Any of you who watch The Colbert Report might have seen a snippet last week, in which Colbert mentioned a reddit-led push to have him hold a “Restore Truthiness” rally, as a rebuttal to Glenn Beck’s recent trip to the Lincoln Memorial. Well, since online petitions are easy, they are trying to show sincerity by putting their money where there mouth is, via a cause that is supported by several of us in the physics/science blogging community..

See, anyone can join a reddit or Facebook group or sign a petition. It takes, like, one minute and doesn’t demonstrate much effort. So the rally movement has been looking for ways to show that they’re serious, that they’re willing to lift a finger to make this happen. And an idea has just been hatched: pony up some cash to one of Stephen’s favorite charities.
Stephen Colbert is a board member of a non-profit called DonorsChoose.org. It’s a place where schoolteachers can make a request for the supplies they need and aren’t getting. As the name suggests, donors get to choose which specific teacher they want to support (lazy donors can just let the charity decide). If “Restore Truthiness” can raise a large sum of money, it will be a fantastic show of strength. And even if it fails as a publicity stunt, it’ll still make a difference in our world.

Restoring Truthiness Giving Page

(More than 2,000 donors and $80,000 raised as of writing this. Wow.)

Update: 3300 donors, and over $135k at ~1730 EDT, obliterating their goal of $101,010 by 10/10/10. In a day. Holy crap.

Update II: Colbert responds

I almost had a pregnant when I saw what you had done at DonorsChoose.org for classrooms around the country. I am humbled and honored (a rare combination for me), and find myself wishing there was a Look of Approval.