Tale of Two Rallies: to Restore Sanity & to Keep Fear Alive

[SolkaTruesilver]

(CNN) -- Two Comedy Central funnymen are apparently entering into the partisan political fray with rallies of their own in the nation's capital.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have set October 30 as the date for their respective rallies.

On Thursday night's airing of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," the comedian announced plans for a "Rally to Restore Sanity."

"See you October 30 on the National Mall to spread the timeless message, 'Take it down a notch for America,'" he said.

Stewart dubbed the event a "clarion call for rationality."

"A million Moderate march, where we take to the streets to send a message to our leaders and our national media that says, 'We are here! We... are only here until six though, because we have a sitter,'" he said.

On "The Colbert Report," which airs immediately after Stewart's show, Colbert fired back with plans for his "March to Keep Fear Alive."

"Now is not the time to take it down a notch. Now is the time for all good men to freak out for freedom," Colbert said.

Given both hosts' penchant for satire, it was unclear whether the rallies would actually take place.

But Stewart was adamant on his Thursday show that he had reserved a spot on the National Mall, saying, "the forms have been filled out, the checks have been written."

Stewart is known more for commentaries on his 30-minute show than publicity stunts. But Colbert has engaged the public several times outside his show's New York City studio, filing papers to run for president in South Carolina and shaving his head while taping his show in Iraq to show support for troops.

The announcements come less than three weeks after conservative talk show host Glenn Beck hosted a much-publicized "Restoring Honor" rally on the National Mall, urging large crowds to "turn back to God" and return America to the values on which it was founded.

That event drew criticism for its timing and location -- on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered in the same place.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson told CNN at the time that Beck was mimicking King and "humiliating the tradition." And other civil rights activists gathered nearby with the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network in a "Reclaim the Dream" rally.

Websites and Facebook pages have been created for both comedians' rallies, but details were not available early Friday.

"We're looking for the people who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive, and terrible for your throat; who feel that the loudest voices shouldn't be the only ones that get heard," the website for the "Rally to Restore Sanity" says.

The "March to Keep Fear Alive" site takes a more alarmist approach: "Never forget -- 'Reason' is just one letter away from 'Treason.' Coincidence? Reasonable people would say it is, but American can't afford to take that chance."

Who do you think is gonna have the largest attendance?

[Mikey]

Who cares? As Stewart said while announcing his rally, "Why don't we hear from the 70-80 percenters? Because you have shit to do." Both are obviously tongue-in-cheek, and Colbert's patently facetious; but either way, it would be a damned nice sight to see the bulk of America come out and tell the Qu'ran burners, lower-Manhattan-mosque-protesters, and the other assorted fringe looneys, "You're f***ing nuts, and you don't represent our nation."

[SolkaTruesilver]

At the very least, It'd be nice if more people show up there than at Beck's rally.

How many people went there, btw?