Monday, February 28, 2011

F is for Fear

On October 30th, last year Comedy Central's Daily Show put on a rally in D.C. It was a Rally to Restore Sanity. The Colbert Report put on it's own corresponding rally - The Rally to Restore Fear. It was held on the same day at the same venue and was mostly all in fun. People across the nation thought it was a good idea and corresponding rallies were scheduled at many major cities. We went to the Denver one.


There were about 200 people there and we took quite a few pics...

Here's T surveying the crowd...



Another crowd shot...

They invited all the political candidates to speak but none of the Dem's or Repub's showed up. This guy was a Libertarian candidate. He took off the mask and laid the scythe down before he spoke.
He had some good ideas but lost me when he said we had to abolish the CIA. Yea. Good luck with that one!

They had skits, too. This man was in a skit and the kids wanted a pic with him so we went "backstage" of the amphitheater to get one. He is apparently very serious about his Star Wars fanship. This is his "B costume"....

There was an adorable cupcake truck...

As it should be, the kids could've cared less about the political rally. They were much more interested in what T appropriately calls "public art".

D2 kept holding his hands up to make it seem like he was holding up the sculptures but he's a bit small yet to pull it off...

Here they are in front of one of the capitol buildings (D2 trying to hold it up)...

And the other capitol building opposite (D2 striking his "adorable" pose)...


We had a great time - the weather was amazing, everyone at the rally was mellow and calm. The political speakers were polite and the skits were funny. The signs were the best part. They encouraged people to bring signs and some of my favorites were:

"George W. Bush is NOT Hitler (pic of W); Obama is NOT Hitler (pic of Obama); HITLER is Hitler (pic of Hitler)"

"I fear my cat is Hitler (pic of white cat w/black spot on upper lip)"

"I'M MAD AS HELL and I want to discuss it rationally."

"Make awkward sexual advances, not war."

We dvr'd the actual rally with John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. It took a couple of weeks but when I watched it, I was really impressed! They had a lot of great music and some real heroes and, like the Denver rally, there was no drama and everyone seemed really happy to be there.

I was very excited this rally even existed; I still am! I know "if it bleeds it leads" is nothing new, I think that phrase was coined somewhere in the 60's or 70's (maybe before) but things have gotten SO out of hand that it makes me very sad.

Just recently, the headlines screamed "Christina Aguillera RUINS the National Anthem". Really? Ruined? I think she got a line or two wrong, I think that the song is actually still intact and well-loved.

Everything the President or the Senators/Congresspeople do is punished and rehashed ad nauseum until none of it means anything. Every little thing is blown to such large proportions that we have become desensitized to anything less then what is screamed into our faces. None of it means anything anymore; that is what makes me sad. Things that actually deserve attention, important things that could really change lives in this country (or others) are ignored. Things that don't mean a damn thing (DID Obama dye his hair? Who the fuck cares!!) are trotted out and dissected like they are important.

There's people on both sides of the political line (looking at YOU Glenn Beck and Keith Olberman (I used to love Olberman!)) that talk and talk and talk and people are actually drinking their poisonous Kool-Aid. I wish people would stop listening and start thinking. Do their own research and come up with their own opinions. Even if those opinions are completely insane or backwards at least they would be their own.

In this country, we are heading for certain disaster. When people are losing their homes because they can't pay their medical bills, when war widows are being forced to marry (or not marry) at a certain age to retain the benefits their spouses paid for, when [insert current issue that pisses you off here] is happening and the talking heads on TV are saying that since the Prez dyed his hair it means he's a deceiver and people are buying into that nonsense.... something is seriously wrong.

When that Congresswoman (Senator?) got shot in the head in Tucson, the first thing I thought of was, 'Good thing she has all that FREE health care. Good thing her family will never have to worry about losing their home to medical bills.' (The second thing I thought was, 'Damn, Ruth, that's fucked up!'.)

I saw a news article about the State of the Union Address - they were making this huge deal about the fact that the Dem's and Repub's were sitting together. It took awhile for that to sink in for me. Sitting. Together. SITTING TOGETHER??!! Apparently, they never do that. They are so at war with one another, they can't even stand to sit with the opposing party? They are so at war with one another that even if one wanted to sit with an opposing party member they would be shunned by their own party if they did.

One of the Republicans said, "I sat with Dem A, Dem B, and Dem C. They were nice to me and I hope they thought I was nice to them." That, sadly, is almost verbatim what T said when he came home from his first day of kindergarten.

The article made a big deal out of the Senator who came up with the idea for them to sit in "mixed company". Apparently, there was quite a bit of pushback until a reporter got ahold of it and then everyone decided to "play nice". I don't understand. I don't get why that Senator is such a hero for bringing up a what should be a non-issue. I don't get how they can expect to run a country together when they can't even sit together. It really gives me pause.

And WE are the ones hiring these yay-hoos! It makes me laugh when people bag on the President - ANY president in our countries history - like they actually have any authority. They can't do much of anything without years of bureaucracy and things going through Senate and Congress, etc.

I don't have the answers (at least not all of them), I only ask that you do your own research, think for yourselves, and act accordingly.

At the end of the Rally, John Stewart made a little speech. They showed a video of a turnpike somewhere on the East Coast. Apparently, there's 5 or 6 lanes that narrow down to one lane to go through a tunnel. The video showed cars letting each other in and Stewart compared it to how government should be. Give and Take; you go, then I go, then you go, then I go. This is one of the busiest roads in America, people are going to work or coming home and they all need to get where they are going. They all work together to make it happen. All different types of people, all strangers to each other. He said that, yes, occasionally some asshole cuts in but people flip them off then forget them and continue to work together. If they can do it, why can't the government?

You go, then I go, Ruth!

2 comments:

Becca said...

Holy crap, yes and yes and more yes!! Glad you had fun, but really glad to read the same exact thing that I think, but only better written!

soxanne said...

What fun!

and fyi:

There are two sayings that are familiar in every news room across the country: 1) sex sells; 2) if it bleeds it leads.
Armstrong Williams

from: http://www.brainyquote.com