Yes, I know that the last thing the world -- and especially The Huffington Post -- need is more reaction to Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity. But I had many reactions -- all good -- and because AT&T couldn't cope with so much sanity in one place and I had no Twitter in the event, I had to store them up like nuts in a squirrel's cheeks and now they just have to come out. So here they are.
Stewart's close was pitch-perfect, presenting optimism, perspective, honesty, and humor in exact proportion.
He brilliantly separated himself from media, politics, and government, setting him closer to us, the people. In other circumstances, that might sound like a populist's positioning: Stewart as Evita (don't laugh for me, New Jersey). But that's why the apolitical nature of the event matters: He wasn't selling an agenda or buying power. He was leading and inspiring. He was recognizing and supporting the best in us.
Stewart was raising a standard for how our alleged leaders should respect us so we could respect them in return. "Because the image of Americans that is reflected back to us by our political and media process is false," he said. Stewart was doing nothing less than resetting the relationship of the powerful to the public. He was re-empowering us. His speech and his event were profoundly democratic. Not Democratic or Democrat -- democratic.
Media took most of his barbs and for good reason. I must confess that I came away feeling a bit ashamed to be a member of the media and journalism tribe (even as I played hooky from the Online News Association's annual confab uptown). Stewart and Colbert rightfully castigated us. Oh, yes, they aimed mostly at cable news. "The country's 24-hour political pundit perpetual panic conflictinator did not cause our problems but its existence makes solving them that much harder," Stewart said.
But the rest of us in the news business are not blameless. We, too, monetize fright. We are evil coaches on grade school playgrounds, making sides and then pitting them against each other. When we in the press included TV and cable news people in our journalistic club and rejected bloggers and citizens, we legitimized them. When we don't repudiate their ways, we excuse them. Shame on all of us.
The coverage of the rally I've seen so far tends toward the dismissive, as does its play on the home pages of The New York Times and Washington Post. "Nonpartisan bits, musical entertainment and gentle ribbing of the purported enemies of incivility," is the Post's view of it. Cute. Unimportant. A trifle. Pay no heed to its complaints about us; it's just a joke, after all. Ex-Postie Howie Kurtz was surprised at the size of the event. He underestimated. I didn't. He called it "shtick" and "weak" at that. His was an entertainment review. That's how The Times saw it, as "part circus, part satire, part holiday parade." You know how those kids love a parade with clowns, yet.
Well, judged as entertainment, Kurtz isn't entirely wrong. Except it wasn't entertainment. The event used entertainment to be something else, to make a different point. At least The Times' wunderkind, Brian Stelter, got a blogging chance to call it what it was: media criticism. But sadly, the media don't even realize they were being criticized, not really.
There was so much about the day that was so encouraging to me.
It was indeed wonderful and hopeful to hear Cat Stevens/Yusef/Joseph/Joe sing Peace Train. On Twitter, @msbellows said its humor advanced the cause of Muslim moderation 20 years.
It was equally wonderful to hear Stewart thank the un-tolled masses for massing. "Sanity," he said, "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." On Twitter, I observed that these people came not for a show but for (a) reason. (Stelter, by the way, agreed.)
I was most heartened -- overjoyed, really -- by the fact that I shared this day with so many people my own age and just as many my son's age. I was lucky that he happened to have taken the weekend away from college and could come with me, along with a high-school friend of his. I was crammed in in front of them. To my left were more young people. To my right and ahead were people my age who understood what a big deal it was for Cat Stevens/Yusef/Joseph/Joe to return to a musical stage -- and share it was Ozzy friggin' Osborne (which made it worth the frustration of hearing Peace Train cut short again after all these years).
My son's friend, Ben, said he'd never been to a rally before. Friend Emily Bell tweeted that she used the opportunity to introduce her sons to the idea of rallies and had some trouble explaining to her 6-year-old the reason for them.
No, this wasn't their Woodstock 2.0. It was just a rally. In my youth, in our fabled '60s, we had them all the time because we had cause and because we believed we could -- must -- change government and society. That was change we could believe in. Now Stewart has given us reason again to come together, to set new standards, to expect real change, to celebrate democracy (not government), to communicate (around media) -- in short, and in every sense of the word, to rally.
: Oh, and I almost forgot: I was also delighted to see NPR and other haughty temples of journalism get crap from Stephen Colbert for forbidding their employees unless assigned from attending the rally. As son Jake said afterwards, it was an insult to the people at that rally. What, do we have cooties on us? Damn it, every one of the journalists on those staffs could have learned a great deal today. But they weren't allowed to. Because that's not officially journalistic. Well, once again, Jon Stewart proved to be closer to the public than the journalists charged with serving them. That's why we trust him and not you, media people. He's not afraid to get a little of us on him.
