I admit that I have never been a Glenn Beck fan. I think his grasp on history is tenuous and I’ll never forgive him for his attacks on Theodore Roosevelt. I find his use of the chalkboard extremely condescending, especially from someone who couldn’t sit through a single college class when I’ve sat through 13 years worth. And I’ve never really felt he’s provided a great number of insights on politics, unlike his contemporaries. I’ve been a Rush Limbaugh fan since 1991, when I started listening to him when I was 14. I’ve listened to most of the conservative talkers over the years, and Rush is still my favorite. I’m not a Hannity fan because he repeats himself so much, if you’ve heard his show once you’ve heard it every day. Mark Levin is okay, although I don’t like the yelling. I give him the most credit because he’s put his money where his mouth is and actually served in government. Beck I dislike more than the rest because of all of them, I think he’s earned it less. He’s not worked as hard as Hannity or Rush, he doesn’t have the experience of a Levin or a Coulter, and I have never really gotten into his show. I’ve tended to group him in the same category as Keith Olbermann and Ed Schultz – guys with political shows who got them for no apparent reason.
Because of my general dislike for Beck, I guess I was skeptical of the 8/28 “Restoring Honor” rally he held in D.C. over the weekend. I didn’t attend the rally, but I took Nick and KayAnn out to Mount Vernon on Friday and got slammed with a bunch of folks from the rally in town a day early. For the most part, they were all nice people and they were from all across the union. I have to give Beck credit – he brought a lot of people to D.C. for this event.
I’ve watched Youtube videos of the rally and the speeches given and I have to admit that I was underwhelmed. I was hoping this rally would be more of a Tea Party style rally, but Beck seems to have turned this into a quasi-religious revival than anything else. That, in and of itself, bothers me, as I believe that when Republicans and conservatives wrap themselves in the mantle of Christianity, we scare off a lot of voters who – rightfully so - do not like to see religion and politics mix in an overt way.
Make no mistake, I’m not one of these ridiculously strict “no religion in public life” types of people. I like saying “under God” in the pledge, and I like the references to deity we make in a variety of political settings. And I do like to see my public officials displaying a faith in a higher power than themselves. But, as many can attest to, I have always had a problem when those of us who are right of center have tried to legislate our morality, especially if we base the motivation of our legislation on some kind of scriptural impetus. And I believe that the attempts of some on the right to paint the conservative movement and the Republican party as the party of Christianity do us a disservice – while I believe that religious faith is critical to the fabric of our country and helps center the moral compass of individuals, I don’t believe it is in the party’s best interests to represent a single religion or religious point of view.
The overtly religious tone of the 8/28 event makes me uncomfortable. If it had been Tea Party rally, that would have been great. I saw a lot of folks in the crowd who were dressed in their colonial gear, so I know the Tea Party was well represented. If it had been a political rally – and with Sarah Palin there, the political overtones were clear – that would have been great. But when Beck is out there saying that we have “turned back to God” (I don’t think most of us have ever turned away) I get uncomfortable. And given the controversy about Obama’s faith that’s crept up recently, I hesitate to say this, but I wonder how many folks in that crowd know Beck is a mormon?
I also don’t like the whole “restoring honor” and “restoring America” line that Palin was giving out there. America doesn’t need to be restored. The core of America – the people, their belief in the Constitution and our founding republican principles, our faith in ourselves and our exceptionalism – is still out there and is still vibrant. It doesn’t need restoring because it’s always been there. I am not one of these Republicans who believes that whenever Democrats take over the country is going to hell in a handbasket, the Democrats are out to destroy the country and are actively trying, or any of that nonsense. Both parties make mistakes – we’ve made plenty – and fixing those mistakes is part and parcel of the on-going nature of our democratic experiment. There’s no reason for us to have to “restore honor” – we’ve not lost it. Sure, we’ve got folks in charge who are making a lot of bad decisions, and those bad decisions will cost them political control come November. But America is more than just who is in charge of the House of Representatives or the White House.
