Busted Halo will be at The Rally to Restore Sanity!

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TDS-CR-rally-flash2[check out Tom’s live-blogging from the Rally]

When I was growing up in the 1980’s in Northern New Jersey, there was this infamous—INFAMOUS—series of commercials broadcast throughout the New York Metropolitan Area.  His business was electronics and his name was…Crazy Eddie!!! In the good old days of six-station television, the only way it was possible to avoid this foaming maniac of a salesman screaming, “We ARE NOT undersold, we WILL NOT be undersold, we CANNOT be undersold, and we MEAN IT!!!” was if you had your channel permanently set to PBS.  And at the close of every commercial came the infamous tagline, “Crazy Eddie… his prices are IN-SA-A-A-A-A-ANE!!!!”

Given that Jon Stewart also grew up in New Jersey during the 80’s (albeit a few years ahead of me), one can assume that he has seen his fair share of Crazy Eddie commercials.  And while his “Rally to Restore Sanity”, happening this Saturday in Washington D.C., may not be an event to shed light on the corrupt retailers of the world, one gets the sense that Stewart experiences a great deal of frustration that our political discussion looks a lot less like two scholars quietly discussing PBS over brandies and even more like a Crazy Eddie commercial than it did even twenty years ago.

But of course, the “Rally to Restore Sanity” is not the ONLY rally going on this weekend in the nation’s capital… for Stephen Colbert has merged his “March to Keep Fear Alive” with Stewart’s for one big mega-(albeit thematically confused)-rally.  Given that Busted Halo tends to veer more towards the questions of religion and faith over the questions of politics and Washington, we will be at the rally talking to attendees about their faith within the themes of the rally:

“What do you find sane and/or insane about religion?”

“What are you most afraid of?”

“Does God provide comfort when we are afraid?”

“Do people just believe in God because they are afraid?”

“Is believing in God an act of sanity, or does believing in God make one the intellectual equivalent of Crazy Eddie?”

We will be there with camera, microphone and smart phones interviewing people amidst the crowd — so if you’re going to be at the rally and see us, stop by, say hi and help us answer these questions.

Although we do plan on having an entertaining AND civilized discussion, unfortunately we will not be holding the conversation over brandies.  We will however be live-blogging (check back to this blog for updates,) Facebooking and Tweeting (as long as the networks hold up!) So click the above links to follow us and look for our video of the event next week.

Stay tuned.  Be not afraid.  Because this rally is going to be… umm… uhh… SA-A-A-A-A-ANE!!!!

Seriously guys, you have to check out this video link to old Crazy Eddie commercials.  You will NOT be disappointed!

Father Tom Gibbons was ordained a Paulist priest in 2012. Prior to becoming a priest, he spent time as a Jesuit Volunteer in Phoenix, AZ, working with immigrants in El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico. He's also worked as a graphic designer and web developer, serving nonprofits like Success For All Foundation, Baltimore City Head Start, and Catholic Relief Services. He previously wrote a blog entitled “Kicking and Screaming” for Busted Halo. After serving as a deacon at Holy Trinity Parish in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., Father Tom was sent to St. Peter’s Church in Toronto, where he first served as Associate Pastor and then as the Parish Administrator. In 2016, he produced a documentary on the founder of the Paulist Fathers, entitled “Isaac Hecker and the Journey of Catholic America” – featuring celebrity voices of Martin Sheen, Matt McCoy, and Bob Gunton. Father Tom is currently at work on a new documentary investigating the complicated legacy of the Catholic Church in California with the film “Junipero Serra: Statue of Limitations,” scheduled for release in 2022. In addition to his work as Vice President of Paulist Productions, Father Tom also performs pastoral work at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church and Transfiguration Catholic Church in Los Angeles, CA.