Rally to Restore Sanity: Aftermath and Afterthoughts

I searched high and low, and finally found photos from Midnight Blue Says, via American Power.  My computer abilities being pretty much at caveman level, I was unable to attach the photos to my post.  So, here are the links:  Overflowing Trashcan and Paper Litter.  Midnight Blue has many other photos worth viewing there, too.

Like other rallies before this one, ReasonTV was there to ask questions:

Americans for Prosperity has released an amusing video, titled Stewart-Colbert Smugapalooza:

DaTechGuy should get an award for the most succinct summation evah.

Of course, we have more on the numbers game, like it even matters.  A huge crowd arrived for both Beck’s and Stewart’s Rallies.  Fine.  The whole “my rally is bigger than yours” debate reminds me of an argument over the relative size of a man’s you-know-what.

Still, I notice that folks on the left tend to take that CBS lowball of the Beck Rally (87,000) as gospel.  Apparently, CBS more fairly assessed the Sanity Rally at 215,000.  So the more insecure among the left have a morsel of proof that their you-know-what is bigger than ours, which might make them feel a little better.

Anyway, if you are into measuring the size of . . . things, go over to Charlie Martin’s step-by-step analysis.  If you prefer the visual comparison, check out Patterico’s Pontifications.

Here’s my two cents.  I watched two hours of the Stewart Rally yesterday, and it was . . . pretty boring.  It would have been a lot better in person, wandering the crowd and enjoying the costumes and signs.  A lot of signs were funny.  I especially liked the one in the AforP video that said “Thank You For Reading My Sign.”  The bunny sign was good, too.

Folks at the Stewart Rally made signs like this because they think Tea Party people are getting bent out of shape over nothing.  I get it, and I can totally laugh at their gentle mockery of our Chicken Little tendencies.  Yep, you’ve got us pegged.  (Is our fear really that misplaced, however?  We shall see.)

But.  Don’t try to tell me that the Stewart Rally is proof that ”liberals at heart really do long for reason and civility; righties at heart are all about anger and resentment.”

I mean, really?  Yes, “Christine O’Donnell Crazy Bitch Witch” is a lovely example of Liberal Civility, is it not?  How about “God Hates Bags?”  I can admit the fact that there is incivility on both sides:  yes, that includes my own.  Can you?

Here’s my final point.  I remember being informed that Beckapalooza and the Tea Party Movement are completely devoid of substance, having only resentments and empty rhetoric to fuel them.  Ostensibly, then, we are not worth much attention.

Yet, the Stewart Rally sure shows that we are garnering a lot more attention than we supposedly deserve.  A lot of effort and money was spent to counter our “empty rhetoric” and our displays of “tribal dominance.” 

Hmm.  If I call the Stewart Rally a display of tribal dominance filled with empty rhetoric, I am wrong, though.  Right?

We’ll see soon enough, me thinks.  We’ll see.

UPDATE:  Ha!  I just found, via the always-amusing feller at Fleece Me, the very best Stewart Rally coverage on the ‘net.  (Yes, it’s true.  I arrived at that conclusion using a very complex and completely objective humor-to-fact and truth-to-power rubric analysis.)

The title alone is guffaw quality:  The Rally for Ironically Detached Hipsters.  Go now, read the whole thing.  I wish I was that dang funny.

Restoring Sanity Rally: Attend, or Skip It?

Hubby comes home from a three-week underway period today. (yay!)

I’ve been preparing a “let’s take the boys to D.C. this weekend, it’ll be great!” pitch, so that I could see Jon Stewart’s Anti-Restoring-Honor-Rally-Rally for myself.  I’ve imagined walking the same route and taking photos from the same spots I did on August 28th.

Alas, it is not to be.  An inspection of the FAQ section of The Official Sanity Website reveals that the Restoring Sanity Rally will take place on the far eastern end of the National Mall between 3rd Street and 7th Street, known as East Seaton Park and Henry Park.

That spot is directly opposite from the site of both the Restoring Honor Rally and the One Nation Rally.  Thus, no direct comparison photos (like we have of 8/28 and 10/02) will be possible.

Curses!

