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Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

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Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
Poster for the rally
DateOctober 30, 2010
LocationThe National Mall
Washington, D.C.

Satellite rallies in 20 or more U.S. cities including Austin, Texas; Los Angeles; Chicago; Denver; Honolulu and Boise, Idaho[1]

ParticipantsSpeakers:
Stephen Colbert
Jon Stewart

Musical performers:
The Roots and John Legend
4troops
Jeff Tweedy and Mavis Staples
Sheryl Crow
Tony Bennett

Sponsor:
Comedy Central

WebsiteRallyToRestoreSanityAndOrFear.com /
KeepFearAlive.com /
RallyToRestoreSanity.com

The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear was a demonstration that took place on October 30, 2010, [2] on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., led by Jon Stewart and an in-character Stephen Colbert. It is a merging of two previously, separately scheduled events: Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity and Colbert's own satirical counterpart, the March to Keep Fear Alive.

Billed as "a rally for the people who've been too busy to go to rallies", its stated purpose is to provide a venue for attendees to be heard above what Stewart describes as the more vocal and extreme 15–20 percent of Americans who "control the conversation" of United States politics,[3] such as the Tea Party movement.[4] News reports have cast the rally as a satirical response to Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally and the "Reclaim the Dream" counter-rally.[5]

Origins

On August 28, 2010, the Fox News Network's Glenn Beck held a Restoring Honor rally at the Lincoln Memorial. On the same day, Al Sharpton led a counter march "Reclaim the Dream", to mark the forty-seventh anniversary of the historic Great March on Washington.[5] According to New York Magazine, discussion for a satirical public event in response took place behind the scenes at Stewart's The Daily Show as far back as August 12, 2010.[6][7] Prior to any public discussion from either Stewart or Colbert's parties, Reddit members independently began to discuss the possibility of a Colbert-led rally, often referred to as a "Restoring Truthiness Rally";[8] some news articles following the initial announcement of the dual rallies credited Reddit for the idea.[9] The rally is being coordinated by two former Clinton administration aides and organizers, Craig Minassian and Chris Wayne.[10]

Charity drive

Supporters of the movement began a drive to raise money for educational charities through DonorsChoose.org, a charitable organization where Colbert is on the Board of Directors. In the first 24 hours, supporters raised over $100,000. In the days that followed, that total increased to over $250,000.[11]

Jon Stewart has been promoting the Trust for the National Mall and urging his viewers to make donations on behalf of the rally. As of October 28, 2010, over $117,000 has been donated to the Trust so far.

Announcement

File:Stewart-Colber-posters.jpg
Early posters for the then separate rallies

Stewart first publicly addressed the possibility of a rally on the September 10, 2010, episode of The Daily Show,[12] stating that "I, Jon Stewart, am announcing that I will have an announcement sometime in the near to not-so-near future." The same night on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert more directly mentioned the possibility of a rally, mentioning the Reddit campaign, and responded that, if Stewart made an announcement, he would make "an even more important counter-announcement." In the following week, Stewart and Colbert humorously exchanged quips that their upcoming announcement would be bigger than the other's.

Finally, on the September 16, 2010, episode of The Daily Show,[13] Stewart formally announced the "Rally to Restore Sanity"; Colbert followed by announcing the "March to Keep Fear Alive" on the subsequent episode of The Colbert Report. Stewart stated that the rally was for the majority of Americans—"the 70-80 percenters"—who don't have extreme political views and lack a voice in the media. To illustrate the point, he unveiled a mock motto for the rally: "Take it down a notch for America," and offered protest signs with messages such as "I disagree with you, but I'm pretty sure you're not Hitler." Colbert stated that now was not the time to be reasonable, "Now is the time for all good men to freak out for freedom!"

On the October 14 episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, it was officially announced that the "Rally To Restore Sanity" and the "March To Keep Fear Alive" have been consolidated into simply the "Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear". Oprah Winfrey made a special appearance on The Daily Show, offering tickets to the rally for everyone in the studio audience.[14]

Media response

The Wall Street Journal characterized the Rally as a "send-up" of the recent Washington Restoring Honor rally led by Glenn Beck and the "Reclaim the Dream" commemorative march led by Al Sharpton on August 28, 2010.[15] The Canadian Press called the Stewart/Colbert rallies a "not-so-gentle" swipe at Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally.[16]

Many news organizations have sought media credentials to cover the rally.[17] Meanwhile, NPR, issued an internal memo barring staffers from attending the rally [18] [19] The memo stated that: "NPR journalists may not participate in marches and rallies involving causes or issues that NPR covers, nor should they sign petitions or otherwise lend their name to such causes, or contribute money to them. This restriction applies to the upcoming John Stewart and Stephen Colbert rallies."

