Seeking to take advantage of the attention that Jon Stewart will bring to D.C. this weekend, a group of federal workers said they will also head to the Mall to plead a different case: basically, for the majority of America to stop hatin’.

GovLoop, a social network of over 30,000 government employees, will hold its rally–dubbed “Government Doesn’t Suck!”–near the National Air and Space Museum at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, a few hours before Stewart’s undoubtedly bigger, more popular “Rally To Restore Sanity.” The point is to reverse widespread anti-fed sentiments, which a Washington Post poll this month revealed are held by… most Americans.

We who live in and around the District might occasionally forget it, but many of our fellow countrymen don’t like what they think goes on here. Bureaucracy, seen as huge, anonymous, and burdensome, tends to give non-government people headaches. So GovLoop wants to put a face on those faceless federal employees and “to show the country that [they’re] capable of having a laugh,” according to its website. In other words: the almost 30 percent of city residents who work in government are people, too.

When last checked, 40 members of the GovLoop network have said they will attend, and 24 said they might attend.

Photo by Ibrahim Rustamov, via Wikimedia Commons