Beck Rally

[lennygoran]

Gee I hope there isn't trouble in Washington this weekend! I hadn't been that familiar with these rallies and while I've heard of Beck I've never heard him speak.

Civil Rights Leaders Skeptical Of Glen Beck's Rally

Glenn Beck and his supporters are staging a "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial Saturday. That happens to be the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Civil rights leaders are not happy. The event is billed as non-political, but it is headlined by former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =129466771

Regards, Len

[keaggy220]

Gee I hope there isn't trouble in Washington this weekend! I hadn't been that familiar with these rallies and while I've heard of Beck I've never heard him speak.

Civil Rights Leaders Skeptical Of Glen Beck's Rally

Glenn Beck and his supporters are staging a "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial Saturday. That happens to be the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Civil rights leaders are not happy. The event is billed as non-political, but it is headlined by former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =129466771

Regards, Len

Gee, I was worried that Al Sharpton's concurrent rally would be trouble...

You know I'm not sure if I'm a Beck fan or not... I haven't figured out if he is purely a self-promoter or if he truly has a heart for the roots of this country. This weekend will give me more information.

[lennygoran]

>This weekend will give me more information.<

Yes I'll be watching for news too--I won't go looking for Beck on TV though and I won't be looking for Sharpton either--he never seemed to apologize for that Tawana Brawley mistake or have I missed it. Regards, Len

[Cosima___J]

Here's a fairly recent Newsweek article on Rev Sharpton that I remember reading:
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/25/the- ... erend.html

[Teresa B]

"This president (Obama) has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people … this guy is, I believe, a racist." ~ Glenn Beck

Beck is the antithesis of everything Martin Luther King stood for, and his so-called "rally" is an affront to any American who respected King's message.

Teresa

[jbuck919]

The exposure this rally will receive, with the involvement of Sarah Palin, will completely marginalize everything those people stand for. Given the basic sensibleness of American voters, this spectacle will put paid to the possibilities for that faction ever gaining power.

(I can dream, can't I?)

[rwetmore]

Who is this Glenn Beck? I confess I've never seen his show or read any of his books. The left seems to be all up in arms about him on a regular basis. That generally tells me that most of what he says is probably true.

[keaggy220]

"This president (Obama) has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people … this guy is, I believe, a racist." ~ Glenn Beck

Beck is the antithesis of everything Martin Luther King stood for, and his so-called "rally" is an affront to any American who respected King's message.

Teresa

I know Beck said that - and I don't believe it, but there is some evidence. Anyone who sat under the racist teachings of Rev. Wright for 20 years MUST raise the suspicions of the sensible minded.

[Barry]

Beck is the antithesis of everything Martin Luther King stood for, and his so-called "rally" is an affront to any American who respected King's message.

Teresa

I wouldn't go that far (the quote you posted is no worse than many I see from the other side; a news story I saw in the past day or two indicated that the president of Freedomworks said the Tea Party movement is interchangeable with the KKK during an interview), but I would prefer he'd have his rally another day in the interest of not baiting a race-based fight.

[rwetmore]

"This president (Obama) has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people … this guy is, I believe, a racist." ~ Glenn Beck

Beck is the antithesis of everything Martin Luther King stood for, and his so-called "rally" is an affront to any American who respected King's message.

Teresa

You and your one line quotes.

[rwetmore]

Barry,

What's your general opinion of Beck?

[Barry]

Barry,

What's your general opinion of Beck?

I've never listened to or watched his show. I've only seen a few video clips and have read a few stories about him and things he's said. I think you know I don't like big-headed talk radio hosts. At some point, it becomes more about the way they say what they're saying than actually the content for me. He seems to fall into that category. It's certainly possible that when this rally was first proposed for this date, that the organizers didn't realize the King anniversary falls on that date. I would imagine most Americans don't know that date (I didn't). But as I said above, I think we'd be better off if he had changed the date from the standpoint of not causing more unnecessary hostility. I guess some people would see it as they see the NYC mosque controversy in that respect.

[rwetmore]

the quote you posted is no worse than many I see from the other side; a news story I saw in the past day or two indicated that the president of Freedomworks said the Tea Party movement is interchangeable with the KKK during an interview)

If you don't mind me asking, where did you see this? When I start seeing things like this from the other side I tend to get giddy. I guess this is one of the few areas where you and I strongly disagree.

[rwetmore]

Barry,

What's your general opinion of Beck?

I've never listened to or watched his show. I've only seen a few video clips and have read a few stories about him and things he's said. I think you know I don't like big-headed talk radio hosts. At some point, it becomes more about the way they say what they're saying than actually the content for me. He seems to fall into that category.

That's interesting. I guess maybe I should try to actually watch his show sometime and judge for myself. At a recent family get together, my liberal relatives were complaining how awful they think Beck is. Not knowing Beck myself, I kept my big mouth shut and didn't say anything.

I've tried not to watch any cable news or listen to any talk radio for like over a year now. No Drudge Report, no Huffington Post, no columns, etc.. Life is a lot better without much politics!

[Agnes Selby]

But as I said above, I think we'd be better off if he had changed the date from the standpoint of not causing more unnecessary hostility. I guess some people would see it as they see the NYC mosque controversy in that respect.[/quote]
--------------

Very True!!!

[Teresa B]

"This president (Obama) has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people … this guy is, I believe, a racist." ~ Glenn Beck

Beck is the antithesis of everything Martin Luther King stood for, and his so-called "rally" is an affront to any American who respected King's message.

Teresa

You and your one line quotes.

Read 'em and weep.

Teresa

[Barry]

the quote you posted is no worse than many I see from the other side; a news story I saw in the past day or two indicated that the president of Freedomworks said the Tea Party movement is interchangeable with the KKK during an interview)

If you don't mind me asking, where did you see this? When I start seeing things like this from the other side I tend to get giddy. I guess this is one of the few areas where you and I strongly disagree.

Sorry. I misread it the first time. The president of Freedomworks responded to that Tea Party Movement=KKK remark by Civil Rights leader the Rev. Dr. Walter Fauntroy.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tea-part ... d=11489233

Most of the regulars on here probably know I've been disturbed by those types of blanket accusations of racism directed at Tea Partiers or conservatives. But I don't want race-baiting from either side.

