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Subscribe to RSSTheir event attracted scores of journalists, high-profile musical talent, and - if Comedy Central's "unofficial estimate" is in the right ballpark -- well over 200,000 people.
But did Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert accomplish what they wanted?
"We're proud of ourselves. We're proud of the show we did," Stewart told reporters at a press conference after the rally. "For us, the success of it was the execution of the idea and the intention."
The two comedians mostly steered away from questions from the press about the political implications of the event, repeatedly characterizing the afternoon's mixture of comedy, musical performances, and an appeal for political reasonableness as "a show."
"We wanted to do really good show for people who took the time to come out and see us," said Stewart.
The two comedians also batted away questions about their role in American politics, saying that the Beltway mentality of "who's up and who's down" does not apply to their schtick.
"Our currency is not this town's currency," Stewart said. "We're not running for anything. We don't have a constituency. We do television shows for people who like them," he said, jokingly adding that the success of their cable "faux news" shows allows network Comedy Central to "continue to sell beer to young people."
Stewart pointedly declined to urge people to vote. When asked whether or not he should have used the stage to urge people to participate in the midterm elections, he replied, "I think people should do what moves them. That's not my place to make that choice for them. That's theirs."
The "Daily Show" funnyman hinted that he had some regrets about referring to President Barack Obama as "dude" during a Wednesday interview, noting that he always engages in some Monday morning quarterbacking after sitting down with major guests.
"But I also, when King Abdullah of Jordan was on, I called him 'Broseph,'" he joked, "so it's just something I do."
Between the rally, the presidential interview, and the presence of international media at their public appearances, the mantle of political relevance has been newly thrust upon the two comedians -- regardless of how openly they welcome it.
But Stewart argues that he does not use his comedic persona as a shroud or an excuse to shrug off criticism of the content of the shows that he and Colbert produce.
"I'm really proud that I'm a comedian. I think it's hard," he said.
"That's not a dodge. That's pride."
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I find it interesting that the media is trying to turn this into a political event when Jon Stewart specifically said it was not. Just report that "a good time was had by all", and leave it at that! Can't people just gather for some good common sense talk, fun and music without the media trying to force a controversy? Stewart's hearfelt speech at the end was so honest, and I hope it encouraged a lot of people to take a look at themselves and their behavior. Well done!!
I know what you mean cda. I wonder why they staged it in Washington D.C.? Central park would have been an excellent venue.
I watched the rally and loved every minute of it. Thank heavens for political and social satire, which continues to serve all of us very well. Stewart was absolutely correct with his comments on the complicity of the fear-mongering self-important political pundits and analysts that feed the 24-hour cable news frenzy. Unfortunately, fear, like sex, sells-- books, gold coins, political services, cars, personalities, aspiring Senators, and on, and on. The rally was a lovely three hour break from the political nonsense smothering us right now.
Again we are reminded why honesty is so much more refreshing than dishonest hacks. This article is what's wrong with journalism today, Stewart is being totally honest in saying this was a show, he makes good money to put on a show and the people who came to DC expect it. He doesn't need to make any political stand, his jokes say it all. Beck, Hannity, et al are the same as Stewart and Colbert. They just choose to use fear and hatred to make money, while Stewart and Colbert guys just want to make us laugh for money. At least they're honest about it unlike the phonies.
Steve: Almost everything that happens in America today is political - and certainly Stewart and Colbert are. In the effort to gain a leg up, if not a lock, on the levers of power, the wealthy and the corporate sector bought the American media - electronic and print - lock, stock and barrel. There are some exceptions but not enough to matter and provide an effective counterbalance.
I think you wrote one really unfortunate sentence: "Beck, Hannity, et al are the same as Stewart and Colbert." You go on to explain yourself but it's too late. I can't get past those eleven words!
Maybe people could take your comment seriously if you could write a grammatically correct sentence and spell words correctly.
I seriously doubt that that the crazies who inspired this know that.
They'll be calling Obama a "socialist", "communist" and a "Nazi" tomorrow, still not realizing that those words don't mean the same thing.
Wonderful event. Using the (Glenn)Beckian/GOP mathematical model, there must have been at least 40 million people there!
see you got the point of the rally too...poor jon i wonder if he knows it was a waste of time...people will ignore him and continue to demonize each other
Thanks for standing up to our tragedian media.
Jon and Stephen, you should be proud of this rally. Know that we're proud of you two guys.
