Jon Stewart announces "Rally to Restore Sanity"

[Temujin]

Obama plugs Jon Stewart rally

Ali Weinberg writes: During his remarks at a town hall in Richmond today, President Obama gave a plug for a rally planned by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, called the "Campaign to Restore Sanity," contrasting the the tone of the spoof news show with that of its "purposely provocative" cable counterparts.

"What happens is these cable shows and talk show hosts, a lot of them figure out that, 'The more controversial I can be, and I'm calling Obama this name or that name and saying he wasn't born in this country, that will get me attention," the president said.

Part of the challenge of combating purposely provocative shows, Obama added, is creating a way to remind Americans that the country is not as polarized as cable shows would sometimes make it seem.

"Use Jon Stewart, the host of the Daily Show," Obama said. "Apparently he's going to host a rally called something like, 'Americans Who Favor a Return to Sanity or something like that."

He continued that most people -- like the people who will be at the rally -- have more pressing concerns than to worry about the the political beliefs of others.

"They're looking after their families," Obama said, "they don't go around calling people names, they don't make stuff up, they may not be following every single issue because they just don't have time, but they are expecting some common sense and some courtesy."

[Sela]

So I live literally 2-4 metro stops away from this . . . I could *walk* if I wanted to.

I just don't know if it's worth going or not. . . . . I'd rather read about the outrageous and hillarious fallout. Of course, the truly bizzare part is that if we revoked voting priveleges to a bunch of those attending the march to keep fear alive along with the attendees of the Beck rally, we actually might have done our (my) country a favor.

[lance]

I live in southern northwestern michigan so I'm gonna have to pass on this. If it was during the summer I would have seriously considered it.

[Slacker]

The wife and I have decided we're going, probably going to do a sort of road trip thing with a few friends.