[John F]

I was curious to know what Beck means this event to be about, so I went to his Web site. The "press kit" doesn't include a program, and the agenda is stated very generally:

This rally will honor the troops, unite the American people under the principles of integrity and truth, and make a pledge to restore honor within ourselves and our country.

Wow!

Otherwise, the press kit is about logistics and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which has some kind of connection with the rally but just what that connection may be, isn't spelled out. The Foundation seems legitimate enough.

http://media.glennbeck.com/828/828kit.pdf

There's a transcript of yesterday's show, titled "What Tomorrow Is All About," but I'm afraid my eyes glazed over. So I'll just quote the transcript in full, unedited - maybe you'll do better than I managed to:

Glenn Beck: What tomorrow is all about

August 27, 2010 - 13:10 ET

When you get there please reach out to the people, get to know them, make new friends, hug each other. I went this morning early and it was just about 6:00 when I walked down into the crowd that was already there and have staked out their areas. You cannot sleep there. But as long as you are awake, they can't remove you, either. But if you can't roll a sleeping bag out or anything else, but people are already there and they were there last night and it was about 6:00 there was a crowd of, oh, in this one corner of the mall there was, oh, I don't know, about 40 people there. And I went over to this one corner and I said hello to them and we, at sunrise, said a prayer together. And I urge you to do that and just to make sure that there is a, a veil of good feelings and protection and honor and character and love that is, I just that place is so sacred. It is such an amazing place. It is Abraham Lincoln, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean War Memorial. At the end of the reflecting pool the World War II Memorial. And then looming just past that is the George Washington Monument. It is truly an amazing place, and I want you to feel that and I want you to make sure it's not a place for just remember this and please spread this in the crowd. It's called the reflecting pool, not because it reflects the image of George Washington, because it reflects all of it and we are supposed to go to it and reflect.

Tomorrow that's what this is about really, reflection of who we are, where we are, where we're going, what each of us have to do. How do we get our way out of this? And it's not politics, gang. It's not politics. Who can we look to? One of the inspirations for this event was my son. He's 5. And he didn't know what a hero was, a real hero. He thought a hero had to have a cape or could fly. He didn't know what a real hero was. It's time we find heroes again. And we know them in the military, but where else can we find them? Where else? You can't believe anybody anymore. You can't believe the media, you can't believe the president. Please, when I was young, you couldn't believe Nixon. Can you believe them, can you believe congress. Can you believe the Republicans or the Democrats? Can you believe Halliburton or GE? Who do you trust? Do you trust your teachers in schools anymore? Good portion of the population doesn't trust our firemen. Growing number of people don't trust our military. My gosh, we don't trust our judicial system. We don't trust our history books. What is it we trust? Who is it we believe in? Don't ever put your trust in a human being. You can trust them, you can hope, but understand they are all flawed. Every single one, just like you. They are no better or no worse than you.

The thing that you may not have in common is some people try and some people do not. That's the point. Do we try to be better? Do we recognize our mistakes? Do we try to be better? Do we only focus on our scars? I've been cut. I've been hurt. I've been burned.

My father told me, my father told me you can either concentrate on all the things that have happened to you or you can ask why have they happened to me and what am I supposed to do with it. And I can guarantee you what you're supposed to do with it is not hate. It's not to become bitter. It's to find you know what one of my goals was 15 years ago? Just to love people.

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articl ... 198/44841/

Whatever. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[karlhenning]

My father told me, my father told me you can either concentrate on all the things that have happened to you or you can ask why have they happened to me and what am I supposed to do with it. And I can guarantee you what you're supposed to do with it is not hate. It's not to become bitter. It's to find you know what one of my goals was 15 years ago? Just to love people.

Zowie. I should never have known that without a rally on the Mall!

Cheers,
~Karl

[John F]

Where will Glenn Beck rally money go?

By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 27, 2010; 3:09 PM

Glenn Beck has billed his "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday in part as an opportunity to focus attention on those who have served in the military.

Specifically, Beck has joined forces with a small, Tampa-based nonprofit called the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which he said will benefit from all proceeds of the event. He is encouraging his supporters to donate to the foundation.

The foundation's primary function, according to its Web site, is to provide academic scholarships to the children of special operations soldiers killed in action or training.

It's not clear how much money the foundation might receive. A footnote on the rally's Web page explains that donations will go first toward the cost of the event. Anything left over will then be kept by the foundation.

A representative of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation referred all media inquiries to Jason Raffel, Beck's New York-based publicist. Raffel, in turn, referred inquiries back to the foundation.

Beck has said on his television and radio broadcasts that he expects the foundation to receive a "meaningful" contribution after the rally's bills are paid. He has also said the event will serve as a boon to the foundation's fundraising operation by exposing it to many new donors. He said costs of the event will be transparent to the public and reported by the foundation in accordance with IRS rules governing nonprofits.

Surviving children of special operations soldiers who die in combat or training are automatically eligible for full post-secondary scholarships through the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, according to the group's 2009 tax return. To date, 160 children of fallen soldiers have graduated from college with help from the foundation; the group is committed to providing college scholarships to 800 more.

The 2009 tax return shows that the foundation is a relatively small operation that brought in $5.8 million last year and issued $1.1 million in grants. The group spent about $700,000 on wages.

The foundation's sponsorship of the rally helps explain Beck's description of the event as "nonpolitical" and his decision not to include elected officials in the program; IRS regulations prohibit nonprofits from sponsoring political events.

[lennygoran]

>his decision not to include elected officials in the program<

I'll be interested in whether Palin will speak. It does look like she will--I realize she is no longer elected--still...

"Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally, which begins at 10 a.m. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, is designed as a celebration of the military and American heritage and will feature former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and other heroes of the "tea party" movement. The demonstration has drawn national attention because of Beck's many comparisons on radio and television this week between his own event and the civil rights movement.

"This is going to be a moment that you'll never be able to paint people as haters, racists, none of it," Beck said this week. "This is a moment, quite honestly, that I think we reclaim the civil rights movement."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01106.html

So Beck is reclaiming the civil rights movement--what does that actually mean? Regards, Len

[keaggy220]

So Beck is reclaiming the civil rights movement--what does that actually mean? Regards, Len

I think standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial offers a big clue. Lincoln was the original civil rights leader and he was a Republican. Most Americans are tired of the same old race baiting that liberals have been using to guilt white people for years. It's a big turn off and has stalled King's dream.