Disappointed--it was kind of corny. And Cat Stevens? Not a good choice. In my opinion, the only legitimate path to resurecting his career is a public apology to Salamund Rushdie.
Stevens should have denounced the fatwah at the time. That would have helped to keep a critically over-rated novel from becoming a cultural icon.
Thought I was the only one who remembered the Muslim formerly known as Cat Stevens' remarks on the Rushdie affair. Props to you, I Emma S!
wow conflict i see you got the whole point of the rally...lol
Do you ever listen to the questions and wonder if the news organizations just don't get "it"? JS, SC, and comedy central have no obligation to be part of the media circus that Fox, Cnn, and MSNBC have created. Their only obligation is to be funny, be interesting, and put together a kickin show.
Well done gentlemen!
LAME liberal Rally!
What a joke, even with them all on welfare, few turned out.
Liberals = Laughable
Working Man, are you just a little bit jealous of the size of the rally? Bet you didn't think they could pull off such a great show of friendly, happy people. Never saw one nasty sign in that crowd. Can't say the same about "your people's political rallies around the country, can you?
Hey, WorkingMan, I hope you lose yor job and find out that there is no Welfare anymore! Once your 99 weeks are up, you are screwed!
I watched most of the rally and appreciated its purpose: the ability of a great number of different people from different backgrounds and cultures to get together for a fun and musical day in the sun in Washington D.C. Too many rallies there have been vitriolic and harsh (from both sides) It was nice to see sanity raise its fine head in the midst of insanity.
Republicans have been sabotaging the economy to make sure there is no economic growth until they are the ones in charge. They are now looking forward to being rewarded by some voters on Tuesday for having done that.
I have been listening to 'Rosh Lumbaugh', the Republican spokesman, and repeatedly, he has been announcing to all his fellow rich Republicans not to bank their money in American banks but to hide their money in foreign banks.
Lemba has been saying this repeatedly using negative speculations to help sabotage any possible economic growth.
Rosh Luembough and his other Republican cohorts have also been telling his fellow Republicans to withdraw the investments they have in stock market and put them in gold.
This Lemba and his fellow talk show hosts have been urging employers not to hire people and if possible, lay off as many people as possible. All these negative speculations and scare tactics this Lemba and his group have been using to sabotage the economy have made the economy to grow at a slower pace than had been predicted.
Lemba has always said they are withdrawing their investments from the economy and 'hoard' them somewhere until Republicans get elected.
After November election, Lemba and those who have been taking instructions from him probably plan to bring back the money they have been hoarding and inject it back into the economy. Those employers who responded to Lemba's call to lay off people may also rehire to justify Lemba's allegations that Republicans are better than Democrats.
I AM ONLY REFERRING TO ALL THAT THIS MAN HAS BEEN SAYING. ALL THESE THINGS THIS MAN HAS BEEN SAYING ARE ALL IN RECORD SO HE CAN NOT LATER COME UP AND DENY THAT HE DID NOT SAY THEM.
The way this man and his cohorts have been talking about President Obama is just like the president is his grandchild. Even though the US president is younger than him, I know he is an old man; he should at least have some respect for the highest office of the land.
We currently have the President of the United States working round the clock trying to fix the economy by all possible mean AND Lembau and his group working round the clock scaring people not to invest in the economy.
The man has been very rude and is now waiting for voters to reward him for having rude to the president of the US.
And yet Limba and company would like us to believe that they are American patriots... What a joke. Which American patriot would push employers to lay off or not hire their fellow Americans, adding to the suffering of the people, forcing proud people to go on welfare so that they children would not starve, just so that they could win political points?
Really... is that what a patriot would do? Which real American would encourage anyone to do things to destroy the country "they love" so much? The answer is, these animals are not patriots and should not call themselves Americans, they are greedy selfish jerks who care only for themselves and they are using the teabaggers who are driven by their own hate that has nothing to do with the economy or the deficit.
The funniest and sadist teabagger sign I every saw was one that screamed "No more death tax", the poor man did not even know what that meant since he clearly had no need to worry about the death tax. What he did not realize was that he was being used by the rich with their foreign money to make a fool of himself. This is what "limpba" and friends are pushing.
