I’ve never been one to join causes, or attend rallies of any nature, but this one stood out to me for a number of reasons. Being so close to D.C., and having extended family there, the reasons to go outweighed the reasons to not. I like Jon Stewart, besides being extremely funny, his intelligent, his sharp wit aligns with mine on many social and political avenues. So we decided to go; I’m glad we did.
First off, D.C. was totally mobbed. I’v never even come close to being in a crowd this size (estimated at 215,000 to 250,000 total), and we had 1/1000 of them crammed onto the Blue Line like so many Sardines headed for the Smithsonian exit. Once we were off the Metro, the true volume of people hit me. Adam Savage was right, there really was 20 millions pounds of meat stuffed onto the Mall between the Washington Memorial and the Capital building. So far it was like being at an outdoor concert, a decent amount of space, lots of people having a good time. Once we got closer and got into the crowds the signs, costumes and Redditors started to come out. I ran into many fellow Redditors, exchanged high-fives, and some obscure banter that left the people I was with wondering what the hell just happened there, but it’s a Reddit thing – if you don’t go, you really don’t know. (heh – I rhymed)
The mood and tone was awesome – everyone was happy and having a good time. Even jammed into the metro with zero room to move, the mood was still light and friendly, but honestly that’s what I would expect from this crowd. The experience left me energized and hopeful. Hopeful that there are enough people out there who haven’t totally given up to effect positive change.
Jon’s closing remarks polarized the Rally and left it with a clear and honest statement, one part that stands out for me is:
We hear every damn day about how fragile our country is”on the brink of catastrophe, torn by polarizing hate and how it’s a shame that we can’t work together to get things done, but the truth is we do. We work together to get things done every damn day!
The only place we don’t is here or on cable TV. But Americans don’t live here or on cable TV.
This is similar in sentiment to the statement that Stephen Colbert made when he addressed the Congressional Hearing on Migrant Workers, where he closed by saying:
I trust that following my testimony – both sides will work together on this issue in the best interest of the American people – as you always do.
They’re dead-on, Washington, its pundits, lobbyists, Senators, Congressman, and Representatives have nothing to do with getting work done for the people they pretend to represent. Before I get off track on some wild-ass tangent, back to the Rally. From my point of view it was a success, and I think Jon and Stephen would agree. It was a fun time filled with hundreds of thousands of people also having a good time supporting the people and ideas that make America a great place to live.