If we as a country want to move forward in race relations then we need to go to the next level. I think a couple of big steps toward that next level would include getting rid of racial quotas and the ability for whites to openly admonish minorities, yes even those deemed as "Untouchables", without the worry of a public flogging. In other words, really treat minorities as equals, because they are...

[jbuck919]

Well, since everyone else is also anticipating rather than waiting, I'm wondering to what extent if at all they are going to use the rally as an opportunity to present libertarianism as a civil rights program. Anyway, here's the Times background story, which is informative not matter what one may suspect, be curious about, or anticipate:


# The New York Times Reprints

August 27, 2010
Where Dr. King Stood, Tea Party Claims His Mantle
By KATE ZERNIKE

WASHINGTON — It seems the ultimate thumb in the eye: that Glenn Beck would summon the Tea Party faithful to a rally on the anniversary of the March on Washington, and address them from the very place where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I have a dream” speech 47 years ago. After all, the Tea Party and its critics have been facing off for months over accusations of racism.

But many of the busloads of Tea Party activists expected in Washington this weekend do not see any irony or offense. In fact, they have come to see the Tea Party as the aggrieved — its loosely affiliated members unfairly characterized, even persecuted, as extremists.

Eighteen months ago, many were moved to the streets by a belief that they had been not listened to by their representatives in Washington. (“How dare they ignore us?” reads a sign often seen at Tea Party rallies.) Now, encouraged by Tea Party leaders and people like Mr. Beck and Andrew Breitbart, whose BigGovernment.com is a source of news for many Tea Party supporters, they have adopted the language of the civil rights movement to describe their cause. Their sense of persecution has become a galvanizing force.

Consider the response last month when the N.A.A.C.P., the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, called on Tea Party leaders to denounce racist elements in their ranks — citing signs with racist slogans at Tea Party rallies.

Tea Party Patriots, the largest umbrella organization for thousands of local groups across the country, posted a petition on its Web site calling for the N.A.A.C.P. to revoke its resolution “condemning the Tea Party movement as ‘racist.’ ”

“It is nothing less than ‘hate speech’ for the N.A.A.C.P. to be smearing us as ‘racists’ and ‘bigots,’ ” the petition declared. “We believe, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in a colorblind, postracial society. And we believe that when an organization lies and resorts to desperate tactics of racial division and hatred, they should be publicly called on it.”

On his radio show, Mr. Beck said he had not intended to choose the anniversary for his “Restoring Honor” rally on Saturday but had since decided it was “divine providence.”

Dr. King’s dream, he told listeners, “has been so corrupted.”

“Judge a man by the content of his character?” he said. “Character doesn’t even matter in this country. It’s time we picked back up the job.”

He later added: “We are the people of the civil rights movement. We are the ones that must stand for civil and equal rights, justice, equal justice. Not special justice, not social justice. We are the inheritors and protectors of the civil rights movement. They are perverting it.”

It has become an article of faith among Tea Party groups that any racist signs at rallies — “Go back to Kenya,” directed at President Obama, is just one example — are carried by Democratic plants sent in to make the Tea Party look bad.

In March, when members of the Congressional Black Caucus accused protesters at a Tea Party rally against health care of spitting on them and shouting racist epithets, Tea Party leaders suggested that those episodes had not occurred, saying there was no video proof.

At a rally in Searchlight, Nev., a week later, Mr. Breitbart argued that black Democratic lawmakers had set out to provoke the protesters. When they did not make racist comments, Mr. Breitbart said, the Democrats simply accused them of doing so.

He looked into the crowd and said it proved that the Tea Party was not racist. “I see black faces, Hispanic faces. I’m Jewish,” he said. “Shalom, Nevada!”

In response to the N.A.A.C.P. resolution last month, Mr. Breitbart claimed reverse racism. He publicized a video of an Agriculture Department official, Shirley Sherrod, saying that she had discriminated against a white farmer. The video turned out to be heavily edited — in fact, Ms. Sherrod had helped the farmer and had actually been telling a longer story to make a point about the need for racial understanding.

Still, Tea Party leaders say they are outraged, as anyone would be, by accusations of racism: they do not see themselves that way.

FreedomWorks, a Washington advocacy group that has encouraged the growth of the Tea Party, is planning to take out full-page newspaper advertisements highlighting black, Hispanic and Jewish Tea Party members to make the point that the movement is diverse. It is also sponsoring a new documentary about black involvement in the cause.

Tea Party supporters argue that it is progressives who are fomenting racial division.

In a rally in April here at the National Mall, Deneen Borelli, a black conservative, told the crowd that Tea Party supporters were in an impossible position: “If you are white they call you racist or a redneck. If you are black, they call you a token, a traitor, an Uncle Tom.”

Polls show that the movement has not attracted blacks proportionate to their representation in the larger population. And some Tea Party leaders acknowledge that.

FreedomWorks advises Tea Party leaders to put Hispanics and blacks on stage at rallies to show that the movement is not racist.

Alveda King, a niece of Dr. King, is scheduled to speak at Mr. Beck’s rally, and many Tea Party supporters say this is evidence that they hold no racial animus.

Lloyd Marcus, a black singer who has performed on the cross-country tours of the Tea Party Express, often introduces himself by saying, “I am not an African-American, I am a Lloyd Marcus American!”

In a letter posted Friday on the social networking Web site Tea Party Nation, Mr. Marcus wrote, “Glenn Beck’s values and principles are far more consistent with M.L.K.’s values than the black civil rights leaders who have sold their souls to the anti-God, anti-family and anti-America progressives for political power.” He signed it, “Lloyd Marcus, unhyphenated American.”

In the Tea Party’s talk of states’ rights, critics say they hear an echo of slavery, Jim Crow and George Wallace. Tea Party activists call that ridiculous: they do not want to take the country back to the discrimination of the past, they say, they just want the states to be able to block the federal mandate on health insurance.

