Washington, D.C. will be the victim of two simultaneous rallies Oct. 30. You may have heard about them already; The Rally to Restore Sanity and the March to Keep Fear Alive.

These dueling rallies, held in the same area — the far eastern end of the mall — are held not by top politicians or pundits, although some would reasonably argue that point. These two “political” rallies are being held by comedians.

The Rally to Restore Sanity is being held by John Stewart, of “The Daily Show.” This Comedy Central news anchor is calling his supporters to show up in a reasonable mood, ready to have respectful disagreements with those who hold opposing views.

The March to Keep Fear Alive, is the opposite. Held by the host of “The Colbert Report,” Stephen Colbert, this rally claims “America, the greatest country God ever gave man, was built on three bedrock principles: freedom, liberty and fear,” in true Colbert style.

So is it a coincidence that two rallies are being held on the same day, in the same place by comedians known for hosting Comedy Central’s two top news shows? It seems like an odd coincidence, seeing as the two shows are back-to-back and that Colbert actually got his start on “The Daily Show.” The two sites are designed as mirror images of each other, and even link to each other. Chances are that this was planned.

OK, so there’s two rallies going on, seemingly the opposites of one another, one promotes reason while the other promotes blind panic, and they’re linked. What does this mean? Did Colbert and Stewart have a message in mind?

We think so. 

The idea of a political rally has been used time and time again to try to affect change of some sort in the political climate of the nation. But lately these rallies have become overused, and have been used by the wrong people. 

These rallies, launched largely in response to Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor event, seem to echo that sentiment. The two gatherings clearly are intended to lampoon Beck for his brash and unreasonable statements, as well as his use of scare tactics to frighten people into supporting his agenda. 

In fact, Stewart is striving to make his rally the opposite of Beck’s event in every way. While Restoring Honor was held on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, these rallies are held on “a date of no significance whatsoever,” by people who “think shouting is annoying, counterproductive and terrible for your throat; who feel that the loudest voices shouldn’t be the only ones that get heard.”

So they have decided to make a statement, and take a stand against frivolous rallying. They’re satirizing the overuse of what used to be a powerful political tool by overusing it — twice in the same day.

So, Saturday we will see the rally against rallies. We will see citizens take a stand against the cheapening against something powerful, and these gatherings will, with a little luck, restore sanity.

Or perhaps they’ll just serve to scare everyone.