The Rally to Restore Sanity

This past Saturday, I headed in to Washington D.C. to attend the Rally to Restore Sanity.  I’m so glad I did!  Overall, it was a great day.

We were going to take the Metro, but the crowd was already atrocious at 9:30 am, so we decided to try driving in.  I think since everyone was on the Metro, driving was so easy.  We did not hit any traffic, and my husband used a Droid app to find a garage with parking available.  It was just off Pennsylvania and 12th.  By 10:10, we were walking the streets on D.C.

As we walked by the National Archives, it looked pretty quiet.  We decided to celebrate sanity, freedom, and the U.S. by popping in to peek at all the important documents.  We zipped right through security, gazed at the Magna Carta, and headed to the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom.  There were other people there, but it was not a sizable crowd.  I imagine most people headed straight to the rally to find a spot or avoided coming in to D.C. at all.  We were able to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

While I have visited the documents before, seeing them on a day devoted to asking America to embrace sanity made me feel more patriotic.  I’m sure our founding fathers were considered crazy, and I know they must have resorted to shouting at times.  But they also managed thoughtful discourse and created the foundation of our country on paper.  They had to have had so many disagreements, but they worked together to find consensus.

After the Archives, we moved on to the rally.  The crowds had grown and the signs were starting to come out.

The guy holding the following sign was dressed as the Grim Reaper:

We found a spot but had to kill time before the official start at noon.

Then the Roots started….and played….and played…and none of us really care for the Roots, so we were pretty bored.  Someone near us had an adorable dog, though!

Then, the big surprise: the Mythbusters came out!  They were awesome!

They had the crowd do the Wave several times, timing it with men vs women, starting it in the front and back simultaneously to see it meet in the middle.  They had the crowd all jump at the same time to see how it registered.  The schedule had said the time slot would be a comedian but the Mythbusters were so much better.

Jon Stewart came on at 1 – yay!

I love him.

More pictures, like Father Guido Sarducci:

Sam Waterston read a poem by Stephen Colbert:

Stephen himself:

I quit taking pictures and just enjoyed the event. Jon’s speech at the end was my favorite part.  He was heartfelt, witty, and full of common sense.  At no point during the day did anyone advocate for a political party or particular politicians.  No one even reminded people to vote Tuesday.  It was a day focused on being decent human beings who get up every morning to work together to get through life the best way we know how, helping others to do the same.  I wish more people spoke out with this same message.

Some of my favorite signs that I was able to get pictures of:

It was a great day, with gorgeous weather, and I spent it with some of my favorite people.  There isn’t much more one can ask for.