Still, the government programs that many Tea Party supporters call unconstitutional are the ones that have helped many black people emerge from poverty and discrimination. It is not just that Rand Paul, the Republican nominee for Senate in Kentucky, said that he disagreed on principle with the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that required business owners to serve blacks. It is that many Tea Party activists believe that laws establishing a minimum wage or the federal safety net are an improper expansion of federal power.

Critics rightly note that Dr. King spoke over and over of the need for this country to acknowledge its “debt to the poor,” calling for an “economic bill of rights” that would “guarantee a job to all people who want to work and are able to work.” In Mr. Beck’s taxonomy, this would make him a Marxist.

Even if Tea Party members are right that any racist signs are those of mischief-makers, even if Glenn Beck had chosen any other Saturday to hold his rally, it would be hard to quiet the argument about the Tea Party and race.

[lennygoran]

> I think a couple of big steps toward that next level would include getting rid of racial quotas and the ability for whites to openly admonish minorities, yes even those deemed as "Untouchables", without the worry of a public flogging. In other words, really treat minorities as equals, because they are...<

Thanks, in general I agree with the goals you state above. But do you think in certain cases like government departments--for example fire departments--there are hidden ways they have kept minorities from getting to higher positions? I myself can't point to anything but you do hear about it. Regards, Len

[living_stradivarius]

just ignore beck

[Teresa B]

So Beck is reclaiming the civil rights movement--what does that actually mean? Regards, Len

I think standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial offers a big clue. Lincoln was the original civil rights leader and he was a Republican. Most Americans are tired of the same old race baiting that liberals have been using to guilt white people for years. It's a big turn off and has stalled King's dream.

So beck is emulating Lincoln, and "liberals" have been responsible for stalling King's dream. Is it really necessary to make up excuses for Beck's idiocy? Why not just admit that somebody like Beck does not necessarily represent all Republicans (just as the racists don't represent all Tea Party members), and concede that he is an id*ot? (Not saying he isn't a cunning one)

Teresa

[John F]

Lincoln was a Republican, but in those days the Republicans were the liberals. The party was founded in 1854 by opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which allowed for extension of slavery into free territory in the West. The pro-slavery members of the Democratic party, mainly in the south, were the conservatives.

Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation is one of the most radical society-changing acts that any President has ever taken upon himself. So it was entirely appropriate that the 1964 March on Washington (full name: "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom") culminated at the Lincoln Memorial.

Whether it was an appropriate site for Glenn Beck Day, I couldn't say. They got an official permit, the big crowd was peaceable, no problem. From what I've read, it amounted to a religious revival meeting, though Sarah Palin apparently didn't get the word. ("We must not fundamentally transform America," she said. Take that, Mr. Lincoln.) Whether Beck is more Billy Graham or Elmer Gantry, I'll leave to others who know and care more about such things than I do.

[keaggy220]

Lincoln was a Republican, but in those days the Republicans were the liberals. The party was founded in 1854 by opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which allowed for extension of slavery into free territory in the West. The pro-slavery members of the Democratic party, mainly in the south, were the conservatives.

Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation is one of the most radical society-changing acts that any President has ever taken upon himself. So it was entirely appropriate that the 1964 March on Washington (full name: "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom") culminated at the Lincoln Memorial.

Whether it was an appropriate site for Glenn Beck Day, I couldn't say. They got an official permit, the big crowd was peaceable, no problem. From what I've read, it amounted to a religious revival meeting, though Sarah Palin apparently didn't get the word. ("We must not fundamentally transform America," she said. Take that, Mr. Lincoln.) Whether Beck is more Billy Graham or Elmer Gantry, I'll leave to others who know and care more about such things than I do.

Party philosophies change - nothing new here... Democrats took interest in minorities 45 years ago (many kicking and screaming) and have spent that time treating them as sub citizens - not capable of competing with the white man. It's been shameful and I hope we can move forward treating everyone as equals.

I'm disappointed the rally became religious in nature. As a Christian I cringe at the big splashy Christian 3-ring circus with no follow-up. Billy Graham recognized this problem and built out an incredible organization to follow-up with people after his large gatherings. Jesus called Christians to make disciples of all the nations not put on a show.

i still haven't made my mind up on Beck but he gets a grade down in my book - self-promoter or naive - not sure which...

[THEHORN]

This rally isn't about"resotring honor" or "taking America back", or honoring MLK's vision.
It's nothing but a cynical ploy by an arrogant,egotistical.self-serving and
unscrupulous demagogue to stroke his own ego. Martin Luther King must be turning in his grave at the speed of light. Disgusting.

[ch1525]

This rally isn't about"resotring honor" or "taking America back", or honoring MLK's vision.
It's nothing but a cynical ploy by an arrogant,egotistical.self-serving and
unscrupulous demagogue to stroke his own ego. Martin Luther King must be turning in his grave at the speed of light. Disgusting.

Is that what MSNBC told you? Seriously, did you listen to anything he said. How about watching his message without the filter of the MSM. I seriously doubt you did that.

The spirit of what Beck was striving for with that rally was pretty damn important to changing the direction this country is heading in. That's why there were at least 150,000 people there.

[Teresa B]

This rally isn't about"resotring honor" or "taking America back", or honoring MLK's vision.
It's nothing but a cynical ploy by an arrogant,egotistical.self-serving and
unscrupulous demagogue to stroke his own ego. Martin Luther King must be turning in his grave at the speed of light. Disgusting.

Is that what MSNBC told you? Seriously, did you listen to anything he said. How about watching his message without the filter of the MSM. I seriously doubt you did that.

The spirit of what Beck was striving for with that rally was pretty damn important to changing the direction this country is heading in. That's why there were at least 150,000 people there.

So, do tell, what are those folks going to do to "take back their country" now that they've heard Mr. Beck, the Messiah of Megalomania? And what exactly was he striving for, in your opinion?

Teresa

[jbuck919]

The portion of Beck's delivery that I saw on CNN was pretty boring irrespective of the subject matter (which makes me just as happy). Only preaching to the choir could justify oratory at that level.

