A rally to restore sanity was held in the Washington Mall on 30 October 2010. Called by two comedians, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, the rally drew over 200,000 persons (CBS News: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20021284-503544.html). Another 4 million persons watched this rally on cable television. The escalation of intolerance and use of violent language by the conservative forces gave this rally tremendous importance in the politics of the USA.
The singers and performers who appeared in this three-hour rally were persons known to be opposed to Islamophobia and militarism. Although built in jest as a ‘Rally to restore sanity and/or fear’, we take the theme of this rally very seriously, especially for a society that is involved in wars, militarisation and the robotisation of its youths. It is important to adequately highlight the insanity inherent in the militarisation of the US society and the psychological warfare and mind control of the US citizens, oriented toward hate, killing and perpetual warfare. Unfortunately, in the ‘Rally to restore sanity’ Colbert and Stewart did not make clear and strong statements on the US wars of occupation in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan or the trillion-dollar budget devoted to the militarisation of the planet. It is now up to the peace and justice movements to deepen the delegitimisation of US militarism and torture. The conservative forces have been so emboldened that there is a rehabilitation of George W. Bush, who can now boast on national TV that he authorised torture. Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have rightfully called for a criminal investigation into his admission of authorising torture... more
