A rally for our times

Have you got your ticket to go to the big rally in Washington? Oh, not today's rally, although that rally for jobs was pretty big, too. No, I'm talking about the big rally that will take place on 10/30/10, the "Rally to Restore Sanity". Never has such a rally been so needed.

Jon Stewart announced the rally on "The Daily Show" in September and momentum for it has been picking up steam ever since. Even President Obama has had nice things to say about it.

Stewart, the funnyman fake news anchor, is very serious about this. He has said that he believes that the angry shouters should not be the only voices being heard. The rest of us who believe that shouting is counterproductive and terrible for your throat and who believe that the only pictures that should have Hitler mustaches drawn on them are pictures of Hitler - or maybe Charlie Chaplin - we have a right to be heard also. And so, he's giving us a forum for making our voices heard and our numbers counted.

He says we should think of this rally as Woodstock only without the drugs and nudity, or as the Million Man March, only smaller and with women marching, too. And I'm thinking, "What a wonderful idea!" It's about time that our side, the non-shouters, took back the Mall in Washington and made it our own once again.

I know that I am not alone in being appalled at the hatred and anger and fear of "others" that have emanated from so many right wing rallies around the country this past summer - well, these past two years really. Now a comedian is giving us the chance to stand up to that hatred, anger and fear and laugh at it. He's giving us a chance to tell the world that that is not us. We are positive, diverse, forward-looking people and we are not afraid.

I hope this rally has a tremendous turnout. I won't be able to be there in person, but I urge any non-shouter, non-hater who can to go, and I promise to be there in spirit as I'm sure will many others who are unable to go. Sanity has been in very short supply in our country recently. Maybe this can be the start of a comeback for it.

And you know, when "the most trusted man in television news" is a fake newsman, it tells you all you need to know about the state of television journalism - or even journalism, period - in this country. Thank goodness for Jon Stewart, the ONLY television newsperson that I trust. Well, except for Rachel Maddow.

Comments

  1. CarolineOctober 2, 2010 at 10:02 PM

    My whole clan is going: me, my husband, his son, his two brothers and their wives and possibly one niece and nephew. Plus we have heard from several friends who are also attending. The airline tickets are purchased, the hotel reservations are made--yes, we are going!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dorothy BordersOctober 3, 2010 at 9:32 AM

    Oh, Caroline, I am so excited for you and your family! What a wonderful trip for you all, and you will carry with you the hopes of many others of us who would like to be there but, for whatever reasons, can't. I really think this could be the start of something very good.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...
Read more

The Investigator by John Sandford: A review

Image
  I have read a few of John Sandford's books in the Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. This book is a literal offspring of that series. It's the first in a series featuring Davenport's adopted daughter Letty Davenport. Letty is in her mid-20s and a graduate of Stanford. She works for a U.S. senator named Christopher Colles in a desk job but she's bored with her assignments. Then the senator offers her a chance to go into the field as a liaison between his office and the Department of Homeland Security.  In her first assignment in that position, she is sent to Texas along with DHS investigator John Kaiser to try to find out what is happening in regard to thefts of crude oil. The senator is not so concerned about the lost oil but wants to know where the money from its sale is going. Who is selling the oil and what they are doing with the profits? The suspicion is that a particularly nasty militia group led by a woman is involved. Letty and Kaiser head out to Texas, de...
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...
Read more