Appearing at a San Francisco comedy festival last year, Jon Stewart looked back at his legacy. When a clip of him “eviscerating” a politician on The Daily Show went viral, Stewart said he would think, “Great. What happens next?” While liberals were cheering on comedians for humiliating the right, the Tea Party was “off the highway by Stuckey's taking over school boards.”
Stewart turned The Daily Show, which he hosted from 1999 to 2015, into a satirical juggernaut. But nine years ago, on October 20, 2010, he tried to go beyond satire to answer the “What happens next?” question. The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, which he hosted with his then–Comedy Central colleague Stephen Colbert, was an attempt to shame a media industry addicted to theatrical conflict and shallow analysis. It was also meant to showcase common ground typically lacking in political coverage. “This is not a political rally in any way, shape, or form,” Stewart told CNN's Larry King. “It is a visceral expression of a people fed up with the reflection that they are shown of themselves as a divided people.”
Read Full Article »