When I decided to make the trip with my friend, I had no idea who would be at the rally or what it would be all about, but that didn’t matter. With the track record of integrity that Jon Stewart has, I was willing to put my trust in his judgment to have the Best. Rally. Ever.

He did not disappoint.

I compiled the following video over the past several days. Other than the few seconds of video from the Comedy Central broadcast, the images and videos were all filmed by me.

You can also check out my photo album for the event on Facebook.

Huffington Post

If you don’t have time to watch it all, go over to Gawker where they did a play-by-play of the uncut interview.

Hat tip, Jen Chung of the Gothamist.

Btw, if you’re looking for more infotainment on Sunday, check out this nugget form our newsletter:

Sunday November 1, 2009
Info-tainment Politics in the Millennial Generation
The Tank, 354 West 45th St (between 8th & 9th Ave)
Join MYD and other organizations for a night of entertainment and conversation to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the 2008 election with performances, a premier and a panel discussion.
RSVP by emailing meagan.carberry@gmail.com

…there’s a growing sense among progressives that they have, as my New York Times colleague Frank Rich suggests, been punked. And that’s why the mixed signals [from the President] on the public option created such an uproar.

Now, politics is the art of the possible. Obama was never going to get everything his supporters wanted.

But there’s a point at which realism shades over into weakness. It seems as if there is nothing Republicans can do that will draw a rebuke: Sen. Charles Grassley feeds the death panel smear, warning that reform will “pull the plug on grandma,” and two days later the White House declares that it’s still committed to working with him.

It’s hard to avoid the sense that Obama has wasted months trying to appease people who can’t be appeased.

Now, I don’t think progressives have been “punked” by Obama–but I do agree there comes a time when we (Democrats; progressives; people who actually recognize the current system is broken) have to draw the line. We own DC. We have filibuster-proof majorities in both legislative bodies.

At one point do we say, Hey GOP, thanks for the chat, but you’re all just a little too bat(@*$ crazy for us to continue working together?

This insanity was illustrated by an interview last week on that bastion of intrepid journalism, the Daily Show. Jon Stewart took nearly half an hour to talk to Betsy McCaughey, who served as Lieutenant Governor for New York during the Pataki era and more recently has been a source for many of the falsehoods and misinformation about “death panels” and the like. She is, according to HuffPo, a “famous liar“–the worst kind–and manages to keep a straight face while asserting that Obama’s intention is to keep seniors from seeing their doctors.

Take the time to watch the whole segment. You’ll probably emerge deeply troubled (as Jon was) and with two conclusions:

1. Yes, people who are against healthcare reform really are nuts; and
2. Forget “bipartisanship” –that only works when there are functioning brains on both sides of the table.  It seems most GOPers and even some Dems (did someone say Blue Dog?) have undergone lobotomies on the prefrontal cortex–known to control ethical behavior and sound judgement–paid for by the healthcare industry
   

Oh, by the way–after her appearance on the show, the former LG resigned from the Board of Cantel, a medical device company, so as to avoid ‘the appearance of conflict of interest during the national debate over healthcare reform”. Great timing, Bets!

Let’s hope Obama watches The Daily Show, too.

Part II here. Ad if you missed it, Olbermann’s must-watch video re: legislators in the pocket of the healthcare industry here.

[Note that we here at MYD are not a bunch of partisan hacks. We've written here before about the importance of having a Republican party with viable policy ideas. And the dire need for better Democrats.]

Hat Tip: Al