Las Vegas Weekly

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Saturday afternoon, an epidemic swept the nation. It started in Washington and migrated west to Las Vegas. It threatened to destroy American life as we know it. What was this epidemic? An epidemic of sanity. How dull is that? Very, but dullness is the point. Life isn’t as dramatic or alarming as the 24-hour news networks would have you believe. At least, that’s what Daily Show host Jon Stewart argued before a crowd of 200,000 at his Rally to Restore Sanity.

Shaun Mollica, a grant writer for a local nonprofit, held a satellite rally on Fremont Street for those who couldn’t make it to the real thing in D.C. At 9 a.m., a crowd of 60 gathered in the back room of Hennessey’s Tavern to watch the live broadcast. At noon, the group moved to Fremont Street for a sanity-restoring rally of its own.

Mollica got up on a black milk crate and said, “Thank you for joining us and using your First Amendment remedy to fight this instead of your second.” Everybody cheered, including the guy in the creepy clown mask holding the “Stop Crimes Against Zumanity” sign.

But what, exactly, was the creepy clown trying to say with that sign? Did he actually have a serious point? Absolutely. It was the same point Jon Stewart makes night after night: The world is a crazy fucking place, and sometimes the only sane thing to do is take a step back and laugh at it.

By the way, the creepy clown’s name is Glenn. He works as a network administrator. You can’t get more sane—or dull—than that.