Many people carried funny protest signs at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on Washington DC’s National Mall. On a sunny late October Saturday, thousands of silly signs bobbed in the massive crowd called to Washington by comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. .
Some signs were insightful into the political landscape, like cloud watching for signs of approaching weather.
On Obama: “Sanity: Knowing that it takes longer than 2 years to fix an eight year disaster!”
“Yes we can- but it’s not going to happen overnight.”
“I see you went half-black and are deciding whether or not to go back.”
Many signs spoke to the rally’s main theme: “Take it down a notch, America.” The American body politic has been getting riled up in a dangerous way that historically has led to violence. Recently, a zombie-like volunteer for Rand Paul assaulted MoveOn’s Lauren Valle. The Nazis started by finger pointing at the different: Jews/Roma/gays etc. America has a proto-fascist movements afoot, so this comedy serves a serious healing function at a serious time.
“Radicals for moderate discourse”
“Endless outrage is a form of mental illness, not a form of gov’t.”
“You are mad as Shell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”
A highbrow statement from Thomas Jefferson was given more snap by being held by a very cute young woman, “Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life are but dreary things.” Imagine! Jefferson predicted the theme of the rally over two hundred years ago!
Jefferson, an early adopter of interracial babymaking, would have appreciated the healthy modern views on sexuality on display:
On Christine O’Donnell: A sign said “I’m You* (*but I masturbate.)” On another sign was a picture of a sheep saying “I’m not a witch. I ewe.”
Some signs were against all extremism, like this war cry from a Unitarian Sunday school:
“If you aren’t with us, well, you may have an equally valid worldview to consider.”
and:
“The center: getting stuff done since 1776.”
Some signs winked at the act of carrying signs.
“I have a sign”
“I have a really big sign”
“I like this sign”
“This sign doesn’t say anything.”
“My political views cannot be summarized on a pithy sign.”
“Americans for... OH LOOK! A puppy!”
“Who farted?”
The doctors were more straightforward.
“Young doctor for universal health care.”
“More doctors, less jails.”
Some signs called for civility:
“Beat your pitchforks into sporks”
Some signs called to evolution:
“Men: Liberate! Ditch the tie!”
“Fear high-speed trains! They save energy.”
Something about the cultural superiority trip and masturbatory Reaganism of Sarah Palin really sets this crowd on edge.
One sign had a picture of Palin and “Keep fear alive.”
and: “You don’t have to hunt a moose to be a real American.”
“I can see America from my house!”
“Pray for secular gov’t”
Redheads gathered to get a picture with a sign that read: “Redheads for reason: we’re on fire for sanity”
On moderation:
“I’m moderate as hell.”
“I’m with sensible.”
“Death to nobody!”
“Nonviolence by any means necessary!”
On interfaith religious tolerance for Muslims:
“Muslims are nice people.”
“Beards are evil” carried by a bearded man.
The rally had a healthy, Muslim-friendly atmosphere that is a beautiful, godly improvement on the Vibe of recent days. America is stronger and wiser because of our interfaith tolerance. Hyper-partisan religiousness is almost always a tool of secular people to bad trip sincere religious people.
I love Sufi poetry, the poems of Rumi and Hafiz, and the ugliness of a decade of Islamophobia was put in perspective when suddenly, Islam was included in the circle of the cool. I want to live in the Jon Stewart’s America: tolerant, multi-ethic, and islam-friendly, so Kareem Abdul-Jabber can stop by.
For me, the rally’s most heartwarming moment was when Cat Stevens came on stage. This man suffered greatly for following his spiritual path where It lead. When Ozzie came out, it was grotesque counterpoint, but dynamic theater. But, hey, that’s America: the sublimely spiritual and Loud People must share one big stage.
The phenomenon of a self-selecting crowd is always interesting to observe. The crowd for the rally seemed like educated, politically aware, liberal people with a sense of humor. A quarter million people who like jokes! Yes, 250,000 is the semiofficial estimate on numbers, reported by Politico.com, based on 50 people’s estimates. To compare, Glenn Beck’s rally was 87,000, from the same source.
One new friend said he “just felt they should come, an inner call to stand up for something, albeit vague.”
One sign expressed why so many came:
“Thanks, guys, for keeping me sane during the Bush years”
The Daily Show has kept people sane while enduring the deceitful Bushite political theater. The rally felt healing to the national mind of America. Clear thinking and being grounded in reality is healthy. Tolerance, justice, and goodness are healing. Dark thoughts of anger and racism make us sick. The American media is creating a dark, propagandized mindscape.
The media isn’t helping us think together and act rationally. We haven’t yet gotten political will to solve the Climate Crisis because oil-companies are out propagandizing Dr. James Hansen. So we are destabilizing the structure of our sky! This situation threatens humanity’s survival, but try to get that heard through the punk band racket of the Fox Noise Machine.
This allows Climate Denial to be nearly prerequisite for Republican Senate candidates.
Humanity must learn to think straight on the science of the composition of our atmosphere in this delicate, thin terrarium, or we are no place. But that’s my private soapbox. Note: I did not see one sign about the Climate Crisis, nor hear one comment from the stage. We need a climate movement, and we don’t have one sign.
In closing, the day felt like it might be DC’s best day ever. DC is town of spooky impressive stage set theater buildings. It needs the good vibes off the American people. Americans need to be in DC more, that our tolerant goodness can rub off. At the very least, we should gather annually so that the Mythbuster guys can lead is in a progressively sillier group antics, like when they got everybody to jump and measured for an earthquake.
On Oct 30, 2010, the lonely, unheard masses gathered, this underrepresented american majority: liberal, tolerant, with a sense of humor.
They came, they laughed, maybe they voted.
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