http://www.salon.com/news/rally_to_restore_sanity/index.html?story=/ent/tv/feature/2010/10/30/restore_sanity_televisionThe clumsy, beautiful Rally to Restore Sanity
The silly and sincere extravaganza may have stumbled at times, but it was a triumph of the American spirit
By Mary Elizabeth Williams
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But when Stewart and Colbert took their podiums for a mock debate, the message began to come back into focus. Stewart astutely pointed out that we can't condemn all Muslims when "There are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world," but the point really resonated when he trotted out beloved basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to bring it home. Is Roger Murdock a terrorist? Then shut up, haters. Colbert then mock countered by unleashing a giant, Colbert-shaped "Fearzilla" to unveil a brilliantly terrible montage of mainstream media fearmongering. Suffice to say, the phrase "in YOUR town" featured heavily. Lessons learned from the Rally: Both your flip-flops and your television remote are trying to keeeeeeeell you.
Close to the end, Stewart, ever the more gravitas-endowed, came out alone to do the hardest work of the day – to tell the crowd and the viewers what the hell they were all doing here. Well, sort of. "I'm happy you guys are here," he said, "even if none of us are quite sure why we're here." And he announced, encouragingly enough to be convincing, that "We live in hard times, not end times." It was a welcome reminder of the distinction.
What this crazy, not entirely well-thought out, quasi-free-for-all was about, it turns out, was we, the people. The proud, generous, spirited, non-yelling and non-bullying real Americans who know that "If we amplify everything we hear nothing." Having 4Troops perform the national anthem and Tony Bennet belt out "America, the Beautiful" was not irony. Even Father Guido's rambling benediction that ended with a "Thank you, and we really mean it," was sincere. Because the ultimate metaphor for who we are, in the competent words of Stewart, is our nightmarishly daily, eminently Yankee commute. The NRA members and the Obama voters. The soccer moms and the immigrants. And somehow we all generally merge into one harmonious lane. It's true that as Stewart explained, "Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel isn't the promised land. It's just New Jersey." But when we practice compassion and community, when we remember that the loudmouths are not a true picture of who we are, we can heal a nation, fly to the moon, and even get to work on time.Was Saturday the beginning of a new dawn in the American character? Did it cure hysteria, paranoia and rampant jerkwaddery? Only time will tell, but don't hold your breath. Maybe it was nothing more than a comedic stunt. Maybe it was just a helpful reminder to, as one genius sign in the crowd implored, "Make awkward sexual advances, not war." But when Mavis Staples and the entire ensemble gathered for the finale to promise "I'll Take You There," it seemed, at least for a minute, something more.
It was a message to the world that we are not the sum of our loudest, angriest parts. That most of our hearts, broken and aching and cynical and flawed though they often are, are in the right place. Oh, mercy. Mercy indeed. And though the rally may be over, the Peace Crazy Love Train is still at the station. The only question left is: Are you on board?
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