The Greatest Speech of Our Time

Jon Stewart, a comedian, and a genius, at the "Rally to Restore Sanity" made the greatest speech ever about Americans. One that should inspire everyone.

“I can’t control what people think this was. I can only tell you my intentions. This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith or people of activism or to look down our noses at the heartland or passionate argument or to suggest that times are not difficult and that we have nothing to fear. They are and we do. But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies.

But unfortunately one of our main tools in delineating the two broke. The country’s 24 hour political pundit perpetual panic conflictinator did not cause our problems but its existence makes solving them that much harder. The press can hold its magnifying up to our problems bringing them into focus, illuminating issues heretofore unseen or they can use that magnifying glass to light ants on fire and then perhaps host a week of shows on the sudden, unexpected dangerous flaming ant epidemic.

If we amplify everything we hear nothing. There are terrorists and racists and Stalinists and theocrats but those are titles that must be earned. You must have the resume. Not being able to distinguish between real racists and Tea Partiers or real bigots and Juan Williams and Rick Sanchez is an insult, not only to those people but to the racists themselves who have put in the exhausting effort it takes to hate--just as the inability to distinguish terrorists from Muslims makes us less safe not more. The press is our immune system. If we overreact to everything we actually get sicker--and perhaps eczema.

And yet, with that being said, I feel good—strangely, calmly good. Because the image of Americans that is reflected back to us by our political and media process is false. It is us through a fun house mirror, and not the good kind that makes you look slim in the waist and maybe taller, but the kind where you have a giant forehead and an ass shaped like a month old pumpkin and one eyeball.

So, why would we work together? Why would you reach across the aisle to a pumpkin assed forehead eyeball monster? If the picture of us were true, of course, our inability to solve problems would actually be quite sane and reasonable. Why would you work with Marxists actively subverting our Constitution or racists and homophobes who see no one’s humanity but their own? We hear every damn day about how fragile our country is—on the brink of catastrophe—torn by polarizing hate and how it’s a shame that we can’t work together to get things done, but the truth is we do. We work together to get things done every damn day!

The only place we don’t is here or on cable TV. But Americans don’t live here or on cable TV. Where we live our values and principles form the foundations that sustains us while we get things done, not the barriers that prevent us from getting things done. Most Americans don’t live their lives solely as Democrats, Republicans, liberals or conservatives. Americans live their lives more as people that are just a little bit late for something they have to do—often something that they do not want to do—but they do it--impossible things every day that are only made possible by the little reasonable compromises that we all make.

Look on the screen. This is where we are. This is who we are. (points to the Jumbotron screen which show traffic merging into a tunnel). These cars—that’s a schoolteacher who probably thinks his taxes are too high. He’s going to work. There’s another car-a woman with two small kids who can’t really think about anything else right now. There’s another car, swinging, I don’t even know if you can see it—the lady’s in the NRA and she loves Oprah. There’s another car—an investment banker, gay, also likes Oprah. Another car’s a Latino carpenter. Another car a fundamentalist vacuum salesman. Atheist obstetrician. Mormon Jay-Z fan. But this is us. Every one of the cars that you see is filled with individuals of strong belief and principles they hold dear—often principles and beliefs in direct opposition to their fellow travelers.

And yet these millions of cars must somehow find a way to squeeze one by one into a mile long 30 foot wide tunnel carved underneath a mighty river. Carved, by the way, by people who I’m sure had their differences. And they do it. Concession by conscession. You go. Then I’ll go. You go. Then I’ll go. You go then I’ll go. Oh my God, is that an NRA sticker on your car? Is that an Obama sticker on your car? Well, that’s okay—you go and then I’ll go.

And sure, at some point there will be a selfish jerk who zips up the shoulder and cuts in at the last minute, but that individual is rare and he is scorned and not hired as an analyst.

Because we know instinctively as a people that if we are to get through the darkness and back into the light we have to work together. And the truth is, there will always be darkness. And sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t the promised land. Sometimes it’s just New Jersey. But we do it anyway, together.

If you want to know why I’m here and want I want from you, I can only assure you this: you have already given it to me. Your presence was what I wanted.

Sanity will always be and has always been in the eye of the beholder. To see you here today and the kind of people that you are has restored mine. Thank you."

The TRUTH about "Socialism."

I'm really tired of hearing statements about the evils of Socialism and then finding out that most people have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. They keep bringing up Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, but those were not really Socialist in the sense of the word, they were Fascist. And actually they were more Corporatist Fascist states and if any nation currently in the world is moving toward that type of system, it's the United States.

So, I happened to be reading some comments about how we'll soon be taxed to death by Socialism, how the Democrats will destroy us, the Liberals will eat our young, etc. and so on. And I found someone living in a Socialized nation and he pegged it, so I present his statement as my "you are SO wrong" to the anti-Socialism way of thinking. Note that this was in response to a statement that we will be paying an outrageous tax "like Europe" for Universal Healthcare and other social programs being discussed in Congress.

JUNE 8, 2010 7:07 AM

As I happen to live in Europe in a country (Belgium) which has always had relatively high taxes, let me point out a few other “facts”.

Everyone here has health coverage. For my wife and I the cost is about $2340 per year for hospitalization for full coverage anywhere in the European Union for both of us. This is full coverage for doctors, hospital room, surgery, medicines, etc., in a country ranked 21st out of 190 for medical care. Most of the countries in the top 25 are in Europe. USA ranks 37. France is no. 1. http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

For insurance for occasional visits to the doctor we pay about $280 per year for two people. A doctor’s visit costs around $30. As there is a big emphasis on preventive medicine a yearly medical costs me about $15. I have a colonoscopy every five years. The last one cost me about $18. By the way, most medical coverage in Europe is not nationalized. It’s private. The only national system I know of exists in the UK with the NHS.

Never save money to buy a car? It’s interesting that the gross savings in Belgium is one of the highest in the world. https://econ365.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/gross-savings-rate.pdf That’s quite different from the credit card living typical of many families in the USA.

Never buy a house? At 65%, the percentage of home ownership happens to be exactly the same in the USA as in Belgium. And when people here do buy a house they aren’t likely to lose it. Did you happen to notice that the subprime problem with home ownership was mainly in the USA? http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/peo_hom_own-people-home-ownership

And when I do buy that house I’m probably going to be able to keep it. My house in Belgium is worth around $700,000. I got the tax bill a few days ago for next year. The yearly taxes are $1430. That is quite different from USA where many retired people are forced to move out of their homes by rising real estate taxes. The only other property tax we pay is about $97 per year for garbage collection.

Never be able to buy a car? When were you last in Europe? The cars on the streets here make USA look like a junk yard. It’s rare to see a car more than ten years old on the streets, with a high percentage of BMWs and Mercedes around, not to speak of the Porsches.

Never send your children to college? Why not? Except for some minor fees for things like insurance, the universities are free. It’s quite a different system where university entrance depends on ability rather than ability to pay.

Yes, our taxes are higher, but you get what you pay for. We also pay a lot more tax on gasoline. That should happen in USA as well. Nothing would stimulate the development of alternative energy sources faster than gasoline at $6.00 per gallon.

Poverty? My wife and I spend a fair amount of time in USA and we are always struck by the poverty we see. Food banks? Most people here don’t even understand the concept of a food bank. So, if the changes underway will make life in the USA “exactly like life in Europe” as your article states, many people have much to look forward to.

A resident of Europe