[living_stradivarius]

Co-opting the burdens of Spec Ops families to promote this trash is downright dirty

[THEHORN]

My coments are not influenced by the MSM .Beck just makes all manner of stupid and inflammatory statements to get media ratings and make money.
He's a loose cannon and Hoi Polloi fawns over every stupid statement he makes. It's pathetic. And I'm not even a left-winger,but a run of the mill moderate liberal.
It's just that this nation on the whole has gone so far to the right that any one who expresses even the mildest moderate opinions is automatically labeled a "socialist,Marxist and communist," which happens to me all the time. The country has gone so far right it makes Atilla the Hun look liberal.
It's so far right it's practically in another dimension ,a bizarro world where any one who disagrees in the slightest with conservative orthodoxy is considered a dangerous Marxist radical.
And as Bull Maher has rightly stated, by the standards of the past, Obama would be a moderate Republican if he had been a politician in the 70s.
Calling him a radical left-winger is just plain ludicrous.

[lennygoran]

>It's just that this nation on the whole has gone so far to the right<

But has it gone that far right--not yet--looks at who controls the White House and Congress? Regards, Len

[Cosima___J]

But in November .......

[Barry]

>It's just that this nation on the whole has gone so far to the right<

But has it gone that far right--not yet--looks at who controls the White House and Congress? Regards, Len

But on some issues, like tax rates for instance, over the course of the past few decades, Democrats have moved to the right so that now days, no mainstream Democrat who wants to win elections (with the possible exception of a few House members who are in totally safe districts) would advocate going back to the pre-Reagan tax rates.

But it goes both ways. There are some moderate Republican Senators (and I'm sure some representatives as well) and the vast majority of the Democratic base still marches lockstep against the majority of the country on a number of issues. One can point to Specter feeling he needed to move to the Democratic party because the GOP moved too far to the right. Yet Specter's voting record over the years has been less liberal than Lieberman's, and the latter had to leave the Democratic party because he wasn't ideologically pure enough for them, especially on foreign policy.

[rwetmore]

My coments are not influenced by the MSM .Beck just makes all manner of stupid and inflammatory statements to get media ratings and make money.
He's a loose cannon and Hoi Polloi fawns over every stupid statement he makes. It's pathetic.

If he's making stupid, inflammatory and ultimately false statements to get ratings why would that not be a good thing in the long run for the advancement of the so-called liberal agenda?

I don't get it. If he's a quack, then the more people that listen to him and contrast it with other sources will see through it and be converted away, especially over the long run.

It's pathetic. And I'm not even a left-winger,but a run of the mill moderate liberal.

All liberals tend to think there only "moderate liberals".

It's just that this nation on the whole has gone so far to the right that any one who expresses even the mildest moderate opinions is automatically labeled a "socialist,Marxist and communist," which happens to me all the time.

Really? Well I don't think you're a socialist, Marxist or communist. Does anyone else here think Robert is? I doubt it.

The country has gone so far right it makes Atilla the Hun look liberal.
It's so far right it's practically in another dimension ,a bizarro world where any one who disagrees in the slightest with conservative orthodoxy is considered a dangerous Marxist radical.

How is it so far right? Are you talking socially and culturally? Or economically?

And as Bull Maher has rightly stated, by the standards of the past, Obama would be a moderate Republican if he had been a politician in the 70s.Calling him a radical left-winger is just plain ludicrous.

Bill Maher is in la la land.

[Barry]

It's just that this nation on the whole has gone so far to the right that any one who expresses even the mildest moderate opinions is automatically labeled a "socialist,Marxist and communist," which happens to me all the time.

Really? Well I don't think you're a socialist, Marxist or communist. Does anyone else here think Robert is? I doubt it.

More like a complex about being labeled a socialist, Marxist and communist. And if I had a ten spot for every time I've seen some left winger refer to a conservative as a fascist, I'd be a relatively well off man.

[keaggy220]

After some thought regarding the rally I think Beck did make a major accomplishment - at the very least he recognized a clear direction of conservatives. Conservatives no longer want liberals to have the only say in race relations and conservatives are no longer being timid about speaking out about alternative solutions. Conservatives look at minorities and what we see is oppression by liberal philosophy. I believe most run-of-the-mill liberals are well meaning, but let's face it - minorities are behind in most categories you don't want to be behind in and ahead in categories you don't want to be ahead in... It's clear liberalism has failed the minority and it's time for conservative to join the debate with vigor.

[JackC]

"This president (Obama) has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people … this guy is, I believe, a racist." ~ Glenn Beck

Beck is the antithesis of everything Martin Luther King stood for, and his so-called "rally" is an affront to any American who respected King's message.

Teresa

I don't know Beck and and what is in his head/heart, but you attack the many who chose to attend the rally. It is your post and the attitude of you and your ilk that is an affront.

You can't seem to be able to grasp that there are many millions of people in this country who are deeply distrubed by the direction of the country. So, several hundred thousand of them show up to celebrate what they consider to be traditional American values. So what. They could not have been be more peaceful and there was not a racist speech or sign at the event -lord knows if there had been the MSM media would have loved to have reported on it and place it front and center.

No, you call them racists and bigots without knowing the first thing about them or what motivates them and regardless of what they do. You KNOW better, don't you?

You are the typical mindless liberal bigoted/snob who looks down your nose at people who you think "cling to their guns and religion" - and I guess flags too - because they do not reside on that loftly enlightened plane of spiritual/political existence that you and your friends have managed to achieve.

By the way, I see that Martin Luther King's niece was there and spoke. I guess that she's just an Uncle Tom and closet racist - right???

[Barry]

So, several hundred thousand of them show up to celebrate what they consider to be traditional American values. So what. They could not have been be more peaceful and there was not a racist speech or sign at the event -lord knows if there had been the MSM media would have loved to have reported on it and place it front and center.

According to one piece on the rally that I read, not only did those present refrain from racist speech, but they were also damn clean. The writer indicated that there wasn't a single piece of trash to be seen in the entire area of the rally when those present disbursed. They bagged up all of their trash and left it piled up nicely in the appropriate place.

I could use more people like that in my neighborhood!

[living_stradivarius]

---
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41556.html

Beck claims King legacy through God
By: James Hohmann
August 28, 2010 09:22 PM EDT

Glenn Beck’s program at the Lincoln Memorial Saturday focused more on God than on government.

