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It was an affair to (mostly) remember.
Comedy Central cohorts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert conducted their “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” from the National Mall on Saturday to a crowd that totaled “over 10 million people” -- at least that's what Stewart estimated. ?Gotta love inflated figures!
But the spirit of the rally wasn’t limited to the D.C. area. Hundreds gathered at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles for one of many shadow rallies taking place across the country and the globe.?
Crowded around a large screen, attendees watched the event unfold -- often cheering during Stewart’s discourse. And they displayed merry confusion at the mishmash of interesting occurrences that unfolded on the screen: a music medley of Cat Stevens/Yusuf’s “Peace Train,” Ozzie Osbourne’s “Crazy Train, and the O’Jay’s “Love Train;” Sam Waterson (“Law & Order”) reading the “greatest poem ever written” by Colbert; Anderson Cooper finally getting some recognition (one of Colbert’s Fear Awards went to Cooper's “tight black T-shirt,” a symbol of cable-news fear-mongering.)? The Angelenos even joined in as the dude from "Mythbusters" led the D.C. crowd in the wave.
When the simulcast wrapped, Angelenos were also treated to their own lineup, which included appearances by Kate Flannery ("The Office"), Frances Fisher ("The Shield," "Titanic") and Paul Provenza (“The Green Room” with Paul Provenza), among others.
But the shadow rally was for the people, by the people -- organized by Stewart/Colbert viewer Ashley Wright and her friend Amy Lee. And the eclectic L.A.-based crowd didn’t watch idly. Many came prepared to add emphasis to the Stewart/Colbert initiative. Some wore stickers such as “Support Civilized Discourse.” Others donned hats with tea bags dangling from the brim. Many came with signs -- “Intolerance will not be tolerated,” “I’m hungover and I still made it; what’s your excuse?” Not to be outdone, one cocker spaniel sported a “March 4 Fear” T-shirt.
But what would this post be if we didn’t solicit your vote?
Name: Anita Cheng
Age: 26
City: Monrovia
Occupation: Lab technician
Sign: (front) “I disagree with you but I’m pretty sure you’re not Hitler”/ (back) “I have seen the end. No one was spared, not even the children”?
Age: 16
City: Santa Monica
Occupation: Student
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Sign: “I went to the Rally to Restore Sanity and all I got was this lousy sense of respect for other peoples opinions.”
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Name: Shannon Hartman
Age: 25?
City: Encino
Occupation: Grad student?
Sign: (front) “OMG! Stalin moustache”/ (back) “I Support the 1st Amendment for All.”?
Name: Judy Tudhope
Age: 71
City: Oxnard
Occupation: Retired postal worker
Sign: (front) “Intolerance will not be tolerated”/ (back) “Correctly spelled slogan”
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Name: Thomas Kiely
Age: 8
City: La Ca?ada?
Occupation: Student
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Sign: My political views are too mature and sophisticated to be summarized on one poster.”
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--Yvonne Villarreal
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Photo credit: Yvonne Villarreal
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