Rally To Restore Sanity's Roots: 'Is That How You Talk To Your Grandchildren?'

For the next couple of weeks, we'll be celebrating the upcoming Rally To Restore Sanity/March To Keep Fear Alive by highlighting the ways "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" have long advocated reasonableness. You're invited to take part! Remember a "moment of sanity" that was dear to you? Send me an email and tell me about it!

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Our own Elyse Siegel is constantly amazed at how our hallowed halls of Congress so often become an arena for some of the most silly and juvenile politicking and has helped me, on two occasions to compile some of the most gravitas-defeating moments that Congress has hosted. This is the sort of insanity that pops up in the discourse when your public servants decide they'd rather play to the cameras then have an adult conversation.

A particular favorite is Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and his kindergarten-level criticism of health care reform. On August 4, 2009, Jon Stewart lampooned Grassley's antics as something that befitted "C-SPAN Jr." Grassley's nonsensical twisting of various childhood fables caused Stewart to respond, "Is that how you talk to your grandchildren?" No, that's how Grassley talks to his fellow senators, who I had imagined were grown-ups but, really, who can tell?

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Comments

[1canview]

09:47 AM on 10/30/2010

The right has been purging their so called moderates. The left should do the same.
I understand that for every Blue Dog that has been elected that is one seat that isn't Republican.
But it doesn't make any difference when they always vote with Republicans.
Mutual of Omaha equals Chuck Grassley. Joe Lieberman equals Israel. And so on.
Blue Dogs come from traditionally conservative states and for some reason they
weren't harping about fiscal reponsability during the Bush years.
Being against the public option is not being a Democrat in my opinion.

I was glad to see Rahm Emanuel go. I think Nancy Pelosi did a pretty good job considering all she had on her plate but most likely she is toast. Harry Reid needs to be replaced. It is like he is from another era. Replacing Geitner with Austin Goolsby would be a good idea.
And.....bring Howard Dean back into the tent.

[CJHAN]

01:47 AM on 10/19/2010

The sad thin is Comedy Central is 1 of the few places that you can trust in politics.

[Anne Reed]

01:32 PM on 10/18/2010

Am I the only one who noticed that Apples profitability has skyrocketed since the whole warrantless wiretapping fiasco? I personally spent nearly $10,000 trying to regain control of my PC only to learn that it was the good ol' USA monitoring my correspondence and continually changing my settings. O'Bama declined to hold these corporations accountable for honoring "frivolous" wire tappings, but American citizens are not so forgiving. The free market (albeit saturated with conflict of interest and exempt from anti-trust and monopoly regulation) allows us the capacity to say, "No, I won't continue to give my money to those who refuse to protect my freedoms". So here's my vote... To heck with Microsoft, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Qwest and Comcast. I'll buy Apple, thank you!

[Plymouth Pilgrim]

12:52 PM on 10/18/2010

The Daily show and Colbert are Great. I only wish the press would get after these politions. They ask a question, but the pol goes off on some unrelated subject. They let them get away with it. Why won't they press these guys into sticking to the point. They let them wiggle and spin, but we get no anwser. I watched the Angle Reid debate, and Angle would not anwser questions. I just can't stand having these people disregard whatever question is being asked.

[rich3324]

11:11 AM on 10/18/2010

And the goppers and fox complained about Colbert testifying at a committee hearing.

[BadgersBite]

07:23 AM on 10/18/2010

The repub's have to dumb it down for their base to understand it.

[thegoodspeed]

04:19 AM on 10/18/2010

i got more laughs in those 3 minutes than even the best comedians could give on their best day.

good stuff.

[LMPE]

11:45 PM on 10/17/2010

I challenge Chuck Grassley to meet Jon Stewart and let him ask about this charade!

[caseyblab]

11:31 PM on 10/17/2010

Grassley sounded like he was recovering from either drinking or a concussion- completely bonkers.

[asiclilpup]

01:29 PM on 10/17/2010

LOL this is amongst Stewarts BEST !!

[Terypat]

06:35 AM on 10/17/2010

Have they no shame at all? And Iowa, WTF? All the presidential candidates flock to your state for approval and Grassley is the best you have to send to Washington? I cannot understand why the the politics of Iowa is so important to every presidential hopeful when half the representation they send to Washington votes against the betterment of our nation and its people time after time after time.

The whole country does not consist of farms and a farmer's way of life, but you would never know it listening to the politicians from these states (both the Democrats and Republicans alike), and being a city slicker (I can't burn my trash in my back yard, for instance, so I need the nasty "local guvment" to intervene and provide trash collection service for me and my (close) neighbors, and we like it picked up every week!), I am pretty damn sick of hearing them and their preaching about taking responsibility and "taking care of what is yours!"

All I can say is live my life for a day and walk the streets I walk and Chuck Grassley would not last a day!

[macchugsid]

06:31 PM on 10/17/2010

You got that right!

[malicetwdnone]

12:31 AM on 10/31/2010

New poll shows him leading 61-30. : -

[thewholestory]

07:32 PM on 10/16/2010

Be afraid, be very afraid, if the Republican Tea Party, takes over the House or Senate!

[astroup]

03:08 PM on 10/17/2010

Well look at the bright side. At least they'll have to start taking some of the blame for the bad economy when they can't fix it in 2 years.

[Nitehawk]

06:04 PM on 10/17/2010

In between their meetings on impeachment.

[Kickingandscreaming]

01:54 PM on 10/16/2010

Did the founding fathers use these kinds of cartoon posters when they spoke before congress or did they just use sock puppets?

[todd1888]

01:02 PM on 10/16/2010

Grassley also pushed the meme of pulling the plug on Grandma -- with very little push back from the press about how absurd that comment was. These politicians -- left and right -- know that they can make ridiculous statements and the press will simply write it down or repeat it without any facts or contexts on how outlandish the statement is.

If we had a functioning, adversarial press -- I am pretty sure politicians would be a little more careful about what they say. Sadly, cartoon dragons are par for the course.

[YouDontWantMeHere]

12:13 PM on 10/16/2010

Hay Don! how's Ben doin'?