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An estimated 215,000 people attended a rally organized by Comedy Central talk show hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Saturday in Washington, according to a crowd estimate commissioned by CBS News.

Canada's CTV, meanwhile, wrote that 250,000 people were estimated to have partaken in the Rally to Restore Sanity.

The company AirPhotosLive.com based the attendance at the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" on aerial pictures it took over the rally, which took place on the Mall in Washington. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 10 percent.

The National Park Service does not estimate crowds. The New York Times' Brian Stelter wrote on Twitter during the event that the Park Service privately told Viacom there were "well over 200,000" people at the rally, according to an executive.

Comedy Central's permit for the event said it was expecting 60,000 people, though, as the Wall Street Journal notes, it ordered enough port-a-potties for 150,000.

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While it’s still not clear how seriously to take the now-hybridized Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, the events have raised a serious amount of money already – and their organizers aren't keeping it.

Each of the two original events, Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity and Stephen Colbert’s March to Keep Fear Alive, designated a single charity to be the recipient of their fund-raising efforts. Whether people are buying merchandise or just making a contribution, all the money is being funneled into nonprofit pockets.

Mr. Stewart designated the Trust for the National Mall as his charitable recipient, much to the trust's surprise. “In fact, when we first got the phone call, we thought it was a prank,” admits Caroline Cunningham, president of the trust. “It was an unexpected and wonderful surprise.”

Mr. Colbert – or as he prefers, The Rev. Sir Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A. – selected DonorsChoose.org, a charitable clearinghouse where teachers can describe classroom needs and donors can pick which project(s) to fund.

On his Oct. 5 show, Colbert issued this invitation to his viewers: “Make your donation to show support of my march and to support America’s kids. And keep those donations coming, folks, because for every $100,000, I undo another button.”

Modest viewers might need to shield their eyes, because by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, more than 10,000 donors had contributed just over half a million dollars.

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Infact it was a rally against Kwicko, Nikki2, Kaneman, Aurapt, etc...That nikki2 is cheering this on is hilarious, she is the exact type stewart is against.

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Not to force TPTB to do such-&-such (yeah, like that's gonna work!) but for the exact reason you describe. That, and to feel what it's like to be surrounded by several thousand folks who feel the same way I do. It's encouraging and inspiring to be a part of something like that.

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When Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced their sanity rallies, politicians on both sides of the aisle took notice.

And with the event taking place so close to a crucial midterm election, many wondered what impact it might have on voters. Would a disillusioned citizen suddenly decide they needed to have their voice heard? Would the people in the middle find a way to silence the extreme views of the far right and far left?

With the rally over, and some time to reflect, we ask - was sanity restored or did a whole lot of people just show up to see their favorite comedians and work political satire into funny Halloween costumes that swamped the Metro trains of D.C.?

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Comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert drew an estimated 215,000 to the National Mall in Washington DC Saturday for their Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Held in anticipation of the Congressional midterm elections on 2 November, the rally was an effort to call out the media, specifically cable TV, for being a "broken" information tool for Americans.

At the end of the Rally, Jon Stewart stood alone onstage — the Capitol dome behind him, tens of thousands of sign-toting fans carpeting the National Mall before him — and asked, "What exactly was this?"

It was a good question. Billed as a gathering for folks who feel drowned out by the din of partisan bickering — "people who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive and terrible for the throat" — it was also an awkward straddle: a rally that mocked rallies, a nominally apolitical event held four days before a major election, a variety-show medley on a hallowed stage.

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The enemy, Jon Stewart told the masses gathered on the Mall in Washington Saturday for his "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear," is not people of faith, or activists, or those who want to have passionate argument, or those on the right, or those on the left.

The enemy, he argued, is not Americans at all. It is instead the false image of Americans being pushed by the cable news-driven media - what he called "the country's 24-hour politico pundit perpetual panic conflictinator - that he said is broken and making the country's problems worse.

"If we amplify everything, we hear nothing," Stewart said, accusing media outlets of fearmongering and spotlighting extremists instead of reasonable Americans. He later added that the press is America's immune system - and "if it overreacts to everything, we actually get sicker."

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His co-host Stephen Colbert, who portrays a fearmongering conservative talk show host seemingly modeled on Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, countered with "Medals for Fear," including one for the media outlets who banned their employees from attending the event unless they were covering it. (CBS News was among those criticized for doing so, though the network did not take that step.)

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