Stewart Turns ‘em Out, But Can’t Turn It Up

Ladies and gentlemen, the numbers are in and it’s official: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert outdid Glenn Beck nearly three times over.  According to CBS News, the only organization doing a systematic count, some 215,000 people armed with signs, costumes, and a whole lot of sanity showed up to the Comedy Central-sponsored rally on Saturday, as compared to only 87,000 for Beck in his August rally.

For the millions who tuned in to C-Span, news shows, or the live internet stream, the rally’s comedic appeals and musical performances were surely entertaining, perhaps even thought-provoking. But many of the die-hard fans who made the journey to the nation’s capital had no such luck.  Standing among the huddled masses, they couldn’t hear or see a thing.

Perhaps because they are inexperienced rally organizers, or perhaps because they were far too modest in projecting turnout, Comedy Central failed to set up jumbo-tron screens and speakers along the national mall.  The inadequate electronics surrounding the stage were visible and audible to only a small percentage of the crowd.  Flustered participants chanted “Louder, Louder!” and “Turn it up!” to no avail.  Without a view of the stage or a way to hear the speeches, many retreated to nearby bars and coffee shops instead. 

“I couldn’t see or hear anything,” said Ellen Roche, a 26-year-old DC resident who ended up watching the rally from a coffee shop.  ”It didn’t seem like it was very well planned.”  

Despite lacking access to the planned stage antics, participants found a worthy focus within the crowd itself.  Aside from its awesome size, the assembly was punctuated with costumes (thanks to the rally falling on Halloween weekend) and saturated with clever, sarcastic, and witty signs satirizing political sloganeering. For weeks, the Daily Show and Colbert Report encouraged people to prepare, photograph, and share their Sanity/Fear signs.  One man held high a yellow poster reading “My Arms Are Tired.”  Another said, “I’m mad as hell, but mostly in a passive aggressive way.”  Nearby, a colorful sign read “God Hates These Signs.” 

While the majority of the signs were playful, befitting the rally’s spirit, a significant minority were pointedly aimed at denouncing the Tea Party.  ”Don’t Tea On My Leg And Tell Me It’s Raining,’ read one.  Another, set by a trash can, advertised the receptacle as a place to recycle Tea Bags.  Parodying the seemingly endless comparisons of politicians to Hitler, one sign painted a somewhat less inflammatory mustache on Sarah Palin’s visage: That of Groucho Marx.

Ironically, a handful of people toted incendiary political signs, seemingly missing the rally’s message of moderation.  One woman dressed in a devil costume brought a poster depicting former Vice President Dick Cheney burning in Hell.  

While many of the people present were, strangely, the last to learn what happened on the rally’s central stage, they at least enjoyed taking part in an event intended to be equally entertaining and political.  To these parody activists and zealots of moderation, outshining Glenn Beck was itself a statement worth making.  But when it comes to the technical stuff, Comedy Central could learn a thing or two from Fox News.

-Niv Elis

The Ruckus - October 27, 2010

In this edition of The Ruckus, Quotidian Dissent’s round-up of interesting and exciting protests around the world, we bring you street riots, frogs legs, and protest votes.

• In Ecuador, anti-government protests over planned wage cuts spiralled out of control, resulting in five deaths.  The protesters attacked President Rafael Correa and kept him holed up in a hospital, in what he called an attempted Coup.  In France, weeks of strikes, protests, and occasional street violence against austerity measures (like raising the retirement age from 60 to 62) are losing steam, while marches against austerity measures in Romania are just heating up.
• The voting booths in Nevada are home to a unique form of protest.  The ballot includes the option to vote for “None of These Candidates,” giving voters an option to officially register their disaffection with the listed candidate.  Beyond mere symbolism, the ballot quirk may play into the re-election strategy of embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. 
• In a case that blurs the line between protesting and stalking, a crazed anti-gay activist (who happens to be an Assistant Attorney General in Michigan) ran a multi-faceted one-man campaign against the University of Michigan’s student body president, who happens to be gay.
• Responding to the international outcry and sharp diplomatic rebukes, Iran dropped the stoning death sentence against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a woman convicted of adultery.  State officials said she could still be sentenced for the alleged murder of her husband.
• A group of eighth graders outside the District of Columbia gathered outside the Rio Grande Cafe restaurant in defense of frogs.  The chain, which serves up frog legs, is helping the United States approach France and Belgium as the top eaters of the amphibians.  The kids are part of an amphibian conservation group called Save The Frogs.

Stay tuned Quotidian Dissent’s coverage of the Stewart/Colbert rallies, the story of a 12-year protester, and watch for our article this week in the Christian Science Monitor!