Beck's backwards "dream" for America
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Beck's backwards "dream" for America
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The flowery video tributes to Martin Luther King Jr. had finally faded, the random calls from the podium for "justice" -- never backed up with specifics -- had stopped, and Alveda King's rambling and sometimes contradictory tribute to her late uncle was in the books, and now it was Glenn Beck pacing the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Just a few feet away from the spot where King stood 47 years ago this very date and called for economic as well as racial justice in his "I Have a Dream Speech," declaring that "America has given the Negro people a bad check," the Fox News host and Pied Piper looked out at the massive crowd of several hundred thousand mostly white conservatives and said something both stunning and telling.
"The poorest among us are still some of the richest in the world," Beck declared. "The poorest among us have blessings beyond the wildest imagination of anyone that Mother Theresa visited. And yet we don't recognize it."
The remark drew applause from a large throng that packed both sides of the giant reflecting pool that stretches east from the iconic Lincoln shrine -- the same flag-shrouded and largely middle-aged masses who minutes earlier had warmly clapped for the video tribute to the slain civil rights crusader. Beck and friends spent three hours Saturday making his appropriation of the King anniversary -- intended or accidental, who knows? -- into a feel-good moment, and his audience cheerily bought in.
A Sebastian, Fla. small business owner named Jerry Brown who came up for the rally told me afterward that while he came here because of his worries about government spending and because "we've been getting away from constitutional principles," he ended up moved by the King comparisons, although it was hard for him to elaborate exactly why.
Not surprising.
The reality on the National Mall today was that with his empty comparisons to the King legacy, Beck revealed how radically different - and disheartening -- his real vision for America is, especially at a time of lingering unemployment, fading home ownership, and growing anxieties over race, religion and immigration that is rivaling the upheaval of the 1960s.
Think about it. In 1963, King and thousands of Americans marched to the Lincoln Memorial in a plea to Washington for massive action to tackle the problems of poverty and unemployment and also to block the forces of "nullification" and "interposition" -- personified by Alabama's racist Gov.George Wallace - that prevented blacks from voting and even using the same drinking fountains asd whites.
In 2010, Beck not only told his predominantly middle-class gathering that not only do the poor in America not have it so bad but that in an era of political roadblocks, America'need not focus on taking collective action but should look inward for answers, devoting more time to family but in particular by turning to God, the major theme of the Restoring Honor rally. Indeed, in his keynote speech, he said the rally had "nothing to do with politics, everything to do with God."
In a sense, that was true. In the works and in the news and eventually the subject of much controversy for much of this year, the actual "Restoring Honor" rally was a strange asd often tepid affair -- stripped of all the political red-meat and angry Obama bashing (indeed, the president was almost never mentioned either from the podium or in the vast crowd) that has marked earlier Tea Party events, including the large Beck-inspired 9-12 rally last fall. It was nothing like any Tea Party-insited event I'd attended over the last year while researching my book on the movement, The Backlash. That might have been a disappointment to some in the crowd who traveled to Washington to show their displeasure with the current administration.
That's why Bert Melli was one of more than 100 people huddled in the pre-dawn pitch blackness at 4:45 a.m. yesterday in a shopping center parking lot in Havertown, Pa., waiting for a bus. "We have to let people know they are unhappy with the direction of the country," said Melli, a 78-year-old retiree. "This is a way to get their attention."
But what Melli and the other heated overheated masses got instead on a languid, partly cloudy August day was an event that at times felt like the Jerry Lewis Telethon, minus the comic stylings of Shecky Greene. There were lengthy homages to the Special Operations Warrior Fund, the charity that will benefit from a portion of the $5.5 million that Beck claimed he raised for the event, and the awarding of Badges of Merit including one for "Hope" to St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, who like some of the other speakers credited his devotion to Jesus Christ. For long stretches, the masses -- some a half-mile or so from the stage -- seemed mostly disengaged from the ceremonies, some staring at the ground..
The much-hyped appearance by former Alaska half-term governor turned media millionaire Sarah Palin came early and was unremarkable. Beck said he'd wanted a speaker "who wasn't running for office" -- even though by all accounts Palin is weighing a 2012 presidential bid - and hyped her as the mom of a soldier, her son Track having served in Iraq. Nevertheless, Palin sneaked in a thinly veiled snipe at Obama, saying "I must assume that you too, knowing that, no, we must not fundamentally transform America as some would want, we must restore America and restore her honor."
Obama wasn't on Beck's radar screen at all. He aimed at the the occupant of a higher office, saying the only way that America could break out of its current malaise was by looking to God for solutions, speaking frequently of looking to "divine providence." In keeping perhaps to the libertarian bent of the Tea Party-inspired audience, he never mentioned the need for citizens to work together but instead insisted: "I tell you that one man can change the world. That man or woman is you."
Beck also never overtly mentioned political issues like unemployment, even though the persistent high rates of joblessness was on the mind of many in the audience. Instead, reflecting his inward-looking and spiritual bent, he told the crowd to "connect with your family, yourself, and to your children." He added a minute later: "If you understand who God is, you will understand that you are one of his children."
