Glenn Beck: My DC rally will reclaim the civil rights movement
Glenn Beck: My DC rally will reclaim the civil rights movement
I'd like to know how, exactly - it will do that. I'd like to know what he thinks he can do that is comparable to Rosa Parks who was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person. Later on, when asked why, she stated: "I would have to know for once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen."
I would like to know what "civil rights" Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin think are lacking that is comparable to being segregated to the back of a bus, to special drinking fountains, to special doors, special schools....to a permanent by-birth- second class status that must always be humble and appreciative.
I wonder if Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin think they are as brave...and scared...as these young girls were?
...Beck insists the event Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial is not about politics, even though Beck and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will attend. But the rally is drawing a strong reaction and several counter-rallies as the nation looks toward November's elections.
He's probably right...in a way. I think Beck's real motivation is entertainment and being in the spotlight - he loves it, he's funny in a perverse way, he hams it up to the max. It's all about Beck. Palin isn't too different. Two of a kind. But, it's about politics because it will stir up "the base". And I'm sure he is really hoping that the "opposition" will come out poorly behaved and on video.
Beck, a popular figure among tea party activists and a polarizing Fox News Channel personality, has said it is merely a coincidence that the event is taking place on the 47th anniversary of King's plea for racial equality. Beck has called President Barack Obama a racist.
The event's website says the "Restoring Honor" rally is to pay tribute to America's military personnel and others "who embody our nation's founding principles of integrity, truth and honor." It urges citizens to attend and "help us restore the values that founded this great nation."
I question his use of this particular day to commemorate the items he claims to commemorate, but we still are a free society and we still believe (I hope) in the right of free speech - as long as laws are obeyed, he has every right to do it.
But Beck has called Obama a "racist" and "a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture."
Palin defended Dr. Laura's use of the word "******" on a caller and tweeted "Dr.Laura:don't retreat...reload!" She called Dr. Laura "even more powerful & effective w/out the shackles, so watch out Constitutional obstructionists. And b thankful 4 her voice,America!"
These are voices very much in odds of Martin Luther King's "I had a dream" speech.
Organizers of Saturday's rally advise attendees not to bring signs, "as they may deter from the peaceful message we are bringing to Washington."
Signs at some tea party events have included pictures of Obama embellished with a Hitler-style mustache, racial epithets and threats to Democratic officials. They gave tea party critics grounds to claim the loose organization of activists was motivated by racism against the nation's first black president.
"Dr. King never had to ask anyone to leave their signs and guns at home," said Benjamin Todd Jealous, president of the NAACP. "To say to your followers, don't bring your signs it's like saying don't open your mouth."
Saying don't bring signs is almost challanging people to bring signs.
Could the real purpose of this rally be to generate conflict that can be used to point political fingers at misbehavior? Conflict gains ratings and noteriety and - ATTENTION.
It will be interesting to see but I think it has nothing to do with an honest desire to affirm integrity, truth and honor.
