Glenn Beck's recent "Restoring Honor" rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial has sparked an online grassroots movement for "The Colbert Report" host Stephen Colbert to counter the event with his own rally on Oct. 10 at the same location to be called "Restoring Truthiness." The word truthiness refers to "the quality by which one purports to know something emotionally or instinctively, without regard to evidence or intellectual examination." Colbert introduced the word during a segment on the first episode of his satirical Comedy Central show.
The whole movement behind the proposed Colbert-led D.C. rally came about when a user on Reddit.com proposed the idea as a way to point out the absurdity of Beck's recent Tea Party event. Colbert seemed like the appropriate person to hold the rally as he has the ability to accurately skewer the Right, with his show and fake on-screen persona serving as a pitch-perfect parody of FOX News personalities like Beck and Bill O'Reilly.
That one comment has now grown into a full-fledged movement that includes a website, and a Facebook group, "100,000 Strong to Restore Truthiness to the U.S. Capital" which has over 28,000 members thus far, growing from 8,000 when the story was first reported on the Huffington Post Fri., Aug. 3.
The website states in part:
"America, we are at a crossroad. Truthiness in this nation is at an all-time low since the inception of the concept was founded by the great American, Stephen Colbert. In its rich history over the past five years, Truthiness has become synonymous with American values such as freedom, honor, and Taco Bell. Recently our nation has suffered a truthiness drain. In fact, untruthiness is as common as measles vaccinations that cause cancer. We as a nation have stopped relying on our emotions and gut. We need to get back to what makes this nation great. Act on impulse not fact. Stop wasting time analyzing and just take what people say on face value. Why think when someone else can think for you. It’s superficial. It’s quick. It’s American. Restore Truthiness now!"
Obviously, this satirical rally is far from being realized, but given the success of the Betty White Facebook petition to host "SNL," it wouldn't be out of the question for it to become a reality. Everyone will have to wait and see if Colbert addresses the petition on "The Colbert Report" when he returns from vacation next week.
Comments
Fabulous idea! What about including Rachel Maddow as a speaker as well? Jon Stewart?
This is a great idea. How can we get Colbert to do it?
From the Huffington Post:
Those interested in furthering the movement have been asked to join the Facebook group, spread the word, or email support@colbertrally.com for more information.
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