I am reminded of Stewart & Colberts “rally to restore sanity” in 2010 when 215 000 people came to the Washington Mall. It feels like a lifetime ago and in Stewarts final speech he directed a lot of his ire at the 24hr news media cycle creating the noise that polarises the country. Sad thing is that since then things have just gotten sooo much worse.
Its stated purpose was to provide a venue for attendees to be heard above what Stewart described as the more vocal and extreme 15–20% of Americans who “control the conversation” of American politics the argument being that these extremes demonize each other and engage in counterproductive actions, with a return to sanity intended to promote reasoned discussion.
Seems that 15-20% has escalated to a lot more…
Here’s his speech:
(sorry during my quick search I couldn’t find a better quality)
Jon Stewart's speech for those curious but not wanting to watch the 12min video
“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 political pundit perpetual panic conflictinator did not
cause our problems but its existence makes solving them that much
harder. The press can hold its magnifying 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 are titles that must be earned. You
must have the resume. Not being able to distinguish between real racists
and Tea Partiers or real bigots and Juan Williams and 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 we overreact 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 and 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 inability 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
foundations 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 that they do not want to do—but they do
it–impossible things every day that are only made possible by the little
reasonable compromises that we all make.
Look on the screen. This is where we are. This is who we are. (points to
the Jumbotron screen which show traffic merging into a tunnel). 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 who can’t really think about anything else right now. There’s another
car, swinging, I don’t even know if you can see it—the lady’s in the NRA
and she 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 that you see is filled with
individuals of strong belief 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 30 foot wide tunnel carved underneath a mighty
river. Carved, by the way, by people who I’m sure had their
differences. And they do it. Concession by conscession. 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? Well, that’s
okay—you go and 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 and 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 want 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. To
see you here today and the kind of people that you are has restored
mine. Thank you."