Follow Jeff Jarvis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeffjarvis
Rabbi Sid Schwarz: Jon Stewart: We Need More than Amplification
For example, I am left leaning and do not agree with the Tea Party's agenda (whatever that may be, my biggest problem being their lack of cohesion) but it irks me when they are referred to as 'Teabaggers' - there is no room for name-calling in reasonable political debate. There were signs to that effect. I do not believe in a defined God (be it Christian or Muslim or whatever) but it irks me when people suggest that those who do are fools. There were signs to that effect.
The answer to right-wing partisanship is NOT partisanship of our own. No matter what Keith Olbermann says.
I'm curious, could you answer two questions for me?
Do you regularly watch Beck? (Media Matters or any other site's clips do not cut it.)
What do you think of him?
When I started watching him, I thought he'd be another Hannity, but I seemed to be wrong. Interested to hear your opinion. ;)
Granted, though he is obviously conservative I will admit he is not as POLITICALLY partisan as some of the other pundits. However, his treatment of history and statistics is horribly anti-intellectual and some times the 'facts' aren't only misused but they are, frankly, made up. Also, the style in which he presents these 'facts' is absolutely designed to inspire all the bad emotions (fear, hate etc.) in his viewers.
Sometimes, there really are things to be afraid of. Despite FDR's famous line, fear is NOT bad in and of itself. I'll say it again--somethings ARE worth being afraid of, and we should react accordingly.
All these rallies do is reinforce the notion in many--especially millennials, the generation to which I belong--that politics is silly and uncool, and the best thing we can all do is just smile and ignore it. And maybe that was true in the boring, "nothing-happens" 90's, but in the present we're all smart enough to know that this mentality just makes it easier for those in power to control us. Anyone who buys into this civility meme is missing the point that our democracy has basically been taken away from us.
Again, love Jon Stewart. His commentary is often brilliant. His rally contained many funny signs. But his rally, in the end, was nothing more than sheep smiling on the way to the slaughterhouse.
All one needs to do is look at the way a moderate and conciliatory Democratic president has been treated every time he's reached a hand across the aisle in the spirit of bipartisan cooperation. Republicans have treated him with nothing but contempt, mockery, and the most ornery mean-spiritedness. Their behavior disgraces themselves, our country, and the entire concept of a democratic republic. How have they earned our civility? And why shouldn't liberals expect to see their outrage amplified by the media outlets who speak for them?
Jason Linkins had some good points in his column, which I took to heart. It's important to never dehumanize our opponents, even if that's what they do to us.
But that's more an internal mindset we can all keep to heart--not something to rally over. People love to think of it in terms of partisanship, but I'm sorry--truth is the truth. And while we do occasionally go over the top, the liberals on TV who do at times get angry (dare I say un-civil) are some of the only responsible people on the airwaves and I think it is therefore irresponsible to go after them as equivalent to the propaganda machine on the other side.
The only other comment I can make is that Saturday’s event is how the world should view America and its people. Instead, we portray a much harsher image that is often difficult for the world to ignore.
If we had some sanity and decency, we would not have bought into the tea party thing and the viciousness coming from the right. Are we just thinking for ourselves and expecting Obama to rain $100 bills on us, then we'll be happy to vote for the Dems?
When insane people are taking over the government through elections, and advocating, in many instances, for violence, it is not the time for "civility."
Those of us who know the truth and support it already HAVE sanity, and cable news doesn't take it away from us.
The event was a chaotic hoot. So many hurdles to overcome, yet so many of us persevered, and made it on that beautiful day. What made it so special (besides the fact that it was Halloween, and many participants wore costumes) is that we were, at long last, after so many years of isolation, among like-thinking people, and unafraid, and so unashamedly mellow. The people there, and the signs they carried were a delight a minute. It was a collective sigh of relief, at long last, FOR NOW.
Arianna, thank you for being such a positive force on this.
Now, Vote on Tuesday, please, please, please.
It's not just the mellow, it's the important stuff not addressed, like "ambiguation", a concept that blurs the truth so cleverly, it is difficult to refute, and so destructive to our democracy (not Democrats -- they go along with it) but true DEMOCRACY:
"How the landmarks of French politics became blurred: Recent politics in France provides many examples of 'ambiguation' – giving immoral acts a second meaning"
By Julien Etienne, The Guardian, October 25, 2010
But what if we want to vote for a Tea party or Republican candidate?
I savored it from here in NY. It took all of the bitter taste away of the harpings of the past MONTHS.
Really - even a little goes a long way. There are so many more good people in the US and I think we will see the result on Tuesday to the surprise of the pundits. Of course, I shall have the makings of good old-fashioned Bloody Marys around just in case!