The "Fox News" host followed through on a commitment to avoid wading explicitly into partisan politics. So President Barack Obama’s name did not come up once during a 200-minute program that featured multiple prayers, gospel songs and bagpipers playing “Amazing Grace.”

Choreographing the event so it felt more like an old-fashioned religious revival than a tea-party-inspired political rally gave Beck cover to position himself as an heir to Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy on the 47th anniversary of the legendary “I Have A Dream” speech, even as prominent African-American leaders attacked him at a counter-rally for being insensitive to civil rights iconography.

Beck, who first called the timing coincidental and later embraced it as fitting, didn’t respond directly to attacks as he spoke to a massive crowd that extended for a mile all the way back to the Washington Monument.

He instead filled the stage with a racially diverse mix of religious people who sympathize with his social conservatism.

King’s niece, anti-abortion activist Alveda King, told the multitudes that her “Uncle Martin” would commend them for showing up. She said that metaphorical check King wanted cashed in his 1963 speech still hasn't been and only will be when there's prayer in schools and the public square.

Beck also introduced a new "Black-Robed Regiment" of clergy, bringing 240 clergy of various denominations and ethnicities onto the stage. He asserted that thousands more were in the crowd.

“God is the answer,” Beck said.

Beck had initially planned for a political rally. In November, he said he would unveil a political organizing book on Aug. 28, called “The Plan,” which he billed as providing “specific policies, principles and, most importantly, action steps” to launch “a new national movement to restore our great country.”

Then prominent minority leaders pushed back.

Without specifying why, Beck said Saturday that he came to the realization a political approach would be wrong for this occasion. He attributed part of his idea for what to do in lieu of that to a conversation he claimed he had with God.

“It was about four months ago that we were still kind of lost, and we didn’t know what we were going to do when we got here,” Beck said. “And I was down on my knees, and we were in the office. And I said ‘Lord, I think I’m one of your dumber children. Speak slowly!’ And the answer was, ‘You have all the pieces. Just put them together.’ The pieces are faith, hope and charity and looking for those things inside each of us.’”

Faith, hope and charity — derived from 1 Corinthians — became the three key buzz words of the day. An award went to a person who embodied each of those three categories: one was an African-American pastor from Texas who had attended King’s 1963 rally. The other was a native of the Dominican Republic, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, for promoting Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, many in the predominantly white crowd bent over backward to pre-emptively insist in interviews that they are not racists and to note that the crowd was courteous.

“People have attributed racism and anger and all of these emotions that, every event we’ve been to, we have never seen anything like that,” said Denise Hagemeier, a 52-year-old attorney who came from Elizabethtown, N.C., with her husband. “In fact, people are the opposite: They’re respectful. They’re helpful. They want to be good to their neighbors. They don’t leave any trash. They’re polite to everyone. There’s no epithets. There’s no slurs. There’s no hate.”

Beck, for his part, just couldn’t praise King enough. He said King rose above politics, and that he “held strong while his detractors spread hate.” He proudly told the crowd that he was staying in the same hotel where King finished writing his “dream” speech.

“He knew that this was the day to inspire change. This was the day the American people would rise above politics, rise above the hate and rise to the occasion,” Beck said of King choosing Aug. 28. “His dream is the American dream.”

Beck, who once described Obama as a racist, drove some of his critics apoplectic when he said on his show in May: “We are on the side of individual freedoms and liberties and, damn it, we will reclaim the civil rights moment. We will take that movement because we were the people that did it in the first place."

He often talks about providence on his radio and television shows, but he appeared to invoke it more than usual Saturday. Beck noted, to loud cheers, that “Praise be to God” is written in Latin near the top of the Washington Monument. He paid homage to Moses, who led his people out of Egypt, and John Winthrop, the 17th century Puritan leader who dreamed America could be a shining “city upon a hill.”

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin started her speech by praising George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and King.

“Now, in honoring these giants, who were linked by a solid rock foundation of faith in the one true God of justice, we must not forget the ordinary men and women on whose shoulders they stood,” she said.

The emphasis on social issues, a Palin strength if she chooses to run in the 2012 Republican primaries, highlights a potential schism within the tea party movement.

A POLITICO/TargetPoint poll conducted at the massive Tax Day protest on the National Mall in April showed that tea party activists are divided roughly into two camps along a distinct fault line: one that’s libertarian-minded and largely indifferent to hot-button values issues and another that’s culturally conservative and equally concerned about social and fiscal issues.

Libertarians and conservatives could unite behind their shared frustration with Obama’s economic policies or the growing national debt, but they split over gay marriage and abortion. Specifically, 51 percent of tea party activists polled said “government should not promote any particular set of values,” while 46 percent said “government should promote traditional family values in our society.”

Beck and Palin are two of the most prominent spokespeople for the latter. If they make these issues more salient, they could risk dividing the movement.

Beck rejected descriptions of his event as a tea party rally. He tried to make this case by noting there was one person on the stage, whom he would not name, who was a registered Democrat and previously organized for the president.

“The media will tell you that ‘there was only a bunch of tea partiers,’” Beck said. “No! No! That person stood on this stage because of honor and integrity. There’s a lot we can disagree on, but our values and our principles can unite us. We must discover them again.”

Despite his assertion, the event was linked closely with the tea party. FreedomWorks, which pays to sponsor Beck’s radio show, offered financial and promotional assistance for Saturday’s rally. The group’s political action committee scheduled a fundraiser and get-out-the-vote training session the night before, and the Tea Party Patriots urged the 500,000 activists on their e-mail list to attend both Beck’s rally and a Sunday tea party rally to seek the repeal of the Democratic health care bill.

Zane Zimmerman, 49, who drove in from Dundee, Ohio, ascribed his decision to come to Christian faith more than anything else.

“This whole thing is about returning to God Almighty, which is where it all started,” he said. “This is a very important time and point in history here right now. ... This crowd has got to commit to God Almighty. It’s about the hearts of the individual people here. It has to happen for this to work.”

Kenneth P. Vogel contributed to this report.

[Cosima___J]

Name that disgrace!
You decide: Whose rally dishonored King's legacy, Beck's or Sharpton's?Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010

Al Sharpton angrily protested Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally Saturday, noting it took place on the same steps and on the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

"They want to disgrace this day," Sharpton growled. "And we're not giving them this day. This is our day, and we ain't giving it away!"

