Tag Archives: stephen colbert

Rally to Restore Sanity

On Saturday, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert teamed up for the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.” It was an entertaining, and inspirational, rally on the Washington Mall. The rally included Cat Stevens (AKA, Yusuf), Ozzy Osborn, Roots, Sheryl Crow, Karim Abdul Jabbar, and Anderson Cooper’s tight black tee-shirt. (You can watch the entire rally here.) When I compare this rally to the Glen Beck’s recent rally, “Restoring Honor,” the differences could not be greater. Beck’s felt contrived and was nothing more than a propaganda fest focused on Beck’s patriotic greatness. The Stewart/Colbert rally was fun, sincere, and made me proud to be an American. Stewart ended the rally with a sincere, and mostly-serious, speech. His entire concluding speech is included below.

Immigration Reform, Now!

Immigrants are proud of their cultural heritage, but they are also proud of being part of the American Dream. The “Papers Please” law that was passed in Arizona earlier this year brought new attention to the immigration debate. Immigration has also come up in discussions about controlling spending and in the healthcare reform debate. In 2005, Senator Dianne Feinstein said, “We know that people come to this country illegally. They come for many different reasons. Some out of fear of persecution, some for work, all for opportunity…About 50% of the agricultural workforce are illegal workers…With respect to agricultural work, I know that it is extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, to get Americans to work in agricultural labor.”