Funniest signs and images from the Jon Stewart / Stephen Colbert rally

Comedian Jon Stewart, left, welcomes comedian Stephen Colbert to the Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear on Saturday afternoon on the National Mall. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Musicians (backed by funk group the Roots) and celebrities mocked a variety of current events and trends, including political rallies. The Comedy Central cornerstones swore that this rally was not a political one, and pretty much kept to their promise.  

Many many photos and funny signs after the jump...

Tens of thousands of people crowded the National Mall to watch the comedy and listen to the music. So many attended that some left the event because they couldn't hear or see very well. "Let's just go back home + watch it on youtube," Julia E. Christian overheard and tweeted. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

One of the more ominous sights was comedian Stephen Colbert trying to induce fear in front of a giant papier-mache puppet of himself. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

And speaking of ominous fear, what modern rally would be complete without some signs featuring Adolf Hitler and variants thereof? (Photo by Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

A Sanity supporter holds a sign with an image depicting Stephen Colbert as Adolf Hitler with "Say No to Fear" on the National Mall in Washington, DC. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

Even the 70s smiley face got the Hitler treatment in a satire of current political signs. (Photo by Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

People wearing masks hold up anti-Republican signs in front of the National Gallery of Art. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Stephen Colbert's satirical stance to Restore Fear captured the imaginations of many in attendence. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

One of the more interesting moments on stage was when Ozzy Osbourne, left, and Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) performed "Crazy Train" and "Peace Train" respectively, then embraced for an unforgettable photo. (Photo by Reuters/Jason Reed)

Not all of the signs were comedic. (Photo by Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

It is safe to say that most in attendance were left-leaning, like this bearded peace-loving man with a sign supporting President Obama. (Photo by Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Some of the signs were very professionally made. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

But most were handmade and hilarious. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Some estimates claim over 100,000 people were in attendance. Even some heathens made the trip to D.C. and brought a sign. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Bashing the upstart Tea Party was prevelant. Maya Reiser and her husband, Alan Shakin, both of Bethesda, Md., walk through the crowd. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Jim Rothe, left, and Paul Fouschia, both of Cincinnati, were dressed as the Blues Brothers.  (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A familiar-looking woman claiming not to be a witch was at the rally. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

And hey look, even Waldo was spotted in the well-behaved crowd. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The signs that got the most buzz on Twitter were the more unexpected ones, like this sign that seemed to criticize the ability of big business and powerful lobbiest who often have more access to politicians than regular people. (Photo by Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

In the end, the signs were mostly light-hearted and respectful. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

Except for the one honoring this filthy Marxist. (Photo by Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

-- Tony Pierce
twitter.com/busblog

(Bottom photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Comments

[just a conservative girl]

I am glad to see that you posted the picture of a Hitler mustache on Eric Cantor.

[malinche]

The difference in the two rally's is that these signs are spelled correctly.

[sean]

Jon Stewart's executive producer was arrested for punching an activist in the face... Why can't Jon fight his own battles instead of sending his producer to handle his battles? Why is Jon Stuart and his people violently opposed to the truth movement?

[Stephen Wong]

Thank you for the pictures. (A reader in Toronto.)

[Reynard Fuchs]

Vote. Even if your vote does not help the one you voted for win, point out the last digit of the number and say "See that seven? it would have been a six if I hadn't voted. I can criticize now."

[Nancy Lee]

Wow -- it looks just like a Tea Party. The crowd is predominately white. They must be racists.

[dempublican]

what a bunch of pretentious posers

I hate to have to point out the obvious but

people normally don't go nuts on "themselves"

when THEY ARE the party in power.

[Lee]

Hilarious - they get Yusuf Islam - the wannabe Rushdie-killer - to perform at a "Sanity" rally. Will whoever was responsible for that decision please LEAVE our political side. I acknowledge that pandering to wannabe author-killers in this context has a funny side to it, but ultimately it gives us a terrible name. If we ever expect to get broad ongoing voter support so we can effect significant social change, we need to sideline the Islamofacists and their collaborators asap. Let them start their own political party and see how many votes they get, instead of parasitizing on a party supposed to represent the working-class. It is a disgrace and an indictment that we don't regularly get massive overwhelming support from workers - and the sort of mindset that would shove Yusuf Islam in our faces is part of the reason.

[Jess]

There were so many great signs. My current favorite is "Make awkward sexual advances, not war".

[steve]

I am happy to be in a country where we can be serious as we want and not so serious as we want.

[dom youngross]

What a bunch of hypocritical dweebs. After they clapped and cheered for mega federal domestic debt now they want no dissension. But as there will be a snowball's chance of new federal domestic debt candy coming their way post 2 Nov., what with the big democrat slapdown in the midterm, watch as the same dweebs suddenly remember, oh yeah, there's a war still going on in Iraqipakiafghanistan, and resume their disingenuous anti-war-n-waste protest from the Bush years. Maybe now after two years of spooning, Obamalove will get out of bed with the Bush-Cheney-Palin neocon war-n-waste mongers over President Obama's continuing Af-Pak war of Candidate Obama's 2008 campaign necessity.

