Rally on 'Dream' speech anniversary stirs debate

WASHINGTON - Glenn Beck says he didn't intend to schedule Saturday's "Restoring Honor" rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. But in the convergence of time and place, the demonstrative political talk-show host sees "divine providence."

Some have used other words.

Civil-rights leaders aligned with Democrats are recoiling at the Fox News superpundit's plan to gather his faithful on the same steps where King delivered his iconic call for racial justice. They're planning their own march in honor of the Aug. 28, 1963, speech and accusing Beck of trying to "hijack" King's legacy.

The debate is just one in a handful surrounding Beck's event, which, despite its billing as an apolitical show of support for military families, has not dodged the trappings of partisan politics. Like the man behind it, the event seems especially deft at raising ire while preaching unity.

In the months leading up to the weekend rally and related events, Beck has suggested that the federal government has tried to limit such protests on the National Mall, without citing evidence.

And he has enlisted 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin as a headliner, while promoting the rally through a constellation of political groups often-aligned with Republicans.

Still, Beck says, this has nothing to do with politics.

"This has everything to do with, 'Who are we?' " he says, over an earnest soundtrack of soft piano, in a video promotion of the rally posted on his website. "There is profound change happening in America and there is a window of opportunity that comes in the life span of every republic, every civilization, a window of opportunity to reach for that brass ring or to miss it."

The explanation is high-flying, vague, and salted with a dash of doomsday. Beck's nearly nine-month-long promotional campaign has followed the same pattern.

When announced in November, the rally was to be the scene for the unveiling of "The Plan," a 100-year outline to "save the country." But Beck quickly changed focus, opting for a less political event that would raise money for military families and honor a group of heroes.

He has said he believes the event will be "the turning point in the American experiment." He urged parents to bring their children, the best hope to "restore us." And he has suggested that this rally could be the last of its kind.

"The government is trying to, now, close the Lincoln Memorial for any kind of large gathering," Beck said on his radio show in June. "This may be the last large gathering ever to assemble at the Lincoln Memorial."

A spokesman for the National Park Service, which maintains the space and issues permits for protest, said the assertion was "based on nothing."

"There is absolutely no attempt or move on the government's part, nor specifically on the National Park Service's part, to close off or to restrict free speech or any First Amendment activities on or below the step" where King gave his speech, spokesman Bill Fine said.

Asked to explain the statement, a Beck spokesman declined to comment.

Highlighting what they see as Beck's hypocrisy, the Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders have decided to hold their own rally.

Sharpton's National Action Network, the National Urban League, and the NAACP plan to march from a Washington high school to the site of a planned King memorial, just blocks from the Lincoln Memorial.

The original emphasis of their gathering was on closing educational disparities, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan is among those scheduled to participate. But recently, the groups' leaders have focused on Beck and Palin as philosophical opposites of King's supporters.