Jon Stewart's Big Do Nothing

Jon Stewart promotes sanity by doing, nothing.

By Medea Benjamin

When Jon Stewart was on Larry King's show talking about his Rally to Restore Sanity, he likened himself to Alice in Wonderland and the rally as the Mad Hatter Tea Party.
But is Jon Stewart really Alice, trying to find sanity in an upside-down world? Or is he the March Hare, the ultimate reactionary who encourages people to sit back and mock attempts by others to change things.
All Jon Stewart is interested in is promoting himself. His jokes are closer to slapstick than satire. "The Daily Show" makes us comfortable, even happy.
It reinforces our sense of superiority to those 'crackpot' Republicans. Stewart's role is to create a young, hip audience to increase advertising revenue for Comedy Central.
"The Daily Show" is like comfort food consumed night after night in place of broccoli. We are gorging ourselves on what feels good instead of processing what feels so bad - and doing something about it.
The 10-30-10 rally on the capital's mall is looking more and more like a celebration of do-nothingness. Stewart is courting people who do not want to open their window and yell, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
As he says in the Rally for Sanity website, he's looking for the people who've been "too busy to go to rallies, who actually have lives and families and jobs (or are looking for jobs)."
So let's get this straight: people who were so horrified when the U.S. invaded Iraq that they joined millions of others to protest are not sane?
We shouldn't speak out against Wall Street bankers whose greed led to millions of Americans losing their jobs and homes?
It's irrational to be angry when you see the Gulf of Mexico covered in oil because BP cut corners on safety?
Don't get upset when the Supreme Court rules that corporations are people and can pour unlimited funds into our elections?
Stewart often roasts the war-makers and corporate fat-cats on his show, but he seems to think that his viewers should be content to take out their frustrations with a good belly laugh.
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