maiforpeace wrote:Coito ergo sum wrote:Well, you were there. I can only go by the images I've seen. Many of the images were "tendentious" and insulting. But, I certainly will believe you when you say you experienced nonpartisan good fun. I'm glad it was a good time!
I don't like those mock-socialism signs, like the one above. I mean "trick or treaters are socialists?" That's like saying it's socialist to give Christmas presents, and very similar to the jokes that get emailed around endlessly proving that socialism is good because we have fire departments and public libraries. Trick or treating, libraries, fire departments, etc., are not socialism - they're gift-giving and government services. Socialism doesn't mean "free" or "government services." It means state control of the means of production and common ownership of property.
You don't see any ironic humor in those signs, just insults? They are meant to be humorous...unlike the Teabaggers that actually believe the stuff they put on their signs is the god's truth.
I see a huge difference between being ironic, mocking, and humorous versus actually threatening to exercise my 2nd amendment rights, bringing a gun to a rally, and calling Obama a Nazi...among other things you would find at a Tea Party protest, or on a Tea Party sign. Contrast Tea Party signs with the signs from this rally. Just the intelligence alone (in correct spelling and grammar) shines like a beacon.

You don't see a difference? Say what you like, but the crazed, seriousness and anger that characterize most Tea Party protests and their signs is just scary, not to mention embarrassing when they misspell everything.
Jon Stewart's message was a simple and direct one - we need to LIGHTEN UP.
People take themselves way too seriously...on both sides, left, and right. Just on this forum alone we have a living example. Some people here can get pretty nasty, mean, and hurl ad homs at each other just over political disagreements... There are times we could use a mini rally to restore sanity on some of our political threads here. Bring on the music! The movie and musical stars! Have a good time, share community with people who share the same vision for rational, reasonable discourse, between each other, and in the media. What's wrong with that?
The Rally to Restore sanity benefitted Ian, his wife and the quarter million people who were at the mall on Saturday, not to mention the millions of people like me who were watching it on TV. Not only that, there were sister rallies, across the US and all over the world. A statement and a message that people the world around related to. That seems like it was a good purpose, and was served well.
Otherwise, for those who choose to just criticize it, why do you even care?