Our weekends together as a family are a rare and precious commodity, the scarcity of which will skyrocket in the new year.  Do I spend this one traipsing up I-95, children in tow, three hours each way, in order to view this Jon-Stewart-is-my-political-guru crowd firsthand?

Please, do share your opinion, if you have one. 

The Opinion That Counts Most will disembark this afternoon, so we’ll see . . .

UPDATE:  Well.  He has duty on Saturday.  In other words, we ain’t goin’ nowhere.

One Nation Rally: The One Stop Shop for Links Here!

We didn’t go to this rally, although part of me wanted to.  This is the hubby’s last weekend before another underway period, and he couldn’t be talked into it.  I’m saving my points for the Restoring Sanity Rally.

Some other folks did my work for me, of course.  Most notable is a mystery uploader on YouTube, with the following video:

There are more in the series, too.  It feels a little like shooting fish in a barrel, when I remind everyone of the Restoring Honor Rally:

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Here’s a rundown of the One Nation Rally news.

At the Clarion Ledger:  “While the Beck rally stretched well down the National Mall, Saturday’s event was shaping up to be far smaller, with sparse groups lingering around the reflecting pool and other monuments.”

In USA Today:  “Thousands of people from dozens of liberal groups across the USA are marching on the National Mall today as ‘one nation.’”

Over at CNN Political Ticker are a few photos.  No sweeping views of the crowd provided, only close-ups.

The AP admits, “Organizers claimed they had as many participants as Beck’s rally.  But Saturday’s crowds were less dense and didn’t reach as far to the edges as they did during Beck’s rally.”

In the righteous right-wing blogosphere, we have a little whoopsie reported by the Gateway Pundit:

“CSPAN is airing the leftist “One Socialist Nation” rally today in Washington DC.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have a good crowd shot of the turnout… So they used a photo from a Glenn Beck tea party rally.”

Oh dear.

Nice Deb has funny tweets and other goodies, and over at the Pirate’s Cove there is an awesome screen capture from a traffic camera.  In that shot, you can see a whole pile of mass-produced signs, waiting for pick up.  Finally, the Jammie Wearing Fool summarizes:  “One Nation Avoiding Washington Altogether.”

Snicker. 

I know it’s mean to laugh, but dudes.  They openly attempted to compete with the conservative ascendancy.  They really really are asking for it.

UPDATE:  Another teensy little error found at Mediaite.  Apparently, more people were at the Mall today for the One Nation Rally, than were found by satellite image at the Mall on August 29th. 

Huh.

If you haven’t figured out the problem with that statement, follow the link.

UPDATE 2:  Breitbart has a good video depicting the trash aftermath of the rally.  An even funnier video (excellent music choice!) can be found at Jim O’s blogspot.  More good photos at Doug Ross’s blogspot.

I learned via updates at the Pirate’s Cove that the One Nation folks have their own estimate of the rally crowd yesterday.  Charlie Martin at PJ Media has his numbers estimate, along with his method of attaining it (hint:  not with an imaginary satellite photo which has not yet been produced).

Also, the Pirate’s Cove Captain found some photos of the rally aftermath, as well as many sign photos at Marooned in Marin.  The Cove’s booty includes a link to the left’s best possible spin on the rally.  Shoot, quit reading my post and head on over to the Pirate’s Cove and other places already . . .

FINAL UPDATE.  More folks who did a better job than me:  The Doug Ross Journal has a direct comparison of the photos from the top of the Washington Monument, one from 8/28 and the other from October 2nd.

The folks at Shadow’s World attended and have posted their photos with commentary.  Da Tech Guy found more video evidence of One Nation attendees’ lack of respect for war memorials and Mother Gaia.

The Left Coast Rebel found perhaps the best ”aftermath video,” done by sECULARsTUPIDIST.com. 

Sara in Italy has compiled an impressive amount of the video and photos in one place, with excellent commentary.  Please do follow her “LOL” link to a delusional Crooks and Liars piece, for a good laugh.

Okay, that should do it.

THE FINAL FINAL UPDATE, really.  Over at American Power, Mr. Douglas makes the most important point of all:  the mainstream media hides the extremism of the self-professed communists and socialists crawling all over that One Nation rally. 

