Rally To Restore Sanity!

Derek, Reggie and I went to Washington to march on the capitol. It was a phenomenal event.

It was not a political rally, although most of the media are treating it as such. It had a simple message: "Take it down a notch, for America". Never has such a simple idea caused such a stir. The point was a simple one, that discourse and debate can occur without shouting or treating others with disrespect.

I have heard several argue that this is a stupid idea, or that it's a "pie in the sky" kind of ideal; but that is not the case. At the rally, I saw liberals and conservatives talking. Not shouting, as you usually see; but actually discussing things in a civil manner. Pro-Life and Pro-Choice talking together, not shouting. Tea Party people with liberal people talking together, not shouting. There were people who only shout at each other on TV, talking together, not shouting.

You may have noticed a theme. "Talking together, not shouting" is an amazing thing. Discourse over differences instead of just trying to shout louder allows discourse to work. It was amazing to see this happening and to feel it in the crowd. It wasn't a hippie love-in or anything; but you could feel it in the air, that sense of cooperation and acceptance.

The 85% that are not crazy, are actually quite sane. We disagree, but don't threaten violence. We don't call each other Hitler, bring guns to rallies, preach hate or intolerence or try to distance ourselves from each other behind invisible walls of ideology. We believe what we believe, but are open to other ideas and compromise.

There was more of a left-wing kinda crowd in attendance, but by no means was the event defined by that. I saw many right-wing people there, and none were being treated as an outsider. Nobody was being patronized or pandered to. The Rally was all inclusive. Just like America.

As for the rest of the Rally, it was a blast! Yusef Islam (Cat Stevens) sharing the stage with Ozzy, Tony Bennet singing "America The Beautiful", the O' Jays, the Roots, Mavis Staples, and even Sheryl Crow and kid rock were excellent. There was a nice balance between music and ideas. An excellent event. You should have been there. :)

November 8, 2010 13:32