Once again, Stewart and Colbert get it right

Randi Kreiss

Last week, Comedy Central newsman Jon Stewart announced a March to Restore Sanity, to be held in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Oct. 30. And . . . he wasn’t kidding.

“Bring your indoor voice,” he said, alluding to recent political debate that has become loud, hysterical and hateful. Of course, his “nemesis,” Stephen Colbert, chimed in with a counter-plan, the March to Keep Fear Alive, an ironic tipping of the hat to Glenn Beck’s recent March to Restore Honor.

Stewart said his rally would demonstrate that the vast majority of Americans believe in civil discourse and respectful disagreement. In the spirit of that idea, I suggest that the radical elements of the Tea Party, the birthers, the Internet haters and racists take a deep breath.

Their hate-mongering has generated an Us vs. Them culture. And while the extremists are relatively few in number, they seem to get all the press and all the ink. These extremists are not debating issues. They are pushing back against the wave of voters who elected Barack Obama in 2008.

Facts are facts, but they’re always subject to interpretation and spin. The way I look at it, the president is doing OK. When he took office, he warned that high unemployment would persist well after the economy began to right itself. He said that progress would be slow but that the stimulus plans would work. Too bad people are tired of hearing that George Bush dug the hole that Obama is diligently excavating. That doesn’t make it untrue.

Where are we now, in September 2010? Jobless claims are dropping. More bellwether companies are reporting profits. No question, if you’re out of work, it’s a depression, not a recession, and it won’t get better until you’re employed. Same thing for the housing market; it still suffers.