As a satirical response to Glenn Beck’s rally to “Restore Honor,” Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are having rallies of their own at the National Mall on Oct. 30.
Stewart’s “Rally to Restore Sanity” and Colbert’s “March to Keep Fear Alive” will ridicule the overzealousness of Beck’s rally but in different ways.
Stewart’s rally, with the motto, “Take it down a notch for America,” is a call to tone down the fanatical rhetoric being spewed on both sides, and is a plea for rationality and reasonableness in a media landscape dominated by the loudest and craziest sector of the population.
One of his protest signs reads, “I disagree with you, but, I’m pretty sure you’re not Hitler.”
Colbert’s rally, with the motto, “Now is the time for all good men to freak out for freedom,” is attempting to communicate the same message as Stewart’s, but as is customary for Colbert, it will parody Beck’s fear-mongering to make its point.
These rallies have the potential to be a provocative form of civic engagement through the use of satire and humor, but we hope that the message stays comical and lighthearted.
If either of these rallies transitions from mocking criticism to abrasive derision, they will be no better than their opposition.
And because Stewart announced that his rally will feature special guests, we hope the event does not become a campaign tool for political candidates, as the “Restore Honor” rally seemed to be for Sarah Palin.
By keeping the rhetoric playful and farcical, and in a sense, antithetical to Beck’s rhetoric, his message can be subverted and made to look foolish.
An exemplary use of political satire occurred before the 2004 presidential election when a group called “Billionaires for Bush” took to the streets.
They described themselves as “Ruly bands of Billionaires” who will “roam the streets of New York, stopping for three-martini lunches and spontaneous outbursts of ballroom dancing.”
The participants dressed themselves in tuxedos, top hats and elegant gowns and flaunted signs such as “Widen the income gap” and “We’re selling your future today!”
Arvind Singhal and Karen Greiner write that, “Through playful actions, satire and ridicule, ‘Billionaires for Bush’ engaged both participants and observers to expose the nexus between the presidency and right-wing, upper-class, neo-conservatives.”
Stewart and Colbert’s rallies can accomplish a similar feat, especially because these events might garner a wider audience than their individual television shows.
If they can successfully contrast the dogmatic lunacy of Beck’s rally with the composed rationality of Stewart’s and the exaggerated antics of Colbert’s, their
message might reach and affect more people.
But if these rallies become lectures rather than vaudevillian spoofs, their message might get lost among the rhetoric.