore Legend" in wrestling circles is one of Amos' biggest fans, both literally and figuratively.

Equally as extreme in his philanthropy as he is in a steel cage match, Foley donated the entire advance for his fourth memoir, "Countdown to Lockdown" (Grand Central Publishing, 2010), to his charities. Although Foley's previous three memoirs all hit the "New York Times" bestseller list and he still earns a living through wrestling, forfeiting his advance is no small tithe from a man nearing the end of his ability to sacrifice his body on the altar of sports entertainment. Foley writes about living at the twilight of his career in "Countdown to Lockdown" and intersperses stories of his philanthropy with the red meat of his pay-per-view comeback and his parting with Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment. In a recent phone interview, Foley discusses the Rally to Restore Sanity, how he got talked out of going on "The O'Reilly Factor," and how democrats can tap into their inner pro wrestler.

BOB CALHOUN: Did you ever think that Mick Foley, the hardcore legend, would get an award for sanity?

MICK FOLEY: I don't know about sanity. It was officially for "reasonableness," and I know that because I'm looking at it as it hangs around my neck. No, especially because one can argue that many of my actions in and around the wrestling ring were not all that reasonable so I think it's appropriate that Jon specified that the award is for being reasonable everywhere else but my day job.

BC: You're not losing an ear for your charitable work.

MF: No, but I'd be willing to.

BC: But that's almost reasonable--almost.

MF: You know I think that is completely reasonable. If the stakes were high enough I would lose a body part to end sexual violence.

BC: Being at Stewart and Colbert's rally, what do you think it accomplished?

MF: I loved Jon's speech at the end of the rally. I think almost everybody who watched could take the story of the cars passing one by one into a small tunnel only by working together to heart. When it's phrased that way, and when Jon mentioned that we actually do work together in this country everywhere but in congress and on cable television, it struck a chord with people.

BC: In keeping with Stewart's criticism of the 24-hour news cycle, in "Countdown to Lockdown" you write that you contemplated going on "The O'Reilly Factor" to address the Chris Benoit tragedy, but were talked out of it. (In June 2007, WWE wrestler Chris Benoit murdered his wife and two children and then committed suicide.)

MF: I was talked out of it by a woman at Child Fund International, formerly the Christian Children's Fund. I told her that I thought that Bill and I could have a good conversation and her quote was, "Yes, you could, but that's entirely up to him." I really thought about the coverage that the Benoit murders had received and I realized so much of it was sound bytes and knee jerk reactions. Despite the fact that the cable news channels ran 24-hours a day, there was almost no deep reflection on what may have happened. More recently, the chaos in Iran following the elections ceased to exist once Michael Jackson died. It seems amazing to me to think that the people in charge of the news don't think that the American people can concentrate on more than one issue at a time.

BC: How do you feel about the beating that your profession took in the recent Connecticut senate race? Was there a better way for Dick Blumenthal and Democrats to criticize Linda McMahon's tenure as a CEO of WWE?

MF: As someone who is close to the subject and who has fed his children through the business of professional wrestling for their entire lives (I've been in it for 25 years; I've had a family for almost 19), although Blumenthal won in Connecticut, I think the idea that people were criticizing a form of entertainment enjoyed by millions of people across the country was very condescending and may have led to the feeling Americans had of democrats being out of touch.

BC: Do you think that the Democrats need to get in touch with their inner pro wrestler?

MF: I think they need to make Jim Webb the senate majority leader and attempt to shift the image of democrats from liberal weenies to tough-talking, straight-shooting Americans. I really respect what Harry Reid has done and I think Nancy Pelosi is a great congressperson, but I do not think that people can connect with them at all. If every liberal in the country was willing to give up lattes for two years, you could put those republicans in the unenviable position of having to talk about those "damned whiskey drinking liberals."

Read the rest here: http://open.salon.com/blog/bob_calhoun/ ... onableness

[vlad]

I like that interview ! I agree about Jim Webb.

I think they need to make Jim Webb the senate majority leader and attempt to shift the image of democrats from liberal weenies to tough-talking, straight-shooting Americans. I really respect what Harry Reid has done and I think Nancy Pelosi is a great congressperson, but I do not think that people can connect with them at all. If every liberal in the country was willing to give up lattes for two years, you could put those republicans in the unenviable position of having to talk about those "damned whiskey drinking liberals."

What if I like booze in my latte? Or I take my latte hunting? I love Latte Breves, they'll pry them from my cold dead fingers.