Sanity Restored

Look where I was yesterday!

It was crazy crowded (we had to wait in line forever just to buy tickets to get on the Metro, which was packed so tight you didn't have to hold onto anything because you literally couldn't fall down), but I got special guest passes through work (I guess TFA is considered an officially sane organization) so we got to be in the front section!

Ben, me, and my awesome friend from work who is also my neighbor

There were lots of people with signs of varying cleverness.

"Red, White & Jew: Matzah balls, not bombs"	"Bipartisanship is not gay hook-up"
"Tea is the new kool-aid"	"We came from Kentucky...to escape Rand Paul!"

I was really impressed with the people who came all the way from Kentucky, until I saw a group with "Alaskans for Sanity" signs - wow! I hope they at least made a weekend out of their trip, and didn't travel all that way for a mere three hours.

It was really weird to be close enough to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to be able to view them with my own eyes, instead of on a TV (like usual) or a jumbotron (like most people at the rally). It was also really weird to find myself at a surprise Cat Stevens concert:

Stewart requested "Peace Train"

And then a surprise Ozzy Osbourne concert:

Colbert interrupted him with "Crazy Train"

Followed by a surprise O'Jays concert:

Everyone can agree on "Love Train"

Then Stewart and Colbert also decided to give a concert, and sang a song about loving America while wearing doofy flag sweaters:

It was at this point I noticed that I could see the teleprompter, and I had to restrain myself from spending the rest of the rally staring at it instead of the stage.

After some more surprise musical guests (a Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock duet?), a visit by the "dude you have no Koran!" guy, and other assorted shenanigans, Stewart and Colbert decided to debate Sanity vs. Fair in "Formidable Opponent" style

They were joined by a series of increasingly bizarre guests...

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (a Muslim!)	R2D2 (a robot!)
A giant, paper mache Stephen Colbert	John Oliver dressed as Peter Pan

The debate ended with Stewart giving an eloquent and impassioned speech pleading for politicians and reporters to engage in more reasonable discourse, which was quite moving, but unfortunately just preaching to the choir. Then everyone got on stage together to sing one last song, and hug each other and wave at the audience SNL-style.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is REALLY TALL

The whole day was incredibly fun - the weather was perfect, the show was great (although I wish they would have let Cat Stevens finish his song...), and everyone in attendance lived up to the rally's promise of sanity and reasonable-ness. Despite it being crazy crowded, everyone was so friendly and polite - people were chatting, sharing snacks with each other, and when someone bumped into you (as was inevitable) they were quick to apologize and make sure you were okay. Based on my experiences in other large crowds I know that is not the norm, so it was really wonderful to see so many people actually behaving like humans. And most importantly, there were more people there than at Glenn Beck's rally.