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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane rallies against the insanity

Those attending the Rally to Restore Sanity in Riverfront Park, October 30, 2010, got a little wet while watching from the steps outside of the INB Performing Arts Center.  (Dan Pelle)
After being bombarded by political attack ads from both sides in one of the most contentious election in years, some Spokane area residents are fed up with all the “insanity.” Some 200 people gathered at noon Saturday at the Riverfront Park Floating Stage for the Rally to Restore Sanity, Spokane’s version of Jon Stewart’s Washington, D.C., rally. The rally, held just three days before the Nov. 2 election, was organized by Spokane Democrats. It combined comedy acts and political pep talks to send a message: Be reasonable. Take things down a notch. Rally speakers and attendees called for civility and an end to the nasty rhetoric and hyper-partisan punditry they say has taken foot in American politics. Above all, they called for sanity from all sides. Using inside voices. Stewart said the rally is for average people who do not have the time – or the attention-grabbing theatrics – to be heard in the political sphere. “We have seen these folks – the loud folks – over the years dominate our national conversation on our most important issues,” Stewart said on the Sept. 16 “The Daily Show.” Stewart called the rally “a clarion call for rationality.” Groups around the country held their own versions of the D.C. Rally to Restore Sanity. Rally-goers denounced scare tactics employed by some that create a climate of fear. And they laughed while they were doing it. Several politically disillusioned people carried signs with slogans protesting the present state of American politics. “No more ‘Us vs. Them,’ ” one said. Another: “Sane people unite!” Rally speakers included state Sen. Chris Marr – who is locked in an ugly and expensive race against Republican challenger Michael Baumgartner – comedian Paula Poundstone, among others. Although Stewart and his cohort Stephen Colbert refrained from taking political sides on their D.C. stage, there were political undertones at Spokane’s rally, where attendees seemed to be mostly left-leaning. One person carried a sign that read “The only thing to fear is Fox.” Greg Youmans, 53, of Loon Lake wore American Revolution-style garb and carried a sign calling tea-partiers hypocrites. But despite some political undertones, the main message of the rally was not lost. Jen Garrison-Stuber’s sign, which read “I may not agree with you, but I’m pretty sure you’re not Hitler,” was a big hit among the crowd. Garrison-Stuber said we are wasting energy on arguing instead of working together to find real solutions. “Politics are so shrill and I think people are talking past each other,” she said. “I think we need more moderation and more sanity in politics.” Cale Lively carried a sign prescribing six tenets of a healthy democracy: Reason, logic, debate, civility, clarity and dissent. “I don’t think the principals are defined by party lines,” he said. “I think our country has lost sight of these things.”