NBC and several other media outlets followed suit, some barring employees from attending the rally outright, whilst others like The Washington Post offered more latitude by issuing a memo to newsroom managers telling them to differentiate between "participating" and "observing." [20]

Pre-event public response

In the night following the announcement, the pledged number of attendees to the official Facebook event reached 69,000.[3][21] Although organizers said in their application for a permit from the National Park Service that they hoped for an attendance at the combined event of about 25,000 people,[22] as of 18:04 EST October 13th, the Facebook page for restoring sanity had 203,128 [23] people indicating they planned to attend, comparable to some estimates of the attendance at Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally.[16] According to WashingtonDCHotels.com,[5] the demand for hotels is outpacing that of the "Restoring Honor" rally.

The events have spawned several grassroots websites and Facebook groups for organizing and discussion, some with more than 10,000 followers. In addition, there have been proposals for dozens of sister rallies in other major cities, such as Seattle, Chicago, Austin,[24] and Los Angeles [25] to take place on the same day as the demonstration in Washington, D.C. After Stewart appeared on Oprah Winfrey's show on September 21, she endorsed the rally via Twitter.[26][27]

On September 28, Arianna Huffington announced on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart that The Huffington Post would provide "as many buses as people to fill them" at a specified meeting place in Manhattan,[28] although her plans were later trimmed down and required preregistration.[29] In a town hall event on September 29, President Obama mentioned the rally.[30][31]

On October 14, Oprah Winfrey appeared on The Daily Show and gave the attending audience all free airline tickets to the Restoring Sanity Rally. In the same fashion as she would give away secret prizes to her own audience members on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the tickets were hidden under all audience members' seats. Immediately afterwards, Stephen Colbert did the same on his own show, except he gave the audience free Chinatown bus tickets to the Rally, while announcing that his and Stewart's events were now a single event, also unveiling a new logo image for the single event.

Schedule and guests

While both Colbert and Stewart were tight-lipped as to the event's schedule and guests, Metromix's Washington DC website published a tentative schedule on October 27, with guest performers said to be confirmed for the event including musicians Sheryl Crow, The Roots, 4troops[32] and Jeff Tweedy with Mavis Staples along with actors Don Novello (aka Father Guido Sarducci) and Sam Waterston.[33]

Note - all times Eastern Standard Time[34]
Time Performer
Pre–pre show
10:00–12:00 Video montages/music play on the Jumbotrons around the venue to entertain the crowd as they gather
Pre-show
12:00–12:40 The Roots (with John Legend)
12:40–12:57 Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage from MythBusters
12:57–13:00 Video countdown & intros
Show
13:00–13:05 Singing of the national anthem (4troops)
13:05–13:20 Jon Stewart welcomes the crowd
13:20–13:30 Stephen Colbert enters
13:30–13:35 Benediction by actor Don Novello
13:35–13:40 Poem read by Sam Waterston
13:40–13:50 Yusuf Islam, Ozzy Osbourne, and The O'Jays perform their songs Peace Train, Crazy Train, and Love Train, respectively.
13:50–14:15 Stewart and Colbert perform
14:15–14:20 Sheryl Crow performs
14:20–14:30 Guest speakers make brief statements, both live and taped (TBD)
14:30–14:40 Musical guest (TBD)
14:40–14:50 Sanity and Fear awards – pre-taped footage.
14:50–15:00 Stewart and Colbert's final statements

