Stewart/Colbert Rally

[Shuvo]

Was a fun 3 hours to watch.

Hey, those of you out there, keep your eyes open for people being bussed in at gunpoint.

Lmao I was expecting fox to put a spin on it, but I didn't think they'd go that far.

Interesting to see how this affects the poll numbers! Hope theirs another poll between now and Tuesday. I do wish at the end Stewart would have tried to charge people up to vote, instead of all that wishy washy feel good talk about being reasonable.

Also, their was 150,000 people present (I trust the mythbusters guys when they say that). Based on the overhead shots looked approximately twice as big as the tea party rally, which sounds about right as the scientific estimates put the tea party rally at around 87,000.

About 200k people pledged to attend Stewart's rally, and 100k pledged to attend Colbert. So around 50% showed up, but I guess their was a lot of overlap in between though... so probably more like 80%. Hard to say for sure... /toying with the idea of data-mining facebook

[Ohemgee]

Facebook is unreliable.

How many showed up to Becks thing?

[Souj]

I didn't get to see this at all. was there any plans to reair?
If it was actually worth watching over doing something else.

[Lornkeit]

Was a lot of fun.. My least favorite parts were Kid Rock and the wave- dude in front of me nearly gave me a black eye, heh.

[Tyche]

Final count...Rally to restore Sanity (approximately) doubles the attendance of the Rally to restore Honor.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_1...84-503544.html

An estimated 215,000 people attended a rally organized by Comedy Central talk show hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Saturday in Washington, according to a crowd estimate commissioned by CBS News.
The company AirPhotosLive.com based the attendance at the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" on aerial pictures it took over the rally, which took place on the Mall in Washington. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 10 percent.

CBS News also commissioned AirPhotosLive.com to do a crowd estimate of Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally in August. That rally was estimated to have attracted 87,000 people. Amid criticism from conservatives that the estimate was low, CBS News detailed the methodology behind it here.
TBD reported that because of the high turnout many would-be rally attendees retreated to bars to watch the event.
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/201...2__370x278.jpg The crowd at Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on the Mall in Washington.
(Credit: AirPhotosLive.Com)
The National Park Service does not estimate crowds. The New York Times' Brian Stelter wrote on Twitter during the event that the Park Service privately told Viacom there were "well over 200,000" people at the rally, according to an executive.
Stewart joked during the rally that there were ten million people present and, in reference to the difficulty of making crowd estimates, solemnly promised to "count them all."
Comedy Central's permit for the event said it was expecting 60,000 people, though, as the Wall Street Journal notes, it ordered enough port-a-potties for 150,000.

[Priran]

Who gives a shit?

[Ksandra]

Who gives a shit?

what the...

A bunch of people in the thread were trying to guess it....

[Dezso]

I was at the rally today and besides spending more time on trains, waiting for trains and missing trains than the duration of the rally - it was by far still worth attending. The crowd was awesome, the guests unexpected, and the comedy between Stewart and Colbert was amazing. I enjoyed the song that they sang together as well as Colbert's Fear Awards. I nearly lost it at 'Fear Itself' (paper mache' Colbert).

Stewart's closing speech was, I would say, rather poetic, accurate and scary. It makes sense and goes to show how much he believes the power of the media to be of great importance in how our government and our lives are run.

That Fox News link, as normal, made me question things. The one analyst said that they were comedians and as such shouldn't be taken seriously. However, Ben Franklin was a riot during his time, guess that means his contributions are meaningless?

Has anyone heard of Comedy Central releasing a video of this or is there anyplace where you can re-watch the event?

[Dead Phoenix]

Has anyone heard of Comedy Central releasing a video of this or is there anyplace where you can re-watch the event?

I missed it(was suppose to record it, but my cable box apparently had the time wrong so i just got 3 hours of scrubs instead) and from my searches all i can find are a few parts(mostly just jon's first and last speeches), though it looks like later on the comedy central will have the highlights available to watch.

[Kononeko]

I got to the rally late drove up from Richmond about 8:30ish got to the exit for the Springfield metro at about 10:15 and waited an hour to park, then waited a hour in line for metro fair then the ride in was about 40 minutes. So I actually got there about 1:30ish it there were so many people that I didn't get to a good spot that I could even hear what was being said tell about 2. Was still good none the less. lots of great signs that I'll post when my friend gets them off his Iphone.

Also I meet up with a friend after the rally, he was getting some food from some middle eastern truck vendor. After standing around for a little bit while he ate his food, the daily show's Aasif Mandvi show up. Turns out his family runs that truck vendor. So he was there helping drum up business while promoting his new movie. Like I said though I will try and put up picks tomorrow.

[Ksandra]

hahaa I think this is cute:

http://twitter.com/simonpegg/status/29209914370

[Rhinox]

http://www.newsbusters.org/

for a few lolz

[Demosthenes11]

http://www.newsbusters.org/

for a few lolz

oh my god lol they completely missed the point about the hitler mustaches lol

[Zilong]

The site is down, probably due to liberal media conspiracy lololol

Anyone could summarize what was on it?

[Caiyuo]

"And now I thought we might have a moment, however brief, for some sincerity, if that’s ok; I know there are boundaries for a comedian, pundit, talker guy, and I’m sure I’ll find out tomorrow how I have violated them.

