[Peace-discuss] our banner on The Daily Show

[John W.]

At 07:06 AM 9/28/2005, Linda Evans wrote:

>There is no such thing as bad publicity.
>
>Linda

That's true if and only if publicity is a desirable end in and of 
itself.  Think about it.

John W.


>--- Randall Cotton <recotton at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> > So for some reason, our "Central Illinois says no to
> > War" AWARE Banner was
> > featured prominently by John Stewart tonight. He
> > actually read out the words
> > of our sign. Bad news is, it was in the middle of a
> > segment lampooning the
> > DC demonstration and our sign was the butt of a
> > little joke. The humor at
> > our expense wasn't the worst of the segment though,
> > which seemed very
> > uncharacteristic of the show's writers (maybe
> > they're on vacation or
> > something). The worst,  I think, was the flippant
> > dismissal of the
> > demonstration's anti-racism thrust. Making fun of
> > Cindy Sheehan kind of
> > rubbed me the wrong way as well. I'm generally a big
> > fan of John Stewart,
> > but this piece as a whole left a bad taste in my
> > mouth. The joke about our
> > banner completely escapes me, but the audience did
> > laugh. Maybe someone can
> > explain to me how this was funny - perhaps I'm a
> > little too close to the
> > subject to understand.
> >
> > This edition will replay tomorrow on Comedy Central
> > 10:30PM
> >
> > Following is a transcript.
> > R
> >
> > John: So on Saturday, 100,000 strong peace marchers
> > descended on Washington
> > seeking to crystallize America's dissatisfaction
> > with the war into *one*
> > *single* *idea*
> >
> > protest speaker: PEACE!
> >
> > John: d-Okay! [audience laughs]
> >
> > protest speaker: JUSTICE!
> >
> > John: [pause] Fine. [fewer laughs]
> >
> > protest speaker: ENVIRONTAL PROTECTION!
> >
> > John: [puzzled look on his face] [audience laughs]
> >
> > protest speaker: NO RACISM! [weak audience laughs]
> >
> > John: [even more puzzled look on his face] Dude, I
> > didn't hitchhike from
> > Overland for this. [stronger audience laughs]
> >
> > Yes, this protest march was like many we've seen
> > over the years. First came
> > the traditional running of the liberals [shot of
> > what is probably the lead
> > marchers running down the street] [audience laughs]
> > Followed by the ritual
> > display of somewhat eccentric signage like this one:
> > "Central Illinois Says
> > No to War" [John said this mockingly to weak
> > audience laughs] - reflecting
> > the political wisdom that as goes Effingham, so go
> > Altamont and Beecher City
> > [audience laughs and even applauds] And no protest
> > is complete without the
> > presence of the Raging Grannies - their slogan: "ask
> > us about our
> > grandchildren .... NOW!" [very weak laughs] ... uh,
> > they're grannies, but of
> > course ... raging [John was acknowledging here that
> > this joked bombed].
> > Among the orators - the Reverend [pause] Jesse
> > Jackson.
> >
> > Jesse Jackson: America, the whole world is watching.
> >
> > John: Reverend, with all due respect, you're on
> > CSPAN [audience laughs and
> > applauds]  Uh, I don't wanna - I don't want to be
> > rude here [pause]
> > America's not even watching [audience laughs].
> > Jackson, though, had the
> > honor of introducing the day's main attraction,
> > Cindy Sheehan. Then, of
> > course, he took care of some personal business
> > [camera shot shows Jackson
> > wiping his nose behind Cindy, who's at the podium].
> > [audience laughs] [John
> > then imitates Jesse Jackson, poorly of course,
> > saying:] Before I leave,
> > also, we must also win the war on ragweed [audience
> > laughs] Very much
> > affecting the linings [pause] in my nostrils [weak
> > audience laughs]. I'm not
> > a very good impressionist. [audience laughs]
> > Sheehan, of course, is the
> > grieving mother who has become the symbol of the
> > anti-war movement
> >
> > Cindy Sheehan: My good friends in the media aren't
> > doing their jobs. Most of
> > our friends in congress aren't doing their jobs.
> >
> > John: [continuing on in Cindy's tone] Clearly many
> > of you don't have jobs
> > [audience laughs] But like Martin Luther King Jr.
> > before her, Sheehan closed
> > her speech in Washington with a stirring rhetorical
> > flourish.
> >
> > Cindy Sheehan: I'll see you at 4:30 over there!
> > [audience laughs and claps]
> >
> > John: No! no! wait! wait! [pause] make it 5!
> > [audience laughs] I have a
> > thing. When Sheehan left the stage, a bit of the
> > glamour of the event went
> > with her. Luckily the organizers knew exactly how to
> > keep the marchers
> > entertained.
> >
> > Are you guys ready for a treat? Our next speaker is
> > a poet [audience laughs]
> >
> > John: And she will tell us where the treat is?
> > [audience laughs] Seriously.
> > And, oddly enough, the poet came on and opened with
> > "There once was a man
> > from Nantucket" [audience laughs] All in all, the
> > rather disorganized
> > left-wing protest, one that no doubt cheered
> > conservatives, I mean what
> > could look worse than *that* - except a right-wing
> > counterprotest the next
> > day that was 99.6 percent smaller. [audience laughs]
> > *400 people* -
> > organizers had been expecting 20,000 people. So
> > apparently, there was some
> > kind of miscalculation by people on the right
> > concerning the number of
> > people it would take to accomplish this mission
> > [laughs leading into
> > extended applause - the strongest reaction of the
> > whole piece]. To be fair
> > the protestors did greet each other as liberators
> > [mixed reaction from the
> > audience]. Finding the level [John is referring to
> > the odd audience
> > reaction]. So large protest, tiny counter-protest,
> > that should be the last
> > word, no? No. Because yesterday came the
> > counter-counterprotest.
> > Demonstrators gathered around the White House,
> > including [shot of Sheehan
> > being arrested] [pause] Yes, she's back. And
> > Washington police converged
> > swiftly on the group, which had no permit and made
> > Cindy Sheehan the first
> > of hundreds of arrests. Uh, she's smiling. [audience
> > laughs] You know what,
> > I don't think she's being arrested - I think a
> > Jewish wedding just broke
> > out. [bigger laughs and a clap or two]. [unscripted]
> > Now, you folks aren't
> > really sure how to take all this tonight are ya?
> >
> > [end of piece]