This weekend, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert held a rally on Capitol Hill. The rally focused on the idea of "restoring sanity" in American politics. Tens of thousands of people showed up to see Stewart and Colbert make jokes about politicians and remind us that working together achieves more than we can accomplish by standing apart.

Stewart and Colbert didn't choose political sides, although most polls show that Stewart is strongly supported by liberals and independents.

Colbert and Stewart hit the nail on the head on quite a few issues, like the distrust that conservatives have toward Muslims and Republican obstructionism in light of Obama's presidency. There were also some who criticized Obama himself, stating that he represents politics as usual, rather than the kind of change that Americans were hoping for back in 2008.

Stewart did bring up race during the rally in one interesting way. He said, "As you know, if you have too many white people at a rally, your cause is racist. If you have too many people of color, then you must be asking for something - special rights, like eating at restaurants or piggy back rides."

It seems that holding a march on Washington is the thing to do these days. Glenn Beck held a rally a month ago, and now Jon Stewart is jumping on the bandwagon. The rallies are not without their political ammunition, given that the world is paying close attention.

I find myself a bit disappointed by the fact that we've commercialized the concept of holding marches on Washington. Neither Glenn Beck nor Jon Stewart has a strong horse in the political game, as they are both entertainers and not serious political figures. One can say, on the other hand, that their presence in Washington is symptomatic of a broader shift in how the polarization on cable news channels is playing a stronger and stronger role in our nation's politics.

Another sign that the Stewarts and Becks of the world are gaining influence is the fact that most major political figures on the right have some kind of affiliation with Fox News. On the left, we saw President Obama make an appearance on "The Daily Show" just a few days ago, in his efforts to drum up Democratic momentum in the midterm elections. So, while I might grumble at the idea of the world taking Jon Stewart and Glenn Beck seriously, the world could actually care less about my sentiments.

One final point about the impact that cable news is having on politics is one that runs contrary to the message being shared by Jon Stewart, who argues that politicians on the right and left need to learn to work together for the benefit of the American people.

The problem is that cable news has done its share of work to politically divide the country. If you are liberal, you watch MSNBC. If you are conservative, you watch Fox. So depending on which side of the fence you're on, there's some corporate entity hoping to enhance their own profitability by filling your head with ideas that will rile you up. In a society where government is already designed to be fragmented, stagnant and dysfunctional, we are sending ourselves down a very ugly path.


Watch part of the Rally to Restore Sanity here:



Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.