Cotton Tree Herald

People as far as I could see.

5,000… 50,000… 500,000. Whatever the actual size of the crowd, it was huge. People as far as I could see, and then farther. From the very young—babies in strollers—to the elderly, people of all ages, races, religions, and political persuasions gathered for one reason: To send a clear message with singular voice and purpose to the extremes of the political establishment.

Yes, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are comedians first and foremost. Yes, the Rally to Restore Sanity (and/or Fear) was highly satirical in nature. But still, there was something powerful about so many people gathering to affirm reasonable discourse despite seemingly unbridgeable differences.

Reasonable People: A Cast of Tens of Thousands

Despite the vast numbers of people (and by “vast,” I mean that getting anywhere at the Rally required shuffling the feet to gain inches at a time and then finally deciding to park it when the crowd’s elasticity waned and then ended), everyone was joyful and polite. No one nearby where I stood raised her or his voice—except to cheer for the likes of Kareem Abdul Jabbar, R2D2, Sam Waterston, or the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens. A woman even stopped me to let me know that I was about to lose my earring. Now when was the last time you were in a crowd of strangers that behaved so well?

I’ve participated in several marches before, and I don’t remember any of them having such high tolerance for bumping and jostling or listening so attentively to speakers who were so far away as to hardly be seen, even on the huge monitors.

Neither have I participated in a march so void of the really weird, attention-grabbing extremists. I mean, there was more than one rally’s fair share of people dressed as “Where’s Waldo,” and I did see a group of guys dressed as zombies carrying signs that said “Restore the Brains” (now, that’s funny!), but no weirdoes. I guess a Rally to Restore Sanity attracts sane people. And that seems reasonable to me.

Accomplishing A Lot in 3 Hours

And now the event is over. Was it worth it to travel across the country to take part? Absolutely. Did we accomplish anything of significance? I don’t know. But here’s what I hope the event accomplished:

• I hope members of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Obama White House looked out of their office windows and took stock in all the people who gathered in the name of reasonable discourse. Perhaps they will realize that moderates are constituents, too, and will finally demonstrate the leadership this nation deserves.
• I hope the news outlets, particularly the highly biased FOXNews and MSNBC, and their over-paid pundits realize that there are entire segments of the nation that do not fall for the fear- and hate-mongering that have become the backbone of their business. Perhaps they will tone down the space-wasting rhetoric and report real news and/or offer an alternative new source that casts aside the divisiveness as pandering fluff.
• And I hope all my fellow Rally-ers and those who couldn’t travel but watched on TV or participated in their local events will stay involved. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and there’s no reason why the sane majority can’t be as squeaky as the… well, you know, the other people who seem to garner all the attention but in actuality are quite the minority.

Sane People Vote, Too

My only disappointment from Rally4Sanity is that no one encouraged the crowd to vote. So I will.

I hope that this Tuesday (clever of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report to choose the Saturday before Election Day to hold a massive rally for sanity) every citizen will exercise his or her franchise. Other than participating in expensive, once-in-a-while rallies, voting is the way we, the Average Joes and Janes of the nation, express our will to those who would govern and lead.

So there it is, folks. Nothing could be more sane than this.