Republicans are chafing at the "partisan" rally in Washington this weekend as liberals pour into town to attend a huge Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert get-together that has no advertised purpose other than to "restore sanity."
The insanity lies, of course, in the indignation on the part of the right at the possibility that the left will party on the Mall. The left is being "partisan." The right is not being partisan when it attends a Glenn Beck rally -- that's different.
Jon Stewart is hugely funny and, far as I can tell, hugely sane in an American political moment which is not sane. Stewart fans certainly deserve a day off to enjoy a little sanity after two years of sanity having its head stomped daily by right-wing thugs. If, like me, you aren't attending (but would like to) and don't have TV (in my case for anything but movies), there's a less-known Jon Stewart piece of hilarity and sanity you can download and listen to all weekend.
Stewart was interviewed by Terry Gross at the 92nd Street "Y" earlier this month. The interview is available for download via iTunes. But wait, there's an improved edition also at iTunes as of 10/22/10. The original interview has been edited to make room for additional material from Stewart and it's even better.