View safe areas for TDS/CR rally in a larger map
When I got the chance to sit down with Eleanor Holmes Norton last weekend, I knew that I’d end the interview with a question about Stephen Colbert and the rumors that he’d host a rally on the Mall in response to Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally. Norton’s a titan of the D.C. political scene and probably one of the most interesting people I’ve ever sat down and talked with — the stories she has at her disposal: incredible — but there’s no denying that there’s a significant slice of America that knows her as that lady that Colbert made fun of in his “Better Know A District” series. And Norton loves Colbert, even stating that Colbert had “done more for voting rights than anything we have ever done.”
According to her staff, Delegate Norton hasn’t had the time to email Colbert quite yet — battling accusations of improper fundraising probably eats up a big chunk of Norton’s “emailing television comedians” time — but we imagine she’s smiling with the news that Colbert will be coming to town.
So here’s what you need to know: Jon Stewart — who, don’t forget, will be in town filming episodes of the Daily Show between October 25 and 28 — will host a “Rally to Restore Sanity” on October 30, while Colbert will host a “Keep Fear Alive” rally, on the same day. Both will take place on the National Mall and will more than likely be hilarious. Those of you who didn’t manage to snag tickets to the Daily Show tapings — and, as I recall, there were plenty of you — can now attend the rally. Nice how that works out, eh? (Though they still need to get permits, of course.) We can thank the Redditors who raised over $240,000 for Donors Choose for getting Colbert’s attention.
On an interesting note, the rallies — whatever form they might take — coincide nicely with the 2010 Online Journalism Awards, so you can bet that there will be plenty of innovative coverage of whatever happens on the 30th. We expect more stuff like Brian Holcomb’s Google map (seen above), a clever skewering of last month’s insanity.
You can watch Stewart and Colbert’s announcements from last night after the jump.
