unTheist

For those who did not know, let me set this up before I get into it. Of you know about this rally, or were there, you can probably skip the first few paragraphs. There was a Chicago satellite rally held in Grant Park, meant to coincide with Jon Stewarts and Stephen Colberts “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear”. The Chicago rally was started as a Facebook page by a comedian form a popular Chicago comedy group. The facebook pages’ name was/is simply “Rally To Restore Sanity Chicago”. It was a great idea, they tried to get official sponsorship from Comedy Central but couldn’t, they had coverage on the from page of ChicagoTribune.com and other papers I’m sure. Simply put, people were excited to have a local alternative to the D.C. event.

I had not participated in the “Rally to Restore Sanity Chicago” group before the rally actually took place, and the most I did was tell others about the Chicago rally and encourage them to come – I dont think any of them did. So, all that considered I feel a bit awkward having something to say about it now.

The ambiance early on was amazing, nerds in costume (including a little kid dressed as Harry Potter), there were funny signs everywhere, there was groups of strangers dancing with each other to the music playing from DC. It was electric, it was loose, it was fun and jovial.

The event went well enough on its own, maybe some of the comedians weren’t the most exciting, maybe some of the speakers didn’t actually have much to say – but all things considered, it was an interesting event, interesting speakers, and I am happy I was in attendance. There was a speaker from the Chicago Progressive Alliance (or something or other), there was an immigrant who made his case about immigration reform and a plea for people go exercise their right to vote – a right that so many people wish they had, and there was also a doctor in a lab coat expressing the need for universal healthcare. There were also couple good musical acts, and of couse several comedians including Greg Hollimon (Principal Blackman from “Strangers with Candy”). I liked everything, I agreed with most of the things everyone said, and I thought the comedians did an excellent job.

Oh yeah, and the D.C. rally. Well, we saw about 10 minutes at the beginning, then they muted the jumbotron and went on with local bits. That did no sit well with many in the audience. People began chanting “au-di-o, au-di-o”, to the point of disrupting the speakers on stage. The crowd’s protests led to a brief cut to the D.C. rally, only to be cut off once again at the moment Ozzy Osbourne and Cat Stevens were on screen. The cumulative “aww” was deafening. When it was muted, we got to hear the enthralling words of a member of some progressive group thanking a laundry list of people for having them at the event.

I guess I did not really know what to expect out of the chicago rally. However, I did expect some semblance of the meta-argument about how we argue that Stewart has started.

While I pretty much agree with everything that was said at the rally by the politicians, the immigrant, and the doctor, and so forth – and while I thought the comedians were OK – I dont think any of Stewarts fans really expected that “The Rally to Restore Sanity” would be used as a platform for liberal-progressive local politicians. Thats what we got. No meta-discussion, no satire, not even from the comedians.

I understand the frustration that was experienced in the crowd. On both sides. On one side, people wanted to be part of something national – they wanted Jon Stewart – they expected more than a total of 10 mins or so at the end, and whatever small portions we got at the beginning (we also got a small bit in the middle, but that was because some in the crowed yelled for it).

On the other hand, it was not very “sane” of them to scream and continuously interrupt the speakers on the stage. I’ll admit, I yelled early on once, when Stewart first came on stage on the jumbotron. However, if its clear the intent is NOT to cut to D.C., dont be an ass just because you didnt get what you want.

There were people up in front yelling back at the protesters “you can watch tv at home!”. They are right of course, you can watch TV at home, on the other hand – you can use a different name for your rally – and not usurp a very different national movement to push the local politics you agree with.

The end of the conflict came when a member of the security team took the mic, and threatened to kick out anyone else who disruptive. This was the least sane moment of the entire event. The event was in a public park, without permits – on the basis of the First Amendment. The notion that you might eject someone form that public gathering for what they are saying is so ridiculous, that I dont know what more insane word I can use than ridiculous. (maybe its Hitler, yes.. thats it, its Hitler,… and socialism). After that moment – the jovial attitude of the crowd was dead. There was no more dancing, there was no more chanting (of any kind), and the best any speaker got was spattering of applause and light chuckles.

I dont know how wise it is, even for a comedian himself, to do their rather slow, soft-spoken, dead-pan bits, while standing next to a giant jumbotron showing Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), and Ozzy Osborn, making havoc on screen. Of course people will want to see whats going on, on screen.

This could have worked, well. With few changes. More cuts to DC… NO politicians. Less thanking everyone in the universe (do that at the end, not while theres a Giant 20 foot inflatable Stephen Colbert on the screen). Perhaps plan a slightly longer event, that starts earlier, ends later – and then includes follow-up discussions with the crowd. Oh, and NO politicians.

Did I mention? NO POLITICIANS…

In the end, my disappointment was not that I disagreed with any particular opinion, and it was not even entirely that we didnt all just watch the jumbotron the whole time – but rather that the Rally to Restore Sanity title and event were somewhat abused to present partisan opinions opinions.

Seriously though.. the politicians had no place there – it was completely the wrong context. And please understand… I like Rich Whitey.

All that said, my own complaints sound just a bit hollow. What i’ve perceived as a bit of false advertisement in connecting this to the Stewart rally, aside – the effort to make this event happen was a lot more than I did. Especially since I did nothing, except write this, and complain ex post facto.

Thats really it, but I’m long winded so here we go….

I’ll write just a little more about the use of the Sanity rally’s name. It must be understood that the way social media works, most people who hear about it, probably didnt read the entire facebook page and follow all the discussions. Its not a news report, or a pamphlet – its twitter and facebook. The first sentence in everything, its the entire perception. So when you say “Rally to Restore Sanity”, a lot of people will expect just that. This IS wat led to the confusion, I guarantee it, even my own girlfriend who attended (the girl in the red, sitting to the right of Harry Potter, in the facebook group logo) did not realize until during the event that this was an independent non-centralized rally.

I dont regret going – I enjoyed it, and heard speakers I liked and thanks to Angie for doing everything she did to make it happen. Its just not what I was expecting to see. By all means, do comedy/political rallies, I think its a great idea, and will get lots of people involved – and it a lot fo fun, just dont use the name of an entirely different kind of rally.