Let's just skip over the divisive, separatist and childish nature of that. Instead, let's examine the kind of "soaring" rhetoric Sharpton's stewardship of the King legacy has led to in past years.

In 2000, Sharpton led a rally for the King speech anniversary that featured these little snippets from Malik Zulu Shabazz of the New Black Panthers:

Shabazz said he didn't have a dream, but a "black" dream, in which little black boys and girls join hands with other little black boys and girls -- not with white boys and girls, as King had dreamed of -- and unite "against a common enemy," and "when we see caskets rolling and funerals in the black community, that we will see caskets and funerals in the community of our enemy as well today."

Shabazz, calling his audience a black jury, asked, "How do you find white America?"

"Guilty!" others chanted.

Does that sound remotely like King's dream? Or more like a disgrace to it? Yet, Al Sharpton has the nerve to say a rally about unity and spirituality is a "disgrace" to King's memory.

Sharpton's beef isn't what was said at the Beck rally; not even he could argue with it. His problem was who organized it: a white conservative.

That, too, is a disgrace to King and his fervent dream of unity.

[Teresa B]

Sharpton is surely not the ideal representative of King's dream, but that doesn't excuse Beck.

Teresa

[living_stradivarius]

I don't know of anyone here who's really a Sharpton supporter so all those potshots at Sharpton above = preaching to the choir

---
Glenn Beck the Faith-Healer Continues to Scam His Followers

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca ... view=print
Bob CescaHost of the Bob and Elvis Show
Posted: September 1, 2010 04:38 PM

Throughout his gripping new book, The Backlash: Right-Wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters, and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama, Philadelphia Daily News reporter and blogger Will Bunch augments the notion that Glenn Beck is playing a fictional character named "Glenn Beck." A faker. Specifically, Bunch draws together evidence indicating that Beck is nothing more than a morning zoo deejay whose latest money-making stunt is to portray a new kind of televangelist, offering political and religious salvation for profit.

Watching Beck's concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, while simultaneously reading Bunch's book, it struck me that Beck has moved beyond a mere televangelist and has taken on a character role far more nefarious and dangerous.

He's becoming a phony-baloney faith-healer, minus the actual laying-on of hands. Saturday's event was a slick, well-produced PR stunt disguised as a disjointed Christian revival torn from the Benny Hinn faith-healer playbook -- orchestrated to emotionally and spiritually manipulate predominantly angry, naïve, paranoid white people -- the frightened masses who want "their country" back.

In his reporting, Bunch displays Herculean levels of patience and professional restraint as he -- or, in the context of the book, the attention-grabbing second-person voice "you" -- visits with Beck disciples as they watch the neo-faith-healer's Fox News show and discuss the latest conspiracy theory flowcharts on Beck's famous chalkboard.

You can't help feeling sympathy for these people as they're manipulated by one of America's most effective con-men -- four hours a day, every weekday. It's clear they're looking for a new kind of savior. They're looking for someone who will virtually lay his hands on their heads and reassure them that their unfocused fears and prejudices are, indeed, genuine and acceptable. The symbiotic relationship forming what's commonly referred to as "epistemic closure" -- a religious and ideological bomb-shelter protecting them from the not-to-be-trusted "Other." And then, as with the unemployed Beck disciple in Bunch's book, a Pennsylvanian named Robert Lloyd, they brandish their credit cards in the midst of a jobless recession and pay the preacher.

There's no harm in making an honest buck, of course. But in the venue of cable news and AM talk radio, Beck is engaged in one of the most lucrative deceptions for cash in broadcast history. The dishonest buck. The big con. He's Steve Martin's faith-healer character in Leap of Faith, bilking yokels beyond the hundredth meridian for profit, with Will Bunch and others endeavoring to be the Liam Neeson sheriff, exposing the painted-on Jesus eyes and the fake tears of blood.

In this case, the painted on tears are Beck's own. His equally fake character is a derivative grab bag of other tried and tested personalities. His adenoidal "Clydie Clyde" voice is based on morning zoo pioneer Scott Shannon's "Mr. Leonard" character. His history is borrowed from the widely debunked work of W. Cleon Skousen. His conspiracy theories are horked from Alex Jones and maybe Jack Van Impe. His anti-Obama, anti-socialist monologues are pure Joe McCarthy. His chalkboard is stolen from televangelist Gene Scott. His solemn, over-processed radio monologue delivery is a dead ringer for Eric Bogosian in Talk Radio. This is all well-worn stuff, but no one has drawn it all together and sculpted it into one big holy Mr. Potato Head for the purpose of conning an especially susceptible audience during turbulent racial and economic times.

But it's difficult to know what will manage to overpower the allure of Beck's promise of salvation and wake up his audience to the flimflam. His act is peppered with big, obvious, gaping contradictions and yet they continue to believe. (In a new YouTube video shot by NewLeftMedia, several of Beck's most loyal followers refused to believe that Beck accused President Obama of being a racist. They insisted that the quite neutral interviewer, Chase Whiteside, was tricking them.)

Yet on numerous occasions, he's admitted to being nothing more than an entertainer and a "rodeo clown," self-exposing his ruse with a wink. He's attempting to create his own version of a Christian evangelical revival, but is, himself, a Mormon -- a sect which most evangelicals believe is nothing more than a cult. He rants about Woodrow Wilson's and Charles Darwin's racism, then embraces, worships and emulates pro-slavery historical figures like George Whitefield and George Washington. (Whitefield, by the way, was a cross-eyed 18th Century evangelical preacher and devout Calvinist who helped to reinstate slavery in colonial Georgia. Beck noted on his radio show this week that Whitefield is the inspiration behind Beck's new Huffington Post knockoff website, The Blaze. Another money-making venture in Beck's shopping mall of gimmicks.)

Like any faith-healer, though, it's the money that ultimately lights a trail to the con-man behind the curtain.

