Rally inspires talk of “sanity and/or fear”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – "You may not know why you've come, but I appreciate it," comedian Jon Stewart told thousands converged on the National Mall for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on Saturday.

The event, put on by Comedy Central personalities Stewart and Stephen Colbert, had a mixed billing of comedy and music that ended with Stewart's serious assessment of sanity.

"If we amplify everything, we hear nothing," Stewart said of the hype media adds to news. Stewart also said the press does not accurately reflect reality of everyday American life – which he suggested is not sanity.

Comedy Central kept details of the event largely under wraps leading up to the rally, but that didn't stop an estimated 215,000 people from all over the country from making their way to the capital – especially college students.

For one college student in the crowd, a sign for "free hugs" won't restore sanity alone, but Nate Cotanch said, "Free hugs is a pretty sane thing to do it you believe in humanity."

A junior at Syracuse University, Cotanch said he drove from New York for Saturday's rally looking for a "good time." He said the event was more comedy than politics for him and that his advertisement for free hugs was his own contribution to the rally.

Another group of New York college students gathered not far from Cotanch with their own message of sanity.

"You need comedy in politics," University of Buffalo student Amber John said. "People are too apathetic and comedy gets young people involved."

John, along with her friend Missy Harvey, drove from New York for the rally that they saw as more politics with only a hint of comedy. The two said the rally messages are real and that the event is leading up to Tuesday's midterm election where John and Harvey said they are more educated and care more than they did in 2008.

The elimination of the Tea Party, which John and Harvey called, "a party of contradictions," would mean restored sanity to them.

George Mason University, in Northern Virginia, provided transportation for students to attend the rally, a move freshman global affairs major Crystal Frankenfield appreciated as a means of getting students involved.

She said the idea of a satirical rally is perfect for getting more people, especially students, involved in political discussions that are respectful – something she said is an important character of sanity.

"The idea of restoring sanity is listening to people," Frankenfield said. "It has to go two ways."

Frankenfield will also be voting in Tuesday's election, and said the rally wasn't mind-changing, but was reinforcing of her desire to vote.

Closing the rally, Stewart echoed the idea that sanity means working together. He used a metaphor of cars merging into a tunnel with the idea of a "you go, then I'll go" attitude.

But in the end, "Sanity," Stewart said, "is in the eye of the beholder."