Sanity Restored? Lace Up the Gloves and Get Back to Work

I watched the “Rally to Restore Sanity” without expectation of a political satori or anything other than a good time. I was a little disappointed with the comedy, I expected more but realized that in order to tone it down and balance it out in the spirit of the day they just managed to make it slightly lame.

I’m not a fan of rap or hip hop but Kid Rock and Sheryl Crowe turned out a couple of great moments and Bonnie Whitmore, the backup singer and bass player with Hayes Carll was fantastic.

I woke up this morning and cable was filled with campaign ads so I hit the mute button while I made coffee. Thinking to myself that the ads would stop in a couple of days and we could begin suffering from the post election analysis I fired up the computing beast.

Rally to Restore Sanity: Mock On Dudes!

The grousing and bitching, whining and backbiting over the “Rally to Restore Sanity” has begun well in advance of the event itself. Apparently there is a belief in some quarters that comedy and comedians shouldn’t be taken seriously and there is no place for levity in the world of politics or political activism.

Tell that to George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl or Aristophanes. There is always time to poke fun at the political world and its pretenders, to deride the arrogance and pomposity that rises like scud to obscure the surface of our public affairs.

Stewart and Colbert are at once being accused of “taking themselves too seriously” and making a “mockery of our political system.” To the first I say, wait for the rally. I’ll bet any seriousness will be found buried in a barrel of fun beneath a heap of laughter.

Marty Kaplin: Waiting for Sanityman: Can Jon Stewart Save America?

Waiting for Sanityman: Can Jon Stewart Save America?

By Marty Kaplin

The fate of our country won’t be decided by a politician. It will be determined by a comedian.

Not long before Jon Stewart announced his Rally to Restore Sanity, he told a New York magazine writer why he and his crew on The Daily Show would never do something like that. “We’re not activists,” he said. “Maybe the nice thing about being a comedian is never having full belief in yourself to know the answer. So you can say all this stuff, but underneath, you’re going, ‘But of course, I’m f—ing idiotic.’ It’s why we don’t lead a lot of marches.”

Read more at Huffington Post

Waiting for Jewman

By Marty Kaplin

Jon Stewart did his show, business as usual, on Rosh Hashanah this year. That night, when his interview guest, Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator John McCain, greeted him with “Happy New Year,” Stewart looked uncharacteristically nonplussed for a nanosecond, before replying, “What? Huh? See you in Times Square tonight.”

Colbert Addresses Congress Tells Truth, Angers Press and Congress

Response to Jason Linkins: Colbert’s Congressional Act Panned By Reporters

“The media came in today bound and determined to make their narrative — “OUTRAGE! Stephen Colbert addresses Congress ‘in character'” — stick, and thus far they have managed to keep it up despite the fact that it’s not, as they say, “true.” Jason Linkins Huffington Post.

What’s the beef? That Colbert addressed this collection of some of our most venal characters in character? That a comedian addressed congress? That for a few minutes someone injected a bit of truth laced with satirical wit into our hallowed lower chamber of mendacity?