[David]

The sane are alive and well, thank God.

[Tim]

Hilarious. Love that it's comedy when conservatives (including the Jewish soon-to-be Repub Majority leader) are portrayed as Hitler, but ANY intimation of Obama being Muslim/Marxist/etc. is viewed as 'offensive' or 'racist'.

I'm just glad your newspaper continues to lose readers.

[Ryne Schaefer]

I do beleive Cat Steven's was there to Prove that the World Wouldn't End This Moment! (Scary Muslim) FOX (Foreign) Noise didn't Scare me into a Frenzy!
At least The Crowd is more than 99.9% White and Being Pumped full of FEAR and False Anxiety, Because UNLIKE FOX They Are NOT!

[Heisenberg]

Those photographs are amazing!

[Jan Mintz]

Thanks to the satirists of the world, maybe sanity and intelligent discourse will be restored.

[Jake]

@ Tim - It's called irony. Look it up.

[manuel kitay]

THANK YOU FOR SUCH A GOOD MEETING.
WELL BALANCED AND POSITIVE.
G_D BLESS AMERICA AND THE G - OOD
PEOPLE THAT ARE TRYING TO SPREAD LOVE
- IF YOU DISAGREE GO TO
SOUTH AMERICA - AFRICA AND EUROPE
AND MANY PLACES IN ASIA.

[Supe]

Interesting how many of the comments are from the insane! Gotta love 'em, just don't vote for em.

[Brianna]

Yusuf Islam supported the death fatwa on Salman Rushide, author of the book Satanic Verses. Some sanity rally.

[Judge Knot]

maybe to form a more perfect union, students could be taught human rights and history.
a little bit of knowledge is very sensible.

[Mark B]

LOL I love reading the comments by the -> Wing Loonies here. They're as funny as the photos. I also find it funny how threatened the teabags are by simple non-hateful humor. I guess since they don't understand it they fear it and get angry as per usual.

[Liberty (really my name)]

I was at the rally and I am afraid to many of you have missed the point. IT WAS NOT A POLITICAL RALLY. It WAS a rally of many different peoples of all ages races and backgrounds, just for one day , forgetting all the extreme things that polarize us and enjoying the day and time. With a side of sarcasam and irony, just to keep it interesting. I had a great time. Wish you all were there, we can all use a good laugh at ourselves sometimes.

[Dangerous Dean]

I am glad we live in a place where you can gather to vent your frustration at government, or in this case at those you perceive to be too conservative.

But if you are NOT afraid of the crushing debt built up by the American government in the last decade, then you should be. It is insane.

If they were trying to be non-political, why have two VERY liberal comedians headline this thing instead of having one at least nominally conservative or centrist comedian? Nobody who is sane thinks that Colbert is really conservative. He is a liberal shill trying to mock conservative values.

Cat Stevens? The Muslim who backed the call for Rushdie's murder? Oh that is a great moment in centrist sanity.

America WILL restore sanity tomorrow when it boots liberals from office. And if the conservatives stick to their principles and rein in the out of control spending then we will see some sanity return.

[Therese Z]

If this was just a change to get together to "forget all the extreme things that polarize us" then why the derision of the Tea Partiers and others? Why prominently include a Muslim who called for a fatwa against Salamon Rushdie?

Call it what it was, a political rally.

[Anne Cherry]

Turnstiles, not turnstyles!

[Joanie]

Really love that these right wing folk are pinning all this misery on Obama/Democrats. These two Bush wars were insane budget busters, the real costs of which will not be made known for generations due to the Cheney secrecy dictums. Neither of which were necessary. No one seemed to weigh the long term consequences. That coupled with deregulation of Wall Street and other financial industries damn near killed us. No one seems to be touting the fact that the Dow Jones has now risen back almost to its pre slump numbers, or that unemployed was down by hundreds of thousands last week, or that now the health care system will actually care for its weakest and not bankrupt them. And what are the right wingers so angry about? That they cannot continue the same bankrupt policies and weak regulatory systesm that have decimated the middle class. Boo hoo. And as for one of the really funny signs at the rally, "He is black, get over it." Look at that carefully and see how much of an impact it bears.

[Emily]

"[Yusef Islam] has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including 2003's World Award, the 2004 Man for Peace Award, and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace."

"[Yusef] attracted controversy in 1989, during an address to students at London's Kingston University, where he was asked about the fatwa calling for the death of author Salman Rushdie. The media interpreted his response as support for the fatwa. Yusuf released a statement the following day denying that he supported vigilantism, and claiming that he had merely recounted the legal Islamic punishment for blasphemy. ... In the years since these comments, he has repeatedly denied ever calling for the death of Rushdie or supporting the fatwa."

It's not that hard to research things and make informed decisions/comments.
That was one of the major points of the rally. Collect the facts and have an informed discourse on the subject. Facts don't lean left and right.