The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cMarch to Keep Fear Alivewww.colbertnation.com
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Well, they finally made their big announcements tonight. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are sponsoring competing marches on Washington this Oct. 30th - Stewart's "Rally To Restore Sanity" vs. Colbert's "Rally To Keep Fear Alive."
What's that dull, scraping sound? It's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, sharpening their knuckles for a face-off that promises to be bigger than Nixon/Kennedy, Ali/Foreman, Aniston/Jolie, 50/Nas, Joe/The Volcano, Alien/Predator, Bunny/Fudd and Ecks/Sever combined.On October 30, 2010, Jon and The Daily Showwill lead the first-ever Rally to Restore Sanityon the National Mall in Washington D.C. — a movement of "people who have been too busy to go to rallies" — to beg America to stop shouting, throwing and drawing Hitler mustaches on people other than Hitler (or Charlie Chaplin).
Not to be outdone, The Colbert Nation is calling on all freedom-loving patriots to challenge The Daily Show's dark, optimistic forces by marching on the Mall at the same time to help Keep Fear Alive.Which side are you on? Visit the rally pages and declare your allegiance!
However, even Stewart seems to be afflicted with the widespread media disease of false equivalence:
Mr. Stewart told his audience the show had secured the National Mall in Washington on Oct. 30 for what he called “The Rally to Restore Sanity.”
He later labeled it a “Million Moderate March.” The purpose, he said, is to counter what he called a minority of 15 percent or 20 percent of the country who have dominated the national political discussion with extreme rhetoric. He tarred both parties with that charge, mentioning both the attacks on the right against President Obama for being everything from a socialist to un-American and on the left against former President Bush for being a war criminal.
The rally will clearly have some comedy elements (as well as likely guest stars, Mr. Stewart said), and his partner on the Comedy Central cable channel, Stephen Colbert, appeared on the show in his usual conservative blowhard persona to threaten to infiltrate the rally. Mr. Stewart also promised to supply the crowd with signs if they did not bring their own, including as examples, “I Disagree With You, But I’m Pretty Sure You’re Not Hitler,” and “Take It Down a Notch, America.”
Um, Jon? Starting a war of aggression under false pretenses is not only a war crime, it's a moral crime. Even the Pope said so. Yeah, we should tone down the rhetoric. But calling Bush a war criminal isn't rhetorical.
It's factual.