Instead they describe the crowd as liberals, just trying to answer the rhetoric of Tea Party types.  Nope, nothing extreme to see at One Nation.  Gotta go to a Tea Party to see examples of extremism . . .

THE REALLY REALLY REAL FINAL UPDATE:  In case I missed anything, you’ll probably find it at the Daley Gator, who has a very comprehensive link list too.  Whew!

One Smart Worm

Everybody, meet my new friend:

Well, okay.  Maybe this picture is not representative.  Anyway, he is the World’s Only Rational Man, at wormme.com, and he is running mental circles around me.  His take on “When Libertarianism and Religion Collide” is so good that I have to post it here:

“Wow, the W.O.R.M. has really low self-esteem.  Even a compliment from no one of any import makes my day.

Then I see her most recent post is on libertarianism and Christianity. 

If you read it you’ll see this lady attended both the 9/12 rally and this week’s 8/28 rally.  (Note to progressives…it seems her confidence isn’t waning…)

What puzzles me is part of her Honor Rally title, ”When Libertarianism and Religion Collide”.

Linda, sweet lady…they don’t…if one is a Christian.  Since you are, I can easily prove it: 

When has God ever forced you to do right? 

Has God ever prevented you from exercising your will?  Can God do so?  (that one is actually an interesting theosophical inquiry…and the answer’s ”no”.  Because He chose not to.)

I’m a Christian…a terrible, horrible, carnal Christian…but when emulating Christ I’m libertarian beyond the pipe dreams of Reason.com.  If God doesn’t force you to do right, nor prevent you from doing wrong…how should you treat others?  Give them the freedom God gives you…

…or are you smarter than Him?”

Spot on.  I think I want to kiss a worm!

The Restoring Honor Rally: Why?

By linking to The Mahablog in my previous post, I started a discussion with the Maha and her commenters.  The basic gist of this conversation began like this:

Maja:  Teabaggers don’t actually have a cause, just a lot of resentments; and their slogans and symbols are displays of tribal dominance only.  Most teabaggers have no idea what the slogans and symbols mean.

Me:  That is a mischaracterization of tea party types and/or Restoring Honor Rally attendees.

Maja:  No it isn’t.

Me:  Yes it is.

Illuminating discussion, is it not?  Ha ha.  If you want more specifics, follow the links. 

After a couple of days, I reckon curiosity has killed this cat, for I went back to the Mahablog to see what else was said on that string.  Oh sure, I found more insults (are you really calling me chicken because I didn’t watch that video?), but I also found appreciation for my civility, and some sincere enough questions.

Questions worth trying to answer.

First, the easy ones:  “Why is anger a hobby now?”

Sorry for the confusion here.  By hobby, I was referring to my blogging.  I mean, really.  What with my association with libertarianism, the tea party movement (“TPM”), and/or anything Glenn Beck, you should know that anger is not my hobby, but a full-time job!  Ha.

“Where are your links to these ‘specifics’?  Why don’t you care about facts?”

I am far, far too angry to bother with links, or care about facts.

“For the millionth time, where were you when G.W. Bush and his administration were wrecking the country?”

Me, personally?  Part of the time, I was serving in the U.S. Navy and unable to criticize my boss.  (It’s like, a rule or something.)  As for the rest of the time, I admit it:  I was neglecting my civic duties.  Ignoring politics.  Like so many people on either side, or no side, of the political spectrum, I threw my hands up in disgust and turned my back on the whole sorry mess.  I also foolishly trusted that, as long as I voted for the party which had principles nearer to mine, that would be good enough.

My bad.

But my prior negligence does not invalidate my newfound diligence. 

It seems like some lefties wish there were some sort of statute of limitations:  “Sorry, but you weren’t politically active for five straight years of adulthood.  Your activism authorization has expired.”

Okay, on to the more difficult questions:

“What I don’t know, is why the rally occurred. Why were you there?”

Me personally? 

Reason #1:  To prove to D.C. and the nation that I, the reasonable conservative, actually exist.  That we exist, and in large numbers.  Numbers larger than you previously realized.  Numbers larger than we realized, prior to 12 September 2009′s Taxpayer March.  Beck was right, we surround them.  We just didn’t realize it at first.  We were alone, and silent.  But no longer.  Which leads to . . .

