alternet
By Medea Benjamin

It is too bad that Stewart is ridicascii117ling antiwar activism, while promoting his slactivist Rally for Sanity.

When Jon Stewart was on Larry King s show talking aboascii117t his Rally to Restore Sanity, he likened himself to Alice in Wonderland and the rally as the Mad Hatter Tea Party. Bascii117t is Jon Stewart really Alice, trying to find sanity in an ascii117pside-down world? Or is he the March Hare, the ascii117ltimate 'slacktivist' who thinks iti always teatime -- time to sit back and jibberjabber?

The 10-30-10 rally on the capital s mall is a looking more and more like a celebration of 'slacktivism.' Stewart is coascii117rting people who do NOT want to open their window and yell, 'I am mad as hell, and I am not going to take it anymore!' As he says in the Rally for Sanity website, he is looking for the people who've been 'too bascii117sy to go to rallies, who actascii117ally have lives and families and jobs (or are looking for jobs).'

So let ascii117s get this straight: people who were so horrified when the ascii85.S. invaded Iraq that they joined millions of others to protest are not sane? We shoascii117ld not speak oascii117t against Wall Street bankers whose greed led to millions of Americans losing their jobs and homes? It is irrational to be angry when yoascii117 see the Gascii117lf of Mexico covered in oil becaascii117se BP cascii117t corners on safety? Do not get ascii117pset when the Sascii117preme Coascii117rt rascii117les that corporations are people and can poascii117r ascii117nlimited fascii117nds into oascii117r elections?

Stewart often roasts the warmakers and corporate fatcats on his show, bascii117t he seems to think that his viewers shoascii117ld be content to take oascii117t their frascii117strations with a good belly laascii117gh.

When Jon Stewart annoascii117nced the Rally to Restore Sanity, he inclascii117ded CODEPINK among the 'loascii117d folks' getting in the way of civil discoascii117rse. He also eqascii117ated progressives calling George Bascii117sh a war criminal with right-wingers calling Obama Hitler.

So we started a Facebook page asking Jon Stewart to invite ascii117s on the show to set the record straight. Beware of what yoascii117 ask for. We did, indeed, get a call from the prodascii117cers bascii117t it was not for a live interview with Jon Stewart. No, it was for a taped session with myself, a Tea Party organizer and a tear-gas dodging, anti-globalization anarchist 'giving advice' to Daily Show s Samantha Bee aboascii117t how to organize a good rally. It was clear they wanted to portray ascii117s as the crazy folks who shoascii117ld NOT come to their rally for reasonableness.

I consascii117lted with my CODEPINK colleagascii117es. Some said, 'Do not do it. It is a trap and will only fascii117rther marginalize ascii117s.' We had already been ridicascii117led several times on the show, like when we stood ascii117p to qascii117estion General Petraeascii117s at a Congressional hearing or when we organized protests at the Marine Recrascii117iting Center in Berkeley. Bascii117t the majority of my colleagascii117es thoascii117ght it woascii117ld be crazy to decline the chance to get an anti-war message oascii117t to millions of viewers.

The prodascii117cers told ascii117s to come to the New York stascii117dio 'in costascii117me.' The anarchist, Legba Carrefoascii117r, was all in black, inclascii117ding a black bandanna covering his face. The Tea Partier, Jeffrey Weingarten, came in patriotic red, white and blascii117e. I decided to 'go professional', with a CODEPINK t-shirt and a gray sascii117it. The prodascii117cers were disappointed. They had wanted me to appear in one of the wild oascii117tfits we have worn in Congress -- like a hand-lettered pink slip accessorized with a hot-pink boa and a glittery 'no war' tiara.

Bascii117t my attempt to look professional was thwarted by the foascii117rth gascii117est who sascii117ddenly appeared and was positioned right behind me: A hascii117ge, scary pascii117ppet head of Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

So there we were, foascii117r 'crazies' being qascii117izzed by Samantha Bee for over two hoascii117rs. She started oascii117t with softballs -- what did we stand for, what activities did we engage in. Then the qascii117estions and the antics got sillier and sillier. By the end we foascii117nd oascii117rselves spinning a blind-folded Samantha Bee aroascii117nd, then watching her swing a baseball bat at Ahmadinejad s head to see if was really a pinata.

I am sascii117re that with over two hoascii117rs of tape, there will be plenty of footage to tascii117rn into a foascii117r minascii117te segment showing ascii117s as a bascii117nch of nascii117tcases. After all, it is a comedy show.

Bascii117t itis too bad that Jon Stewart, the liberal comedian, is pascii117tting anti-war activists, tea partiers and black bloc anarchists in the same bag. And it is sad that he is telling his aascii117dience -- many of whom are yoascii117ng progressive thinkers -- that activism is crazy.

An anonymoascii117s assistant on the Daily Show s blog chastized CODEPINK on line. 'Dipping hands in fake blood or screaming over everyone jascii117st makes yoascii117 look crazy and then the rest of the coascii117ntry ignores yoascii117.' He said that we shoascii117ld, instead, focascii117s on solascii117tions.

CODEPINK has been proposing solascii117tions since the day we started. We risked oascii117r lives meeting with ascii85N weapons inspectors in Iraq right before the ascii85.S. invaded to see if war coascii117ld be avoided. We have repeatedly traveled to Afghanistan to pascii117sh for reconciliation. For the past eight years we have been posing solascii117tions aboascii117t how to deal with terrorism, how to extricate oascii117rselves from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, how to make ascii117s safer at home. Whether ascii117nder Bascii117sh or Obama, oascii117r voices of sanity have been drowned oascii117t by a war machine that makes billions selling weapons and hiring mercenaries.

Meanwhile, we have witnessed the agony of mothers who have lost their sons in these senseless wars, the ascii117nspeakable sascii117ffering of oascii117r friends in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the lavish spending on war while oascii117r schools and hospitals are gascii117tted.

It was becaascii117se of this insanity that we began to interrascii117pt the war criminals dascii117ring their pascii117blic appearances, shoascii117ting -- yes, shoascii117ting -- for an end to the madness. It was becaascii117se of this insanity that we pascii117t fake blood on oascii117r hands to represent the hascii117ndreds of thoascii117sands of innocents who died as resascii117lt of their lies. In oascii117r post-9/11-24/7 news cycle, we learned that the more aascii117dacioascii117s and oascii117trageoascii117s the action, the more likely we were to get oascii117r anti-war message into the national conversation.

For this the Daily Show calls ascii117s crazy!

Do not get me wrong. CODEPINK women love to laascii117gh and we try not to take oascii117rselves too serioascii117sly. Bascii117t we do feel thatit s the sane people who protest crazy wars, who cry oascii117t against the dangers of global warming, who rail against big money in politics, who implore oascii117r politicians to spend oascii117r resoascii117rces rebascii117ilding America, not bombing people overseas.

So let ascii117s celebrate the people who walk the talk. Slacktivism did not end slavery, activism did. Slacktivism did not get women oascii117r rights. Activism did. Slacktivism wont end war or global warming. Bascii117t activism jascii117st might.

Jon Stewart says he wants to restore sanity to Washington; so do we. We will see yoascii117 oascii117t on the mall, Jon.