Tough Times for the Negative Left?... Stewart and Colbert to the Rescue as Comedy Mimics Life
by Dan Ehrlich

Will C.C. Duo Offer More than Empty Promises in D.C.? America Breathlessly Waits
The liberal One Nation rally in Washington DC this past weekend (Oct.2) was small by comparison to the massive right wing event thrown last month by Fox talker Glen Beck. Why? Because with all our progressive and liberal pretensions, America remains attached to its conservative roots fixed in the bedrock of the nation.

And in troubled times we seek strong and inspiring leadership of the sort the liberal Franklin Roosevelt offered in 1932. America had hoped Barack Obama would be such a leader, but so far he hasn’t delivered the hope or even the straight talk the country deserves. So, for many voters who had looked left, it’s a swing back to the right.

During the 1960s and 70s when the civil right protests and student based populist movements were in full swing America still was a land filled with hope for a better future. Our idealistic youth were campaigning against the Vietnam War as something that was unnecessary and brutal. Of course, many simply didn’t want to get drafted and see Vietnam first hand.

They had no idea 30 years later we would mind bogglingly become involved in similar never ending conflicts amidst our own economic decline and dependence on the very nation we regarded as a key part of the Communist Axis of Evil.

Today there aren’t mass campus anti war demonstrations or anti war marches on Washington. Times have changed, the future doesn't seem so bright and an entitled generation is worried about its future. The One Nation Rally was a less than stellar turnout of the entire liberal-left-wing spectrum, not just centered on one cause. Maybe it was simply organized too hastily or wasn’t fronted by a first magnitude media star? Or maybe it was that not enough people have faith in what the left has to offer.

This rally can be seen in terms of the late national liberal talk station Air America, which folded early this year, a victim of poor ratings and even worse advertising income. It died while conservative talk radio thrived making demagogues such as Beck into millionaires.

The problem for liberals is they can’t offer people hope, just fantasy, good intentions, negativity and the constant view that being right is wrong. Conservatives have one thing in their favor...history, where they live. They point to our halcyon past, selectively weeding out the very policies that help bring us to where we are today. They tell their followers that they seek to make America master of its own destiny again and bring jobs back home. Yet, as with the President, they don’t spell out how they plan to do this.

But, its still enough hope for many Americans who see billions being given to rescue General Motors so it can lay off hundreds of workers, while outsourcing some of its operations. They see banks being bailed out, yet also find banks unwilling to loan money or pay decent interest on savings.

Voters also feel their children won’t have a bright future and that the middle class is doomed. They feel helpless, especially since they see the left intent on redistributing the wealth of the nation, while allowing unlimited immigration from Mexico.

In a past blog I wrote about our national regression. The swing right is part of this since the left has nothing to offer the American people, especially with the right and left singing from the same global market hymn book. This book, in turn, is like a drug habit, one that has us addicted to cheap foreign made goods while it drains the wealth from our nation, eventually leaving us a decadent, hollow shell.

But wait, there’s a ray of hope on the horizon. Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will march together or against each other October 30 in D.C. Stewart's "Rally To Restore Sanity" will meet Colbert's "March To Keep Fear Alive" in the nation's capital. Now those are big names to lead a nation waiting for a hero. I will lay money on their turnout being bigger than the One Nation event. And, if not bigger, it will certainly be more fun.