Reason #2:  to stop being silent.  How many years have I held my tongue?  Starting in high school, the lessons came that if you expressed a conservative view, you would be in for an attack.  How often have I heard that conservatives are mean, stingy, don’t care about poor people, old people, black people, purple people eaters?

Now, these are just my personal reasons for attending.  Beck had his own reasons for holding the Rally, in part to introduce his Black Robe Regiment and his 40 days and 40 nights challenge.

“What is it that made all those people get on buses and planes and come out to this event?”

A single word:  fellowship.  (I’ve thrown a lot of links on this post, but this one you should definitely follow.) 

Some came primarily for fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ. 

But.

This is very important:  some, like me, came for the fellowship with conservatives, regardless of religious beliefs.  I’m talking about a big conservative tent, my peoples.  Before the Obama/Reid/Pelosi trifecta, we conservatives were too easily divided into separate camps:  the drug-legalizers, the religious right, the fiscal conservatives, etc.

No more.  We are uniting now, in a common purpose:  stopping the inexorable shift towards statism.  Scott Brown, Chris Christie, and Joe Miller are only the beginning.  I can see November from my house.

“What were you supporting?”

True color blindness, instead of identity politics.  The free market.  The idea that our rights come from God, not the government.  Limitations on our ever-hungry federal government.  The revival of constitutional understanding.  The sanctity of life.

Plenty of facts and details in the links I’ve provided.  Whether you actually absorb them is up to you, dear reader.

Finally, to get to that video that the Maja said I didn’t have the courage to address (calling me chicken worked, I watched the blumin’ thing). 

I gotta help the older boy with his homework.  Get some laundry done.  Get them outside to play.  And fed.  Oh yeah, there’s a bleepin’ hurricane on the way, too.  Yikes!

So I must be quick.

Where you see dummies spouting pointless platitudes, I see my friends and neighbors, doing their best on the spot.  I see regular, everyday folks, talking about the deficit, about fellowship, about getting away from political rulers and back towards representative government.  I see a man who knows Glenn Beck was going to introduce something new and was very interested to find out (Black Robe Regiment, etc).  I also noticed that many clips were cut short, in mid-sentence even.

Suffice it to say that we are seeing things with different eyes and hearing things with different ears.

The only questions are:  who is truly listening?  Who is truly blind?

Restoring Honor Rally: When Libertarianism and Religion Collide

It has been an interesting year.  It started with the 9/12 March on Washington in 2009, and finished with the 8/28 Restoring Honor Rally of 2010.  Those two events are bookends to the blurry whirlwind that was one year of my life:  parenting, traveling, listening, reading, blogging.

The 9/12 event was not the beginning of my interest in politics.  Shoot, I’ve been conservative/libertarian since age nineteen (based on that old adage, I must have no heart).

But 9/12 was just . . . overwhelming.  A turning point.  On that morning, my family and I walked out of our hotel and towards Pennsylvania Avenue with no idea what we would encounter.  We did not expect to get swept into an ocean of families like ours, so wide and so thick I could not move nor see past it.  I did not expect that sea to wash over Pennsylvania Avenue for hours.

9/12 was the kind of rare thing that fills your soul.  To the brim.  One day, you are alone in your dismay at the political landscape and the state of your government generally.  The next day, you are not.  Not alone.  Not dismayed.  Worried?  Maybe.  But motivated to do something.

I could see my own surprise, gratitude, and hope mirrored in the expressions of everyone around me that day.

Fast forward now to the 8/28 Restoring Honor Rally.  This experience was certainly similar to 9/12, with one big difference.  This time, I am not surprised in the least.  Not surprised by the size of the crowd, or by the vastly different attendance numbers reported.  Not surprised by the way some media outlets equated the rally with the counter-rally, by lumping their numbers together.  Not surprised by the mischaracterizations, the twisting of facts (these links are via Legal Insurrection).  In fairness, one lefty blogger charitably offered that most of us are “probably not bad people,” although we still must be battled in order to “save civil society.”  Oh my, that sure sounds serious.  And sorta fear-mongery.