The irony is that in a strange way, it may actually have been some form of "divine providence" that Beck choose Aug. 28 and to awkwardly honor King today -- because he did trigger a worthwhile debate and revealed the 180-contrast between his blind-faith-in-the-Almighty vision for restoration against the activist social gospel of Dr. King. That sharp difference was made clear about an hour-and-a-half after the Beck rally broke up, when thousands of marchers from a dueling event organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights activists circled past the Washington Monument and lingering Beck fans..
Pounding drums and chanting "no justice, no peace," the multi-racial parade of protesters was calling for concrete steps to do something to create jobs for those poor people that Beck claims are still "among the richest in the world." In other words, the very thing that an 81-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. would have been fighting for today, had he not been slain on a Memphis hotel balcony for pushing all Americans to take it to the limit to fight for social change.
Beck's a fraud without a clue. The rate at which he contradicts himself is sooo frequent, it's nearly impossible to keep up with what he means. he talks about restoring the constitution, strict adherence to the Amendments.....well, except those he wants changed, or reinterpreted. Restoration of religion....well unless your muslims and want to build a Mosque in New York. He wants return to the republic, power back to the states......I guess I need a refresher, what did George Bush do prior to his election???? How bout Bill Clinton??????Barack Obama???????? Ronal Reagan?????? OH, let's harken back to the 20's when all was good in the world, and everyone prospered, and America was grand....well by America, I guess he means 40% of maerica, because Blacks barly citizens and women coked and folded laundry. He talks in so many circles, that I get dizzy just listening to him.— gee1971
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Silly screed Wil. Examples: half term governor (as opposed to 1/4 term senator),your contempt for the middle class, envy for Palin's money (but never a comment on the boy-meaning immature-king Obama and his millions). As for comedy I guess you prefer Janine Garofolo a hatefilled deranged troll. Also telling was your contempt for individual accomplishment-you think all things need to be done by community (probably gov). Communities are constructed of individuals.Traditional family is the building block of society. I also suspect you were disappointed by a lack of nazi, jackbooted white supremicists firing their assult rifles and screaming racial epithets. Must have been a real let down. What you had there today were people from middle america. They were mostly white? So what? As for you being incensed at the MLK references, I happened to see Beck and Palins opening remarks and thought they were extremely well done. Acknowledgement of a dark stain in our history, paying tribute to the man that pushed so hard to see things change and pointing out what great strides we have made, and enforcing the idea their is more work to do. Very well done by both. Liberals are scared to death of religion or mention of it. Why, because it implies a code of morality. A sense of right and wrong. And by the way, what the h311 is social justice? Where in the law books do I find the code? Like liberal morality, it changes by the day and what they are trying to accomplish.If Dr. King were alive today he would be apalled. For liberals it is always about the color of skin, never about the content of character. The race card is maxed out. For you,Wil,everything is about race and envy of other peoples money.Everybody knows it but you. Sad.— georgel- Will, did you happen to notice if Sharpton's rally was made up "mostly black liberals"?— tr88
- Liberalism is a mental disorder. Free willy you still smoking the isht or are you baking it into brownies? You look like the guy who used to make veggies and beanpies on PBS the "Hippy Gourmet"!— Mike721
- "My rally is better than your rally. My rally is better than your rally". Blah blah blah. This is all I hear. Dr. King, God bless him, is rolling in his grave.— shortpat81
- As usual, Mr know it all Will spouts his agenda and beats the hell out of anything positive.....don't like Beck....Great....don't like Palin...Fine....but for crying out loud, manhy folks are concerned about the country and gathered to try and grasp for Hope and Faith in what made America Great//////Be a hater Will....you do do that well and as far as the Dr King issue....HE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST AMERICANS OF ALL TIMES.....HIS LEGACY EXCEEDS JFK AND HIS LITTLE BROTHER....HIS MESSAGE IS INCREDIBLE AND HE IS TRULY A GREAT MAN AND AMERICAN.... The problem is that blacks don't realize he has trascended the racial issue and he Belongs to ALL americans as his message was one that hits home in every family, every life, every being.....Yes he certianly can be a hero to black folKs.....but they must understand that he is also a hero to the majority of white folks also.....for HIS words strike the heart and the minds of all of us.....and my children and grandchildren know and hear from me all the time about the Great Dr King........so Will, stop the hating...and ASharpton, get off your soap box....your day is long gone.....you have long since used up your fifteen minutes of fame.....become like Dr King and spread love, and hope and dreams......not your message of negativity........for if you are truly one of his disciples....you will emulate him....and stop the selfishness and the hate.......white, 65, vietnam vet and Christian— nuggett
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/26/AR2010082605233.html Read this. Liberals are dopes.— FlyersFan561
- $5.5 million for the Special Operations warrior fund that Beck CLAIMS to have raised. What a small man. I'll tell you what Will, why dont you donate a percentage of your book sales instead of being skeptical of Beck's donation?— tr88
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- This is epic. Write and write and write and say nothing. How does he do it?— TripleCap
- Do you have to be a moron to post here?— pmorse
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