I’m really happy you guys are here, even if none of us are really quite sure why we are here. Some of you may have seen today as a clarion call for action, or some of the hipper, more ironic cats as a clarion call for ‘action.’ Clearly, some of you just wanted to see the Air and Space Museum and got royally screwed. And I’m sure a lot of you are here to have a nice time, and I hope you did. I know that many of you made a great effort to be here today, and I want you to know that everyone involved with this project worked incredibly hard to make sure that we honor the effort that you put in and gave you the best show we could possibly do. We know your time is valuable, and we didn’t want to waste it. And we are all extremely honored to have had a chance to perform for you on this beautiful space, on The Mall in Washington, D.C.

So, uh, what exactly was this? I can’t control what people think this was, I can only tell you my intentions. This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith, or people of activism, or to look down our noses at the heartland, or passionate argument, or to suggest that times are not difficult and that we have nothing to fear. They are and we do. But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies. But, unfortunately, one of our main tools in delineating the two broke. The country’s 24-hour, politico, pundit, perpetual, panic conflictanator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder. The press can hold its magnifying glass up to our problems, bringing them into focus, illuminating issues heretofore unseen. Or they can use that magnifying glass to light ants on fire, and then perhaps host a week of shows on the sudden, unexpected, dangerous flaming ant epidemic. If we amplify everything, we hear nothing.

There are terrorists and racists and Stalinists and theocrats, but those titles that must earned; you must have the resume. Not being able to be able to distinguish between real racists and Tea Partiers, or real bigots and Juan Williams or Rick Sanchez is an insult, not only to those people, but to the racists themselves, who have put in the exhausting effort it takes to hate. Just as the inability to distinguish terrorists from Muslims makes us less safe, not more. The press is our immune system. If it overreacts to everything, we actually get sicker, and perhaps eczema. And yet, with that being said, I feel good: strangely, calmly good. Because the image of Americans that is reflected back to us by our political and media process is false. It is us through a fun-house mirror, and not the good kind that makes you look slim in the waist and maybe taller, but the kind where you have a giant forehead and an ass shaped like a month-old pumpkin with one eyeball.

So why would we work together? Why would you reach across the aisle to a pumpkin-assed, forehead, eyeball monster? If the picture of us were true, of course our inabilities to solve problems would actually be quite sane and reasonable. Why would you work with Marxists actively subverting our Constitution, or racists and homophobes who see no one’s humanity but their own? We hear every damn day about how fragile our country is, on the brink of catastrophe torn by polarizing hate. And how it’s a shame that we can’t work together to get things done. But the truth is, we do. We work together to get things done every damn day. The only place we don’t is here or on cable TV. But Americans don’t live here or on cable TV. Where we live, our values and principles form the foundation that sustains us while we get things done, not the barriers that prevent us from getting things done.

Most Americans don’t live their lives solely as Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, or Conservatives. Americans live their lives more as people that are just a little bit late for something they have to do. Often, something they do not want to do, but they do it. Impossible things every day, that are only made possible through the little reasonable compromises we all make.

Look. Look on the screen. This is where we are; this is who we are: these cars. That’s a schoolteacher who probably thinks his taxes are too high. He’s going to work. There’s another car. A woman with two small kids, can’t really think about anything else right now. There’s another car, swaying, I don’t even know if you can see it. The lady’s in the NRA and loves Oprah. There’s another car. An investment banker: gay, also likes Oprah. Another car’s a Latino carpenter. Another car a fundamentalist vacuum salesman. Atheist obstetrician. Mormon Jay-Z fan. But this is us. Every one of the cars you see is filled with individuals of strong beliefs and principles they hold dear. Often, principles and beliefs in direct opposition to their fellow travelers. And yet these millions of cars must somehow find a way to squeeze one by one into a mile-long, thirty-foot wide tunnel carved underneath a mighty river. Carved by people who by the way I’m sure had their differences. And they do it. Concession by concession. You go, then I’ll go. You go, then I’ll go. You go, then I’ll go. Oh my God, is that an NRA sticker on your car? Is that an Obama sticker on your car? Ah, well that’s okay, you go, then I’ll go. And sure, at some point there will be a selfish jerk who zips up the shoulder and cuts in at the last minute. But that individual is rare, and he is scorned not hired as an analyst.

Because we know instinctively as a people that if we are to get through the darkness and back into the light, we have to work together. And the truth is, there will always be darkness. And sometimes, the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t the promised land. Sometimes, it’s just New Jersey. But we do it anyway, together. If you want to know why I’m here and what I want from you, I can only assure you this: you have already given it to me. Your presence was what I wanted. Sanity will always be and has always been in the eye of the beholder. And to see you here today and the kind of people that you are has restored mine. Thank you.”

* Jon Stewart at The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, October 30, 2010

[Max™]

Gotta admit, that was pretty awesome, I'd vote for him.

[Viq]

That was a really good speech. When is he going to get around to running for some kind of office?

[Colenzo]

I hope he never runs for any kind of office, hes the type of person we need on the outside mocking everybody on the inside doing it wrong.

[Plow]

Uh, hopefully never. He can make a hell of a lot more impact outside than in.

See: Glenn Beck vs any single Repub currently in office.

[AoE]

That was a really good speech. When is he going to get around to running for some kind of office?

I remember seeing an interview with him and someone else (I'm pretty sure it wasn't on the Daily Show though). He specifically stated that he'd never run for office because he stated first and foremost that he's a comedian and not a politician and some other stuff, I can't remember. Hopefully someone else here has seen it and can find it on the web somewhere.