Anyhoo, having listened to Glenn Beck somewhat regularly this past year, I was not surprised by the religious nature of 8/28.  I mean, he’s been getting increasingly preachier and preachier all year long.  If you are a regular listener, you have noticed.  

And if you are a born-again, baptized-in-the-water believer, you probably don’t mind.  Even if Glenn Beck is a Mormon, a fact which some folks think should cause other Christians to recoil in horror.  (Hello, isn’t that a bit divisive?  Especially from that all-inclusive, all-tolerating left side of the political spectrum.)

Other folks also seem a bit flummoxed by the religious nature of the 8/28 event.  In the New York Times, one commentator describes it this way:

“Instead [of a political event], Beck served up something considerably stranger. This was a tent revival crossed with a pep rally intertwined with a history lecture married to a U.S.O. telethon.”

Well, yeah.  Fair enough.  But to me, it didn’t feel strange.  The event felt as natural as attending my parent’s nondenominational church or mass at my kids’ Catholic school.    We came, we shared a little fellowship with those around us, we prayed at bit, sang a bit, coaxed the kids into enduring boredom a bit, and that’s all.  Just like church. 

But with a slightly larger crowd than the usual congregation.

I kinda wondered what the not-openly-religious type of libertarian would think of the Restoring Honor Rally.  The approach of two thinkers, Glenn Reynolds and Nick Gillespie, can be found in this concise nutshell of Insty info.  Read the whole thing, and watch the Reason.com video embedded therein.  They are fair enough assessments.  A little reserved perhaps.  (As long as it’s Tocquevillian, it’s okay in Professor Reynolds’ book.)

But for the record:  nothing whatsoever about the rally left me reserved or unsettled. 

I am grateful for Beck’s melding of libertarianism with religion.  Mostly, the right side of politics has always had separate camps:  the religious right and, well, the rest.  I have never felt entirely at home in either camp.   Which is why I branded myself a “Christian libertarian” a long time ago. 

Then along comes Glenn Beck, an ex-pop music radio DJ, recovering alcoholic, and Mormon, who seems to be building a bridge between those two camps. 

I like it.

Okay, a bit of housekeeping before I sign off.  One, Tim Cavanaugh’s take is well worth reading, but here is my favorite line:

“the real reason I and my fellow coastal elites are wary of Glenn Beck is a lot more basic: He’s the fat kid you don’t want to be seen with at the lunch table. I’ll admit it! I find Beck a little bit creepy and gross and needy, and he gives me this sense that things are not going to end well.”

Ha!  Once again I say:  fair enough.

Next, guess what?  The President still does not take us seriously.  Yawn, no surprise there.

Finally, as far as that whole “saving civil society” thing goes.  Just look at the difference between the D.C. Mall after the Restoring Honor Rally, as compared to post-Obama inauguration.  Then tell me once again who is the more civil group, the lefties or the righties?  Just sayin’.

P.S.  My favorite parts of the rally were:  1) Alveda King, and 2) Amazing Grace with bagpipes.

AFP Conspiracy Revealed! Behind the Scenes at Beck’s Restoring Honor Rally

I gotta get the boys to the hotel pool before they tear our room apart.

What can I say quickly?  It was crowded, as in like dozens and dozens.  Oh wait, that was just the counter protest:

Just a bit more than that at the Restoring Honor Rally, but I’ll leave it up to the major media outlets to play the “numbers attended” game:

Deep into the rally crowd I noticed some shady-looking characters in official Americans for Prosperity garb.  The trend was disturbing.  Maybe it’s not really a grassroots crowd at all.  Rather, a carefully orchestrated crowd.  Orchestrated by a “foreign-controlled corporation, or a big oil company, or a big bank.”  Organized by (gasp!) . . . Americans for Prosperity!

Take a look and judge for yourself:

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Now, I’ve got a load of great pictures to share, but I really. have. to.  Get the boys in the pool. It was hot.  They were good.  They deserve it.

UPDATE:  Mr. Saddleburr has put together a good video of the rally crowd over at Disrupt the Narrative.