Until Saturday, when he, like any faith-healer, tearfully begged his audience for more cash to finance the revival concert, Beck never explicitly passed the collection bucket. Bunch and others, including in one of my previous columns here, have enumerated Beck's variety of shoddy products and offers: his Fusion print magazine (only 16 pages per issue), his "Insider Extreme" subscription website, his multiple books (thin on content, big on white space), all of it. More importantly, however, Beck is associated with several shady advertisers who continue to sponsor Beck's show, practically becoming synonymous with the Mormon/Calvinist/Evangelical/Clown preacher.

Bunch writes about a Glenn Beck fan named "George from Santa Clarita" who tells the story of how Beck advertiser Goldline hard-sold him into buying $10,000 in Engish gold sovereigns. Before the purchase went through, "George" backed out of the sale -- later discovering that the gold he nearly bought was marked up 40 percent by Goldline. The price of gold would have to increase by at least 40 percent for "George" to break even on his investment. Another Beck fan invested $5000 in Goldline gold, but only actually received $3400 after fees and commissions.

Another Beck sponsor, Solutions from Science, markets something called the Survival Seed Bank -- an ordinary packet of heirloom seeds -- in preparation for what Beck describes as the coming "dark times." Retail price: $149.99. Unknown to Beck's audience is that Bill Heid, the founder of Solutions from Science, previously ran a shady outfit called AVC Marketing. AVC was investigated by the Federal Trade Commission for marketing an obvious snake-oil called the "Himalayan diet breakthrough." The diet consisted of eating goop that allegedly oozed from the cliffs of Nepal. Seriously. Bunch reports that AVC sold $4.9 million of this crap to desperate and gullible Americans before the FTC stepped in, only to discover that most of the profits had vanished. And now, Beck is pitching Heid's Survival Seed Bank. Selling these elixirs to his naïve flock.

And his concert last weekend, sponsored in part by Goldline, was ironically named "Restoring Honor." That's rich.

While everyone is focused on the crowd sizes or Glenn Beck's tall tale about holding in his bare hands George Washington's inaugural address at the National Archives, the more important questions ought to be about the money. The concert, Beck claimed, was also supposed to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF), a reputable and worthy charity tasked with helping the children of special operations military personnel killed in the line of duty.

Both Beck and SOWF report that the concert raised $5.5 million, but it's unclear how much of that money is actually going to be paid to the charity. In the fine print at the bottom of Beck's 8/28 website there's the following disclaimer:

"All contributions made to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) will first be applied to the costs of the Restoring Honor Rally taking place August 28, 2010. All contributions in excess of these costs will be retained by SOWF."
So SOWF gets leftovers. If the event indeed grossed $5.5 million, it's not necessarily accurate to say that all of that money was paid to the SOWF like Beck's website claims:

With your support and help we were able to raise more than $5-million dollars for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.
Unless, of course, the concert managed to raise significantly more than $5.5 million to cover the overhead. And the overhead is massive. There's the cost of renting the National Mall and the Lincoln Memorial from the National Park Service (created by evil progressives who Beck hates). There's the advertising and promotion. There's the equipment, travel and security. How much did fellow grifter Sarah Palin earn? And why, if this was a charity event to honor Jesus and the troops, would she take any money at all? We know her rate alone is $75,000, plus expenses and riders. The night before, there was a Beck event at the Kennedy Center. How much did that cost?

Beck's legion of followers deserve a full accounting of where and how their donations were spent, especially given Beck's history of dealing under the table. Make no mistake: there's nothing illegal -- just unethical and immoral. And if Beck raised, say, a million dollars for SOWF, that's still pretty admirable, all things considered. But if not, it's yet another lie to insist that the entire $5.5 million went to the SOWF when it, in fact, might not have.

As Bunch reports, the "Restoring Honor" concert wasn't originally intended to be about God or the troops at all. It was originally intended as an over-the-top way to unveil Beck's The Plan, his forthcoming book. We can only conclude that it would have been impractical for a publisher to rent the National Mall for a book launch, and soliciting donations for a book launch would look especially unsavory -- even for Beck.

So they painted over The Plan idea and came up with this hasty and muddled "Restoring Honor" idea. The Plan B. Put another way, God and the troops and SOWF were The Back-up Plan -- second fiddle to Beck's book.

One way or another, all of this benefits the Beck neo-faith-healer empire.

Unfortunately, faith-healers and scam artists aren't going anywhere. Professional wrestling is still very popular despite being exposed as pre-planned and injected with steroids. But it's important to peg these hucksters at the correct level of seriousness. Beck isn't a healer or an evangelist or a serious political thinker. He's a matchstick man. A huckster. To regard him as anything more -- to insist that his events are more historic than a rock concert in the park or that his TV and radio shows are more nationally significant than a late night preacher or a morning zoo deejay -- is a dangerous mistake.

(Update: The sentence about Scott Shannon was updated to add specifics and a link to the source material was added.)

Listen to the Bob & Elvis Show, with Bob Cesca and Elvis Dingeldein, on iTunes!
Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog

[Cosima___J]

Oh please!!!! Talk about preaching to the choir. Anything you read from the Huffing&Puffing Post is 10 times worse than what Beck has to say! I'm sorta surprised that you would quote from that as a credible source.

One thing I can tell you is that our local news/talk station had interviews with a lot of people who had been to the Beck rally. Nothing but praise. The crowds were well behaved. Not a scrap of trash was left behind. Beck was awesome. An experience that those who actually attended said they will never forget.

So the point I'm making is this: it sorta depends on who you talk to or quote as to whether Beck is a good influence or a bad one.

[living_stradivarius]

Huffpo is biased (I wouldn't count on their economic analysis to save my life) but it takes a group with political interest to dig up real dirt. And those money-raising tactics are on Beck for all to see. I have no problem looking at sources from the other side of the spectrum in their critiques of the Obama administration, as I've done in many other posts in the Pub.

The crowds were well behaved. Not a scrap of trash was left behind.

Meh, that's nothing. Making sure you're dressed up for a job interview doesn't mean your background checks out. Simply part of the strategy. Beck played this one well in public.

[Donald Isler]

I have little use for Sharpton or Beck.

But King was a great man. Too bad there's no one like him nowadays.

[living_stradivarius]

So the point I'm making is this: it sorta depends on who you talk to or quote as to whether Beck is a good influence or a bad one.

Yeah I'm sure people who co-opt charitable causes for personal monetary gain find him a very positive influence.