I’m hoping that Debbie Munoz or some of my other friends who were at the rally on Saturday can provide some greater insights as to the event, because I honestly don’t understand the point. If it was a political rally, that’s great. If it was a Tea Party rally, that’s great. If it was some kind of a religious revival, that’s fine, but I don’t like the political overtones. If it was some kind of a mix, that also bothers me. Maybe it was just a big publicity stunt for Beck’s show. I don’t know. But I do know that my opinion on Beck has not changed after this event and I’m still skeptical of anything he’s involved in.
What was the takeaway for the folks who attended the rally? What was Beck’s message? What’s going to be the result? I don’t know, and I hope my friends who were there can give us some feedback on it.
Brian,
I think my biggest problem with Beck is when he starts espousing “it doesn’t make a difference” line in regards to which party is in power. I start hearing friends talking about 3rd party and wonder if Beck is trying to drive people to futility.
He also is a plagiarizer – a lot of his latest discussions seem to come from Jonah Goldberg’s “Liberal Fascism” without attribution.
This thing hit home in that I was trying to organize a door to door canvassing for Fimian. I received an email lecture from someone who thought that Keith should suspend his campaign and go to this event along with the rest of us. This wasn’t isolated and a lot of these people were driving the Fimian campaign staff crazy.
It is crucial for Keith Fimian to connect with people in the 11th District. What percentage of the people attending would have been from the 11th? This would have been doubly awkward in this turned into some sort of quasi revival?
BTW, the canvassing went very well thank you.
Beck’s Message: Buy my book & watch my show!
Glad to hear the canvassing went well, Credo.
Beck’s event is fine, but it shouldn’t distract from the fact that there’s an election coming in November, and all the rallies in the world won’t make an ounce of difference if we can’t translate them into some kind of electoral victories.
What I think is most frustrating is that you had 300,000+ people on the Mall at that event and I don’t think there was a real “action item” given to them to take home. I’m hoping some folks who were there can let us know if there was.
One of the biggest misconceptions of (the latest incarnation of) Glenn Beck is people assuming he works for political gain. If the talking heads are to be believed, he’s a lecherous evangelical, praying upon the economically distressed white middle class. But, if he’s to be taken at his word, it was never anything more than a Christian revival rally. Either way, his interpretation of history is dangerously wrong and as much as the Right was lectured about religious tolerance and secularism (re: the Ground Zero mosque), we do need to make sure we don’t romanticize the role of Christianity in our own history.
I get very disturbed when Palin and Beck start talking about “we are taking the country back”. What the heck does that mean? Each time I hear it I want to respond:
It’s OUR country and it isn’t your church.
Beck’s a huckster like the late Billy Mays or that Vince Schlomo character.
Brian:
You biggest problem is that you are the few sane people in a crowd that constitutes and honors political, religious, and social insanity.
Bubberella: Billy Mays is not a huckster. Simoniz is one of the greatest products I’ve ever used. Schlomi is borderline (ShamWow good; Slap Chop bad).
Like many, I’m thoroughly convinced that Glenn Beck, as opposed to the Pichmen, doesn’t believe half the stuff that comes out of his own mouth.
Brian—to put it simply, the rally was like a Patriotic lovefest, like a pep rally for the troops. Everyone there got something different from the experience. There were aspects of the rally that a person could not possibly feel without being there. HD TV just can’t get you to that same place. There was a definite Christian emphasis and a Revival feel to the event, complete with Gospel music. I think this aspect was included out of respect for Rev. Martin Luther King and the anniversary of the speech. It’s important to note that were other people there on the stage of other faiths. There was a rabbi in attendance also.
I really didn’t care what Glenn Beck called this event. The Restoring Honor title was somewhat ambiguous to me. I will always see honor in America as something we hold constant, but I do feel the need to honor our troops properly and many of us sometimes forget to take the time to do that. Glenn Beck gave us the opportunity and venue. There were several great heroes there who made huge sacrifices and there were families of fallen soldiers. The most powerful speech of the day was given by a woman who lost her son. I don’t remember her name, but I’ll never forget her speech. There were 400,000 people (possibly more) in the crowd who rose to their feet and wanted to comfort her and we all knew she represented thousands of other mothers and fathers who deserved our resect and gratitude. That for me was the beauty of the day. It’s hard to give proper credit to the significance of the day in a short blog response.
