They are saying the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear drew a crowd of over 200,000, and not a moment too soon. The march occurred the same week Lauren Valle, a Pennsylvania based MoveOn Voluneteer had her head stomped by Rand Paul Campaign volunteer, Tim Profitt. Sanity is needed indeed. In the words of the late, great Marvin Gaye, "what's going on?" Have we honestly reached a period in the United States when we cannot disagree without coming to blows? Apparently not. On the day before hundreds of thousands of people gathered in our nation's capital to call for sanity, a bit of unreasonable insanity was brewing in Florida's 8th district race for the US House of Representatives.
Daniel Webster and Alan Grayson are in a heated match for the 8th district congressional seat currently held by Rep. Grayson. Webster has been running on a platform of fairness, honesty, truth and class. Values he claims are the opposite of his opponent - Alan Grayson. But Webster has yet to face Grayson in two formally scheduled debates. Local Orlando Fox News affiliate recently proclaimed the race as too close to call. What happens in these situations? Campaigns pull out all the stops. They send canvassers into the field, they start phone banking, they may even show up at an opponent's rally; if you're a smart and seasoned opponent, you do what my mother always told me, you ignore the squeaky wheel, the sore thumb, the person that is making you angry. You count to three and move on. What you do not do is gang up on a woman and stomp on her head (unless you want to go to jail). And you do not do what Daniel Webster's friend and supporter, Bruce O'Donoghue, did. O'Donoghue stormed up to an Alan Grayson supporter at a Daniel Webster rally, and lost all sensibility nearly assaulting him and ripping his Grayson sign out of his hands. All right in front of a film crew.
It certainly will be interesting footage for Street Fighting Man: The Political Mind of Alan Grayson, as the footage is captured over Webster giving a speech about being sensible and not beating people up. You could not write a better sketch for Saturday Night live. But really folks, what is going on? The reaction O'Donoghue had to that peaceful man holding a sign is downright frightening. When did a difference in politics become a matter of life and death? Where is this type of passion when it comes to our deteriorating public education system, the prison industrial complex, or our never ending war in Afghanistan? Perhaps if we had this passion about the issues, we would not need to be stomping on heads of 23 year old volunteers. Maybe if people were more reasonable, we would not need to hold rallies to restore sanity.
Find out more about Alan Grayson, Daniel Webster and Florida's 8th District Election at http://streetfightingmanmovie.com