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What if Glenn Beck threw a Washington, D.C., party and no one paid attention?
It's nice to ponder such an outcome for the conservative talker's planned rally at the Lincoln Memorial this weekend.
Like a tree that falls in the forest but does so in silence, because no one is around to hear it, people opposed to Beck's brand of conservative twaddle should let him do his thing. Let him get one day of media coverage and be done with it.
But will we progressives do that? Not a chance.
We are going to protest. We are going to hold competing rallies. We are going to do every television news interview we can to display our anger that Beck is going to rally on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
Beck's ridiculously named Restoring Honor rally (where exactly did honor go?) is billed as a salute to the military. That's cool, but we all know Beck will slip into his overwrought patriot act and spew some of the anti-progressive rhetoric he uses on his television show.
But before we start making our anti-Beck picket signs, here are few things to consider:
1) Neither we nor Martin Luther King Jr. own the Lincoln Memorial. Freedom of speech in this country means that we can't stop someone from saying something we don't like.
2) There is nothing magical about the 47th anniversary of King's speech. Yes, Beck might have picked the day to be a little insensitive. And it worked. But jumping up and down about it just empowers him and makes us look small.
3) All this complaining about Beck isn't going to change his rhetoric or make him reposition his attitude. What it will do is increase his popularity among the Tea Party pinheads who follow him and increase the number of zeros at the end of his bloated paycheck.
I can understand why the NAACP or Al Sharpton are up-in-arms on this matter. They are activists, so it's in their interest to stir the pot and get us all riled up over Beck's dopey gathering.
But think about it for the rest of us.
Beck is on television every night. What is he going to say that he hasn't said before? And Sarah Palin is also scheduled to speak. Great. Let's focus the camera on her closely and see if she is still reading crib notes off her hands.
Let Beck hold his rally. He will likely draw a few thousand of his Tea Party supporters -- mostly old white guys in their tri-cornered hats from the Revolutionary War and their political viewpoints from the same era.
But if you really don't like Beck and the idea of his "restoring honor" rally, just ignore him.
Comments: (130)
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By: rik on 8/26/2010 3:29PM
Couldn’t agree more.
Don’t turn a spark into a flame. Whatever Becks points of view are, he is entitled to them.
No different than anybody else, if he makes a buck, so what. You think Jesse and Al are doing any different?
Beck has an audience or a demographic that he caters too, just like Al and Jesse, and he profits from it, just like Al and Jesse. All do what they do.
When the opposition grows against each, so does their popularity and their bank accounts.
Al is getting his folks together and Beck is getting his. Neither has a monopoly on the date or MLK, so both, do your thang. I couldn’t possibly care less about either one.
One thing I will add about Beck, he has constantly and consistently said, “I’m no expert, so do your own homework, find out the facts for yourself, don’t believe me or anyone else, do your own research”.
Those that criticize Beck always, always leave out that one tidbit. Beck is right, get the facts for yourself.
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By: Steve Hartman on 8/28/2010 12:55AM
But what if lots of people come? Like 100K or so. Maybe more... twice as many? Then you would be able to say to fellow progressives, something along the lines of: Uh Houston, We have a problem!
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By: stewart on 8/28/2010 1:28AM
This is my first time on this website.To start off with I am A 48 year old white male.Was in the U.S.M.C.,lived and raised in the south,red,white,and blue American who loves this country. And to be honest I guess A red-neck,I said red-neck,NOT RACIST.I would comment on Techbloggers comments,but after reading others comments,about Glenn Beck,and what he is actually saying about the gov. getting too envolved in peoples lives,people expecting things to be given to them,or feel they are owed something,not taking personal responsibility for themselves and their families.The massive gov. spending,no matter what it is for must stop when you are 13 trillion $ in debt.This is what I hear from G.B.. Yes he isn't wild abiut Pres. Obama but because he disagrees with the Pres. views doesn't make him a racist,he speaks about Sen. Harry Reid,Nancy Polosy the same way.To me people today are to thin-skined,and are to fast to put a label on something before getting all the facts.Like firing the lady with the U.S.D.A.,for her racist comments,that she was talking about how she was 20 years ago,and her comments were also taken out of text.I think her name was Sherrod,she was done wrong
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By: Dr. Johnny Duncan on 8/28/2010 6:51AM
The government cesnsors free speech enough. So,why do you want to practice censorship. You diatribe against Beck has added more publicity among your readers than he otherwise would have gotten. Don't be as big a fool as the fool by glorifying the fool!
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By: Dee on 9/03/2010 11:54PM
So beck is right , If the world ended tomorrow and god was of DARK color which side would you stand on
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By: techblogger on 8/26/2010 3:57PM
There is no way on God's Green Earth I will sink to the level of a Glenn Beck; and this is what you are asking us to do.
To become emotionally spent because on the day of Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech, because Glen Beck wants to be a super racist simply makes no sense to me.
To me Mr. Shepard, it wouldn't matter what day he chose to be a hateful idiot, he will be just that. When he wakes up the day after his klan rally, he will remain the hateful idiot given us by CNN.
Moreover, Martin Luther King Jr's work was not of him but of the one King followed and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. I refuse to participate in some televised concept of martyrdom for Martin Luther King Jr. because Glenn Beck happens to be a racist. Beck is not new. Nothing he can do that can diminish Dr. Kings work. People much better than Beck have tried and failed.
The only thing we need to do is continue to work to eliminate racists like Beck and push them back into the hole they crawled out of. They are not unbeatable.
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By: JR on 8/27/2010 8:21AM
Just what makes you think that Glenn Beck is a hater or a racist? He wants freedom for all people. He does not want an elitist government, run by a relatively small number to the 320 million Americans, taking personal freedoms away. What's wrong with that?
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By: Steve on 8/27/2010 9:18AM
Explain to me how Glenn Beck, accompanied by Rev. Dr. Alveda King, a Civil Rights activist in her own right and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's niece, is a 'super racist'. Have you ever watched or listened to Beck? Obviously not. You know nothing of the man yet feel entitled to label him a racist. When I was growing up, I was not a fan of MLK. He was on FBI 'watch lists' so, as a young kid, I figured he was a rabble-rouser at best. I've since done a lot of thinking about the 'I have a dream' speech and King's admonition to judge everyone by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. You call Beck a racist knowing nothing about him or the rally, only that he's white and says things you don't like, so he must be a racist.
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By: ca on 8/27/2010 11:09AM
WOW...how ignorant some people can be !!!! Quit crying about friggin racism...this has NOTHING to do with it !!!!! It's to educate people about the Constitution....what the hell does that have to do with racism....GIVE IT A FRIGGIN REST !!!! SO SO SO SO SICK OF HEARING EVERYONG CRY RACISM!!! THOSE PEOPLE ARE THE TRUE RACISTS !!!!
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By: sstaylor229 on 8/27/2010 11:20AM
sstaylor: Wow Techblogger, you obviously don't know anything about Glenn Beck. Why don't you at least do your homework on a person before writing something that makes you look so foolish!
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