What can "The Daily Show"'s Rally To Restore Sanity potentially clarify, beyond the fact that there's something implicitly hilarious about the extant need to maybe restore some sanity? Rex Huppke of the Chicago Tribune speculates that it might help reveal that America's "silent majority" is a level-headed one, not subsumed by senseless anger:
Many have taken to calling themselves "we the people," because it sounds rebel-ish, in a tri-cornered hat kind of way. The nation is swept up in anti-incumbent fervor, and we're mad. We're mad, mad, mad, mad.
Except that, by and large, we're not really all that mad. A Pew Research Center poll earlier this year found only 21 percent of Americans "angry" at the federal government. And the term "anti-incumbent fervor" loses a bit when you learn that, according to political scientist Michael Robinson, 98 percent of all congressional incumbents who ran in this year's primaries prevailed. If the narratives of this election season can -- GASP! -- be called into question, it's worth considering whether an upcoming comedic event might present a more serious reflection of our collective state of mind.
Calling media narratives into question is something that sits squarely inside "The Daily Show"'s wheelhouse, which is probably why Jon Stewart and company are far more trusted by the public than the rest of the media.
RELATED:
Stewart and Colbert rallies might give voice to 'silent majority' [Chicago Tribune]
[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]