'Rally To Restore Sanity' Chicago Marches On, Despite Snags

Chicago is getting a little taste of Washington, D.C. this weekend. Not only is President Obama coming to town, but a D.C. rally will be simulcast in Grant Park -- as its organizers try to overcome a Washington-style mess of bureaucratic red tape.

Angie McMahon, of Chicago's Chemically Imbalanced Comedy, started off with an innocent Facebook post in support of Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity" in the nation's capitol this weekend.

The event snowballed into a satellite rally that McMahon found herself at the helm of, as the Sun-Times wrote in detail earlier this week.

One of the myriad headaches she's faced has been dealing with permits from the city. On Thursday night, the Park District denied her a permit for the rally based on "insufficient documentation."

Still, the District instructed her on how to go forward with the event, and even offered to provide some services, under McMahon and the group's First Amendment right to freedom of assembly.

Reports on Friday morning suggest that she may have finally secured the proper permit from the city; security arrangements were likely altered because Governor Pat Quinn has announced that he'll be speaking at the event.

Either way, the rally is on, and it looks to be packed, with over 3,300 people already confirmed on Facebook.

So, we're sorry that HuffPost didn't provide free buses here like they did in New York, but at least you'll have a chance to catch the simulcast. Check back Saturday for photos and event coverage. Also, please send your pics to [e-mail]!

What: Rally to Restore Sanity Chicago Satellite

When: Saturday, October 30, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Where: Petrillo Music Shell, Grant Park
235 S Columbus Drive, Chicago

Price: Free!

Comments

[cnobody]

10:18 PM on 10/31/2010

This was awful. The promoters used the Daily Show "sanity" name, used the same signs, had a large tv and then had the audacity to scold the audience because they (me and the thousands of others who left) were led to believe that this local gathering would be a showing of the DC rally. It was not. It was put together by people who completely missed the point of the DC rally.

[James Roy]

02:47 AM on 10/31/2010

Bait and switch. If you read the description above, the CBS story and any source outside of Facebook, this rally was to be a simulcast of the DC rally and that is not what we got.

[samuraifrog37]

05:11 PM on 10/30/2010

Sounds like it really sucked.... Washington looked much better. From my couch and T.V. Please vote on Tuesday...

[formlessness]

05:02 PM on 10/30/2010

That was awful, seriously the people who set this up should be ashamed. muting the DC rally in favor of partisan politics and terrible comedians was a poor choice. Way to miss the point completely.

[Open Minded Guy]

01:51 AM on 10/31/2010

Agreed! A disgrace!

[cirrus7]

03:26 PM on 10/30/2010

National Rally - where would you ever catch it if were not viewing it live?
1. CSPAN.org video library
2. CSPAN rerun - they have zip else until Nov. 2-3
3. Youtube in segments
4. Comedy Central.com
5. possibly Directv - Comedy Central On Demand Ch1249 - via ethernet connection to DVR.

[Erick Robertson]

02:36 PM on 10/30/2010

Unfortunately, the rally was not what I expected. Profanity-laced speakers, comedians talking about sandwiches, a security guard scolding the crowd, and partisan politics are not my idea of sanity. Lots of people left because the self-important speakers thought that the crowd would rather listen to them than John Stewart. One comedian practically bragged about cutting off Ozzy Osbourne. This event was all about local politics, and nothing about restoring sanity. They piggybacked on the popularity of the DC rally to push their own agendas. It's very sad - they missed the point completely.

[formlessness]

04:56 PM on 10/30/2010

You summed up how I felt perfectly. We left right after that terrible comedian started talking about food. They totally missed the point of the rally, luckily my sister doesn't live far away and we got to actually see and hear the rally in DC on tv. The people who set this up should be ashamed of themselves, seriously.

[Open Minded Guy]

01:54 AM on 10/31/2010

Then you missed the (formerly) illegal immigrant who said that the wall they were putting up at the Mexican border was "as big as the Chinese wall"...and that you could see it on the internet... We left after that, which was shortly after the "When is a sandwich a sandwich?" pro-choice monologue. (I AM pro-choice...but the point of the day was not to promote an agenda, but to promote open dialogue.)

[geeksrppl2]

11:24 AM on 10/31/2010

Did you catch the guy wearing a KKK-like costume and holding up a sign equating the GOP to the Klan? Not funny, and not productive.

[HankyJoe]

11:45 AM on 10/30/2010

Yet another reason why I love this city!!!!

[KatieAnnieOakley]

11:11 AM on 10/30/2010

And she did all this while 6 months preggo!? GO ANGIE!!

[mratcheson]

08:23 PM on 10/29/2010

The organizers of this thing, especially Angie McMahon, did a truly great job. Wish I could be there, it'll be a wonderfully sane time, I'm sure!

[Discomustachio]

06:58 PM on 10/29/2010

Normally I hate the Metra. Tomorrow, I will love it...

[ChiProgressive]

06:49 PM on 10/29/2010

Will this be as awesome as the '68 Democratic? national convention

[Frank Jenkins]

07:20 PM on 10/29/2010

Only if the cops beat us lol

[mratcheson]

08:24 PM on 10/29/2010

You remember it as awesome? Hmm, let's hope not.

[hotbarb2614]

05:49 PM on 10/29/2010

Go and have a good time.I lived there for over 45 years. Show the country a Chicago style rally

[MYSTERIOUS]

04:34 PM on 10/29/2010

Wow. Two in one day? I will have to do something I've never done: Split myself in two.

[smbern]

03:52 PM on 10/29/2010

Awesome, way to go C-town! Have fun and go insane ... oops keep it cool brothers and sisters.