Like it or not, Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity" is shaping up to be a huge event on the mall this weekend. It was the lead story on NPR after the headlines this morning at 6:00am ET. (Audio will be available after 9:00am ET)
After the most expensive, deceitful, and downright vicious mid term campaign by the conservatives and their billionaire owners, Stewart is trying for something different.
Because we’re looking for those people. We’re looking for the people who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive, and terrible for your throat; who feel that the loudest voices shouldn’t be the only ones that get heard; and who believe that the only time it’s appropriate to draw a Hitler mustache on someone is when that person is actually Hitler. Or Charlie Chaplin in certain roles.
Good intentions don't always lead to good results. (more below)
Make no mistake, it's time for liberals, progressives and even mainstream Democrats to stop being marginalized by the Right Wing Echo Machine and the traditional media. It's time for us to take control of the narrative.
But that doesn't mean it's going to happen.
Memes to Watch For
You can count on the traditional media to mischaracterize this event and distort its meaning, if they cover it at all. And you know FOX NEWS and the rest of the professional hate talkers will be doing their worst. The double standard will be in full effect.
Thousands of bussed-in tea party delusionites disrupt town hall meetings during the HCR fight, and the media breathlessly covered the 'popular' uprising. Conservative thugs rough up reporters and stomp liberal protestors. Where's the outrage? The concern?
If you see/hear comparisons to Woodstock or the Children's Crusade, you know the narrative is going to be the return of the hippies and the Loony Left. If you see/hear a lot of talk about generational differences or slackers coming together to party and get high, ditto.
And, let there be any unfortunate incidents - a speaker saying something that goes down badly, a scuffle, signs that are a little too over the top - expect them to be seized by the press and made the centerpiece of the coverage. You know FOX NEWS, Karl Rove, and the rest will be looking for everything they can use to discredit the event and the politics behind it. They'll lie anyway, but they'll use every bit of 'truthiness' they can find.
Don't Play Their Game
Anyone going to DC this weekend should be prepared to be targeted. Drunk, disorderly, high - there's bound to be a few. Angry, loud, upset - ditto. But let's hope those are the exceptions because that's what the media will be looking for. Along with 'fringe' groups like people of color, women, the disabled, the poor, and so on.
Get confronted by some morans ginned up by Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, and their clones? Don't be cowed, don't get hurt, but don't return their anger in kind. Tell them "God Bless You!" and watch them try to wrap their minds around that. Or laugh at them. That really fries their minds.
We're in a crazy place where the only time anyone can talk about real progressive values or the nasty road this country is headed down is in a comedy venue. Jokes against thugs doesn't sound like good odds - but let's not give them any ammunition to use against us, either in DC or at rallies elsewhere around the country. We can send a message if we all stay on the same page.
And let's hope we get the last laugh on election day.
I've got to head off to work, so I won't be getting back to this for hours. Anyone with ideas on how to be prepared for the scenarios I've laid out, feel free to share them in comments along with any other suggestions you may have. Good luck and Godspeed for this weekend.