When we heard Jon Stewart make his big announcement about the Rally to Restore Sanity, we signed up immediately. We made our hotel reservations and our flight plans from California. Why would two older people like us want to go to Washington DC for a "comedy rally"? Because it's not a comedy rally actually. It may be seriously funny in a serious and funny way, but what we really are wanting to experience is a sense that the 80% of us who are still sane, still care enough to do this. It doesn't matter what age we are or what race we are. We ARE the 80%, who have been relatively silent in the past two years.
Watching Glenn Beck a few weeks ago, I realized that while there were people of my age there, I didn't see in their faces what I feel in my own heart about America and our President, Barack Obama. I support the President and think he is doing an exceptional job. I don't like everything he has done or not done, but I am not angry at him. I am not angry at the Congress. I know enough to know they try their best, but when they don't hear from the 80% of us, they have to respond to the 20% who are really angry -- and not always sure at what or why. I am not angry at Wall Street even. Wall Street operates perfectly rationally with the rules we give it -- if we give it different rules, we will get a different result. I am not angry at corporations either. I worked for quite a few and they generally do what they do in a rational way as well. If we don't hold them accountable, they will maximize their profit as they always have.
So when Jon Stewart said that the 80% of us who have been more or less a silent majority could have an opportunity to show how we really feel about our country, we jumped at the chance to do just that. I have no idea how this will turn out, and I know some have criticized the scheduling of this -- because it is the weekend before the midterm elections and we should be at home supporting our local politicians. What I hope this rally will do is to give the 80% of us some motivation to vote, to get our friends and neighbors out to vote, and give us the chance to be with people who feel like we do. We don't need a flag or a preacher to get us fired up. We should be able to be fired up and READY TO GO on our own -- but thankfully, Stewart and Colbert will help us have some fun about it.
See you in DC!