I do stand by my point that rallies are pointless in modern America. Jon Stewart's had zero effect, and is already largely forgotten.
I actually beg to differ, this probably would have been a good eps to skype me in on. (not that I listened to it yet) Stewart has been making the media rounds for the last few weeks (but you wouldn't know because you don't watch TV) he's been talking about what the Rally stood for and what he was trying to get across. There has already been changes due to the rally. Did it cause a instant sea change? No of course not, change takes time. But it did show that a sizable amount of people are annoyed at how the media is being run. It's a little too early to say what influence the rally will have had.
I don't know what kind of immediate effect you thought the rally would have? It's more of a start of Stewarts more aggressive campaign to change how we have conversations.
tewart has been making the media rounds for the last few weeks (but you wouldn't know because you don't watch TV) he's been talking about what the Rally stood for and what he was trying to get across.
I've watched these interviews. He could have gotten them without the rally, and made the same points without actually requiring people to waste their Saturday standing around.
But it did show that a sizable amount of people are annoyed at how the media is being run.
The same self-selected sample of people who don't watch the more sensationalist media and likely skew toward the Internet and/or apathy. This is not the demographic that will be super active politically, let alone watch old-world news media regularly.
I believe the rally will be largely forgotten within a year, and nothing will change as a result of it. Had the rally proceed to march on the White House, or had more than a few minutes of intelligent discussion been made during it, it might have had more impact.
I believe the rally will be largely forgotten within a year, and nothing will change as a result of it. Had the rally proceed to march on the White House, or had more than a few minutes of intelligent discussion been made during it, it might have had more impact.
Some minor things have already changed. Certain commentators have ended long running segments because they figured it didn't add to the political conversation in helpful ways. I agree a march on the White house would have been nice but I don't see how that would have meant more? I could have done with less musical acts and more comment but I don't think it would have changed the message he delivered at the end of the rally in any substantial way. Most of the Rally was to be a parody of a Rally.
You would be surprised at the conversations I had with republicans on election day because I wore my Rally for Sanity button. They were all interested and curious about the message about the rally. Even if it causes only a few people to realize that level of discourse in America has become so tainted and destructive he will have accomplished his goal.
Rallies are a good place to start a message. Long after the Rally to restore sanity is forgotten the message will continue on. I'm pretty sure from followup interviews that this is only the beginning for Jon Stewart outside of the Daily Show. I believe he said in one of the interviews that for now he is standing on the sideline but he won't forever...
(Hopefully this means we'll get a president Jon Stewart :-p)
Most important thing the rally did for me is show there was a lot of people willing to stand up for sanity. It probably helped instill some hope that there are some sane people left. You may have thought it was a waste of a Saturday but clearly thousands of others disagreed.
I think he said that he would rather be a comedian. He likes what he does.
Yea, he's said that, but in the interview I believe with Rachel Maddow, he talked about how he gets to shout and throw things from the side lines. And he figured his last 15 minutes of the rally was a moment he deserved of sort of stepping into the area instead of standing above it. He made it sound like he wasn't planning to always be above it.
Most important thing the rally did for me is show there was a lot of people willing to stand around for sanity.
They're not willing to do much else, and they certainly didn't come out to vote in the last election. (Or, worse, they did, but they all live in liberal cities where the votes don't matter so much).
(Or, worse, theydid, but they all live in liberal cities where the votes don't matter so much).
The Rally wasn't REALLY about the election it was about the media and how it covered politics. Only about 32% of tea party candidates won... 83% of incumbents survived. Sure there was some loses but they were generally in districts that leaned Republican (with democratic freshmen). Notice that the Senate didn't change over. (which is a rarity for the senate and the house not to both change in a election). People did come out. Certain areas did not in PA it was the suburbs and The area around PA's main campus which didn't turn out. Regardless the point of the rally was not to reelect democrats. It was to say that the conversation in the US needs to change.
I have a collection of files (pictures, student-filmed videos, news reports, etc.) about the 2004 RIT riot that has been passed around on a certain filesharing network. If anyone's interested, I'll post some of it.
Sure I would always love to see moments from that year.
Okay, I'll have to figure out the best way to upload it. Some of this isn't of the highest quality (washed out, blurry pictures taken by drunk people), but there's a video of the guy throwing a bottle at the cop's head.
Comments
I don't know what kind of immediate effect you thought the rally would have? It's more of a start of Stewarts more aggressive campaign to change how we have conversations.
I believe the rally will be largely forgotten within a year, and nothing will change as a result of it. Had the rally proceed to march on the White House, or had more than a few minutes of intelligent discussion been made during it, it might have had more impact.
You would be surprised at the conversations I had with republicans on election day because I wore my Rally for Sanity button. They were all interested and curious about the message about the rally. Even if it causes only a few people to realize that level of discourse in America has become so tainted and destructive he will have accomplished his goal.
Rallies are a good place to start a message. Long after the Rally to restore sanity is forgotten the message will continue on. I'm pretty sure from followup interviews that this is only the beginning for Jon Stewart outside of the Daily Show. I believe he said in one of the interviews that for now he is standing on the sideline but he won't forever...
(Hopefully this means we'll get a president Jon Stewart :-p)
Most important thing the rally did for me is show there was a lot of people willing to stand up for sanity. It probably helped instill some hope that there are some sane people left. You may have thought it was a waste of a Saturday but clearly thousands of others disagreed.