Sam and ALLmill2, you two need to put away your hooka, loosen the terban and get out of the sun. Maybe a trip to go see Sara P. would do you some good? If you keep continue to share that many point face lies in a single rant you will be a risk of finding work on any one of the alphabet channels.
the message was simple, quit yelling, stop hating individuals different from yourself, agree to disagree, don't make stuff up (I believe Jesus said something like that), be proud to be an American and have some fun. Play nice ....ok?
it was great..i watched every second..i would have loved to have been there in person... it felt so good , so american when it finished...it gave me hope... that we are not lost in hate and ignorance after all...
thanks jon and stephan
The show was such a rush! If country joe and the fish would have been there, It would have totally been that woodstock vibe! Can you dig it? Man, I am talking major love in! Make love not war! This was a far out day. Peace out!
Where was this liberal rally when the bush hate speach was rampant in our country???
ya thats what i thought......just more liberal double talk.
they couldnt even get big numbers of liberal welfare recipients to attend.....LAUGHABLE haha.
Come and see the insanity that we rallied against. ARGH
My wife and I attended the rally from SC, but we couldn't get close enough to see or hear the show. Good times were had, but someone grossly underestimated the potential crowd size so thousand and thousands of people were left with nothing but a picnic and people watching. We did arrive two hours early, and would have been there even earlier except the Metro was way overcrowded and the limited trains ran an hour and half late.
They should have had more TV screens and a PA system that reached another 750 - 1000 yards minimum. The site was totally inadequate for the crowd.
The music was great. I liked the sign that said "I Can Spell". I loved seeing my hero Kareem Abdul Jabar. I loved Mavis Staple. The Troups who sang our National Anthem: WOW. It was a wonderful respite, as Progressive Grandma states - and I might be a tad older than she.
If you believe everything you're being told, even when there is obviously a hidden agenda, (Flags, White House, comments all pointedly political), then you'd have been in the crowd cheering for the Emperors new clothes - too afraid to take a stand, afraid maybe there really is something wrong with you, afraid to challenge the 'authority'.
Fear is exactly why people of all political sides vote the way they do. Fear is a basic element of the human emotion. Gov't leaders always use fear -- what's new? And why are you ignorantly attributing it to the Republicans and to the Tea Party movement?
Fear is what Obama based his campaign on ... we wouldn't have needed any changes unless we were afraid for the direction the country was going ...
Get real. Use some sanity!
Boy, did you ever miss the point. Fear lover.
" we wouldn't have needed any changes unless we were afraid for the direction the country was going ..."
We were. And we will be again, if Republicans win enough to actually do anything (which is very unlikely).
Oops, and once again I give a point where there is none to be had. I wish the web designers would put that kudos button somewhere else! OK, Carole the Grouch, here's my take:
I think your basic fear is that you have to look at the new world, and you find it lacking because it is not controlled by pale, stale males. That world is in its death throes and will raise its head once in a while, but death is death. I recall a psych class from '63 when a professor said that we would be seeing a world where skin would all be slightly browner and that there would be fewer blue eyes. I accepted that foretelling, and you know, it is happening and it's really not that bad. Better food, lots of great music, lots of great food, the lovely melange of language.
So, you like the smiling faces of the nice white Repubs. They are smiling at you and taking you for all your worth. So, off the Crazy Train, dude and onto the Love Train and mellow out. That old road is rapidly changing. Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand, because the times, they are a-changing. (With profound thanks to so many of the freedom singers of the 60s).
Was it more comedy or political? What kind of question is that? Why does it have to be one or the other? Do people know the history of comedy? Do they know that comedy has always been used to poke at politics and other absurdities in society? Why am I making statements in question form? Did I catch the Cavuto disease?
Peter E, well, we will just eliminate that Cavuto disease, by "stomping" it out. Done, you are healed! hee, hee!
Bravo! My friends and I watched, laughed, cried, and had an all around good time. Wish we were there! Seeing Yusuf Islam, (Cat Stevens) singing again in the US was a healing moment for many of us old hippies. Peace and love, that's what we need. Hate and division keeps us from getting the work done that needs to be done, to right this country again. (and I don't mean right-winging!) Jon and Steven, again, bravo.
Rally to Restore Sanity? Are you Kidding Me? My Rally to Restore Sanity will be on Tuesday, November 2. Bye Bye Liberals!
ranger60, for some there is NO hope, I guess you are one of those.
luvenia48 I thought your Hope was in the White House. How's that working out for ya?
@Ranger....Working out pretty good, thank you very much. Especially considering the mess it was in BEFORE he took office!!!!
EZ, preach it. I don't know how many times we will have to explain the bush mess, but eventually we will get a few that will change.
I enjoyed it the SHOW. Now why does the Right have such a problem with the event?