Let’s All Use Our Indoor Voices, Shall We?
by John Weckerle
By chance, we happened to tune in on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart last night, and managed to catch it on an unusual night. Mr. Stewart’s guest was former President Bill Clinton, discussing issues ranging from his daughter’s recent wedding to The Clinton Initiative to – you guessed it, the economy. We were interested enough to go to the web site and watch both the broadcast and complete versions, and we highly recommend that those interested in the current state of the economy tune in and listen to Mr. Clinton’s discussion with Mr. Stewart on the issue.
Of additional information was an announcement on Mr. Stewart’s part: that he is organizing the Rally to Restore Sanity on October 30, 2010 in Washington, D.C. The slogan: Take It Down A Notch For America. We’ve been touting this for a while, and we’re with Mr. Stewart on this issue. Mr. Stewart came out hard for this concept years ago on the CNN show Crossfire, telling the hosts that what they were doing was bad for America, and damaging our ability to have a serious debate on serious issues – the result of which was the almost immediate cancellation of Crossfire by CNN. Now Mr. Stewart is back with the same message.
We do not know why it is that it takes a comedian to do what others cannot in restoring civility to political discussion, especially as topical a comedian as Mr. Stewart. It worked last time for a little while, though, and we hope it works again.
It remains to be seen whether the Rally to Restore Sanity (aka the Million Moderate March) will bring about much needed quiet discussion, or whether the counter-demonstration planned by Stephen Colbert – The March to Keep Fear Alive – for the same day will prevail. One thing is for certain – your editor wishes he had plane fare to get there, because it looks as if things will be interesting – and hopefully, not too loud.