Beck also dropped in on the Freedomworks “Take Back America 2010 Convention” Friday night. I watch Beck in moderation, mostly small doses. My viewing and listening patterns are similar to yours, Brian. Keith Fimian also dropped by and spoke among the other speakers. Friday night with Freedomworks was political, Saturday’s event was definitely not; there was no partisan reference at all. It was kind of refreshing.
Dave Wiegel (of Journolist recent flap) joined our dinner table Friday night and that was interesting. He was looking for friction and had a taperecorder tucked away in his pocket. He wrote a piece in SLATE calling 8-28 something akin to a Teletubbie’s episode as far as being a non-angry mob and a disappointment for anyone trying to look for racism. I’m glad he came to that conclusion. “The Democrats who pre-butted Beck’s rally by predicting an overtly political hateananny were played for suckers.”
A friend of mine, a retired Air Force Col. who could not attend the rally sent me this. It was obviously his perception that this event was political, but he wasn’t there–nonetheless, as a vet and a patriotic life-long friend, he was appreciative. As an FYI, because this was a commemorative day for King, I will also point out to you that this friend is black and conservative. He wrote:
” Though I missed you at the ISB reunion, this event was much more important for our nation. Thank you for making the sacrifice and helping out. Just for more confirmation for you, yesterday I landed at Ted Steven’s Airport in Anchorage. While waiting for my shuttle bus an elderly gentleman with a hearing aid, wearing a Viet Nam era Army Green beret came up and started a conversation. He had been at the event. He traveled from Alaska to be there. When I asked if there were 300,000 people there, he described the event to me and said it was probably more like 800,000! I was amazed. This is how we are going to fix the country. People like this very nice gentleman talking to folks like me and all of us putting our heads together to stop the onslaught of Socialism and Fascism that have taken hold in our government. Eric Carey is right, this is for our children, the future of our country. We must all stand up and be counted. Keep it up, my friend. I appreciate all of your efforts.”
http://www.slate.com/id/2265216
Debbie, thanks for the clarification – you put the event into perfect perspective. It was more a kind of folklife festival rather than a political event, even though Beck and other who generally are presumed to be political were involved.
Interesting. That kind of thing is rare – you don’t usually see people so fired up to get together from across the country like this. I’m actually kind of sad I missed it now.
Debbie,
Thank you for posting your observations. They were very insightful.
I didn’t attend the rally because, 1) I hate big crowds and, 2) I think that Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin are self-aggrandizing hucksters. But I did have reason to be at the Vienna Metro station about an hour after the rally was over and was quite impressed by what I saw.
First, CNN must spend hours scouring the crowds looking for people wearing stupid hats and obnoxious t-shirts. I saw none of that among the thousands of people coming from the Metro. Just your average, middle class suburban folks, moms and dads, kids, and the occasional grandparent. Lots of coolers and lawn chairs; it looked more like what you would see at a Saturday soccer league event.
Second, the reports in the WaPo today that estimated the crowd as low as 87,000 is ridiculous. There were probably half that many at the Vienna Metro alone. It looked like it was Inauguration Day or July Fourth. Cars were parked everywhere possible, on curbs and medians, and I counted at least 20 tour buses waiting to pick up passengers. Getting out of the Vienna station onto Nutley Street was a four-light cycle. The tour buses were from Florida, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, and everywhere in-between.
What really struck me was this: the reality is that Americans are unhappy. People don’t get on a tour bus in the middle of August and ride half-way across the country just for the hell of it. They are pissed off at the direction that this country is going in and they are motivated to do something about it.
November 4th is really going to suck for incumbents in Congress.
Exactly–Standing in line at Mt Vernon yesterday there were record crowds of tourists wanting to visit in the aftermath of 8-28. We had people from CA, PA, NJ, NY, and OH standing around us comparing notes about the event and talking about what’s happening in their states. I had guests who came up from FL and are staying through 9-12 who were there in line with me also. The manager in the gift shop at the Mt Vernon visitors center told us she was breaking sales records and had to bring in extra staff. She said she’ll increase orders and be better prepared for the day after 9-12. I just realized this rally thing is a “Stimulous” for the local economy!
