Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Opening one eye, I check the time, 1:30 a.m. “Go back to sleep,” I command myself.

Hating it when somebody tells me what to do, I check again, 1:45 a.m. This goes on in fraction-hour increments until it is finally time to get up, get dressed (I slipped on my official “WristStrong” band to self-identify to the herd) and get on the road. By 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 31, we head from New Jersey to the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in our nation’s capital.

Every time I see happy people in a car, I ask Matt: “Do you think they are going to the rally?” With every traffic jam we hit, I ask: “Could this be because of the rally?” We soon seem to be spectators at a Prius parade combined with a progressive sticker-fun party. “I’ll bet they are all going to the rally,” I say to my good-natured but increasingly weary husband.

At the overly crowded Chesepeake House rest stop in Maryland, I again give credit to the rally. In a long line for the ladies room, we all politely eye each other. “Are you one of us?” Then we hear an announcement that two people are tardy to get on the “white” bus for the Huffington Post (with 200 free buses, they reportedly bring 10,000 people from Manhattan to the event). Vindicated, I grin uncontrollably, a facial expression that sticks with me for most moments of the day.

Heading to the National Mall, we are overwhelmed, nay, shocked by the number of people we see. Well-behaved, normal people. And the people keep coming. And coming.

The crowd continues gathering.

Thanks to Matt’s 6’4” vantage point, well before the noon start time, we find the perfect spot to stand. People politely fill in around us. The ambient sound is pleasant, as though we are at a huge, wonderful restaurant. (Except we didn’t think to bring snacks. Or water.)

Matt is head and shoulders above the rally.

The crowd gets ready.

Although most of the musical numbers are too down-tempo for a rally, it is all pleasant enough. When the sound system cuts out and otherwise fails to reach what seems to be a crowd more than double the expected size, the chant is “Louder! Louder! Louder!”

Through it all, the estimated 215,000 people offer plenty of diversions. One group invites guests to “Jump Rope with a Muslim.” And then there are the signs:

Highlights? Doing the “wave” for science, as directed by Mythbusters Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage. (We are fans.) Hearing Yusuf sing “Peace Train” (pro-sanity) only to be cut off by Ozzy Ozbourne singing “Crazy Train” (pro-fear) in a duel that is won by the O’Jays singing “Love Train” (compromise).

The Mythbusters warm up the crowd
by telling us to laugh like mad scientists.

Men doing the wave.

There are plenty of laughs, given that the hosts of the rally are Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart of the Daily Show and Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report (the first “t” is silent). And somehow the rally is about the importance of politics without getting political. (Plenty of well-deserved media-bashing, though.)

But being entertained is, for me, a small part of the point. My goal is to be physically present to show advertisers that there is enough of a market to support programs that have sane, polite, reasoned and reasonable political discourse. Enough with the shouting. The fear mongering. The insanity. Enough!

The rally is over, but the crowd lingers.

The event ends, but many of us hang out. Smile at each other. Pick up trash, thus doing as Jon asks and leaving the Mall in better shape then when we found it. Matt and I walk around. Sit on the lawn for a while. Marvel at the well-behaved crowd. We were among thousands of people all day long and there is no screaming. Just a genial togetherness, one where we acknowledge each others’ presence and respect each others’ space. This is my America!

The polite, delightful crowd continues dispersing.

Has the rally made a difference? Can a rally brought to you by comedians—even very smart comedians—make a difference? I hope so. Even if just to move ad budgets from supporting hate speech to supporting solution-oriented debate and discussion.

And tomorrow, I will vote. Sadly, most of the information readily available to me is in the form of vile political attack ads. Through these spots, I learn one bastard is worse than the bastard who “approved this ad”. My colleague says he yearns for a “none of the above” category, so at least he can be counted as a voter without having to choose the lesser evil.

Perhaps we can rally as a nation and restore sanity in time for the next election.

The White House.