See also

References

  1. ^ Steffen, Jordan; Gold, Matea. "Thousands descend on National Mall for Stewart's and Colbert's 'Sanity' rally". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Interactive.
  2. ^ http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2010/10/30/15890551.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |pulisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)with an estimated 200,000 people
  3. ^ a b "US comics unveil dueling DC political rallies," September, 17, 2010, AFP.
  4. ^ Carter, Bill (September 16, 2010). "Jon Stewart Plans to Rally Against Extremism". New York Times.
  5. ^ a b c "Dueling Rallies Spike Hotel Bookings". NBC. September 28, 2010.
  6. ^ Executive Producers: Rory Albanese, Josh Lieb, Jon Stewart (August 12, 2010). ""August 12, 2010"". The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Comedy Central. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |began=, |city=, |serieslink=, |ended=, |transcripturl=, and |seriesno= (help)
  7. ^ Chris Smith (September 12). "America Is a Joke". New York Magazine. New York Media LLC. pp. 2, 5. Retrieved September 18, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "100,000 Strong to Restore Truthiness to the US Capital". Facebook. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  9. ^ Bell, Melissa. "Blog Post - 'Rally to Restore Sanity' to meet 'March to Keep Fear Alive;' Reddit users talk about starting the online campaign". Voices.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  10. ^ http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=31131C2C-18FE-70B2-A84515AA200CAF84
  11. ^ Bell, Melissa. "Blog Post - 'Rally to Restore Sanity' to meet 'March to Keep Fear Alive;' Reddit users talk about starting the online campaign". Voices.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  12. ^ Executive Producers: Rory Albanese, Josh Lieb, Jon Stewart (September 10, 2010). ""September 10, 2010"". The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Comedy Central. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |began=, |city=, |serieslink=, |ended=, |transcripturl=, and |seriesno= (help)
  13. ^ Executive Producers: Rory Albanese, Josh Lieb, Jon Stewart (September 16, 2010). ""September 16, 2010"". The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Comedy Central. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |began=, |city=, |serieslink=, |ended=, |transcripturl=, and |seriesno= (help)
  14. ^ "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear Announcement - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 10/14/2010 - Video Clip | Comedy Central". Thedailyshow.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  15. ^ "‘Rally to Restore Sanity’: Jon Stewart on His March on Washington," September 17, 2010, Wall Street Journal.
  16. ^ a b "Comedy colleagues Stewart, Colbert plan D.C. rallies; Duo’s events are a swipe at Glenn Beck and the politics of fear," September 17, 2010, Globe and Mail.
  17. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/business/media/15rally.html?_r=2
  18. ^ http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2010/10/14/130573793/stewart-colbert
  19. ^ http://www.observer.com/2010/media/npr-bans-staffers-attending-stewart-and-colbert-rallies
  20. ^ http://www.observer.com/2010/daily-transom/news-outlets-follow-nprs-lead-no-staffers-stewart-and-colbert-rallies#
  21. ^ "Jon Stewart rally". chicagotribune.com. 2010-09-22. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  22. ^ Dvorak, Petula (September 21, 2010). "Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert might actually bring out the real moderates". Washington Post.
  23. ^ "Niet compatibele browser". Facebook. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  24. ^ Gold, Matea (September 22, 2010). "Jon Stewart's 'Rally to Restore Sanity' could draw tens of thousands". Los Angeles Times.
  25. ^ Eldeib, Duaa (September 22, 2010). "Stewart rally may get satellite fete in Chicago". Chicago Tribune.
  26. ^ Derakhshani, Tirdad (2010-09-25). "Sideshow: Stephen Colbert brings the show to Congress | Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/25/2010". Philly.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  27. ^ Viebeck, Elise (2010-09-22). "Oprah: 'I think Jon Stewart's on to something' with rally - The Hill's Twitter Room". Thehill.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  28. ^ "HuffPost Sanity Bus: Arianna Offers Buses To Jon Stewart's Rally To Restore Sanity (VIDEO)". Huffingtonpost.com. 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  29. ^ "HuffPost Sanity Bus Info and FAQ". Huffingtonpost.com. 2010-10-22. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  30. ^ Ali Weinberg (2009-09-29). "Obama plugs Jon Stewart rally". Firstread.msnbc.msn.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  31. ^ (AP) (2010-09-29). "The Associated Press: Obama backs Jon Stewart's sanity rally on Oct. 30". Google.com. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  32. ^ ""Jon Stewart Opens The Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear (VIDEO)"". TPM. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
  33. ^ ""Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" Schedule". Metromix. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
  34. ^ "Rally to restore sanity schedule (UPDATED)". Washington Post. October 30, 2010. Retrieved 10-30-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear links
Rally to Restore Sanity links
March to Keep Fear Alive links
Other links
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