This is interesting. About 45 minutes after I made my last post here, Gallup released its latest poll of generic Republican versus Democratic Congressional candidates. In the lead-up to the Gingrich Revolution of 1994, the Republican lead in the same poll was 5%.
That lead is now at an unprecedented 10%.
Question: will the Republicans have any idea what to do with their majorities in the Congress? I seriously doubt it.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/142718/GOP-Unprecedented-Lead-Generic-Ballot.aspx
“Question: will the Republicans have any idea what to do with their majorities in the Congress? I seriously doubt it.”
This is something I’m troubled about as well. While I disagree with Gingrich on a number of things, I respect his intellect and his ability to formulate policy solutions.
I can’t say the same for Boehner, McConnell, Cantor etc. We have some bright lights but they are down the depth chart. I hope I’m wrong about this.
On the other hand, a congress that does absolutely nothing may, in fact, be better than the current situation.
As long as the new GOP “surge” doesn’t do a repeat of the 1994 Contract with America (in which the Republicans turned right around and spent like drunken democrats)….it’ll be the moment in history that turns the country conservative, again. I highly expect that the old entrenched (we’ve always done it this way)GOP will get a challenge from the newer TEA Party challengers who are more in touch with the Constitution and fiscal ramifications that this Congress has foisted upon us.
The message last Friday night at the Freedomworks event was indeed, November 2nd could be the turning point and November 3rd is the day everyones’ feet will be held to the fire right from the beginning. Standards and expectations will be very high, which is good after what we’ve been through.
@ Debbie. My question to you is this: how does the enforcement of standards work save for the ballot box? If it’s really the case that the democratically elected members of the legislative branch have failed, they will get voted out come November. Then what? Unless they’ve solved all the problems by ’12, they get thrown overboard? I would argue that one of the major problem that we’ve had in resolving the multiple challenges that face us as a nation is the belief that there is an easy or quick fix for problems that were decades in the making. This is going to take time, require major sacrifice, and grown-ups from both sides to make grown up decisions.
Also, the story you relate in your post about the little old man in the airport decrying this government as being totalitarian is indicative of the silliness that abounds this year. The government’s been democratically elected. If people don’t like it, it gets removed. That’s not tyranny. That’s a functioning democracy with a result he doesn’t like. Being to the left of just about everyone who comments here, I’ll note that there are no margins for either side in suggesting that the other seeks to bring about the ruin of America. I just wish instead of all this rhetoric we could focus on our common needs as a people instead of our differences.
Dr. B, it will depend on if Republicans take back control of the House and/or Senate. If they do, we will expect to see a fiscally conservative budget scheme enacted or at least proposed and vetoed by the President. If we don’t, and we start to see the same old bad behavior by the leftover Republicans who didn’t get the message in 2006, it will be time to clean house again.
Republicans – even in safe districts – have to pay attention and recognize that the Tea Party folks and the angriest voters don’t have a problem taking out elected members of their own party in primaries if they think they’ve gone astray. It’s happened multiple times so far and I think that will make the new Republicans think long and hard about falling into the same trap we fell into after we took over the White House and both houses in 2001.
And you’re not even close to the farthest left of folks who comment here. TomPaine wins that.
Teddy Roosevelt was terrible. He believed war was the natural answer to the worlds problems, equated maniless with war-mongering, believed in using and growing all powers of the federal government to control every aspect of America’s economy and social life. His Bull Moose revolt was in the name of progressive government control, and he even dabbled in eugenics. TR’s interventionist militarism has recycled itself over and over in American history and rarely has America come out of it unscathed or better off.
In 1912, the real arch-liberal between TR, Taft, and Wilson was TR. He’s interesting to say the least, but TR is not the great man many want him to be.
Sorry for the rant.
About Beck. He’s different, he’s come from outside the political world and had to overcome serious drug addiction to get where he is. I find him incredibly fascinating as a personality. Nobody owns him, he made himself. He’s not as purely political as Rush or a hack like Hannity.
And Brian, just because a guy didn’t go to college and you went for 13 doesn’t mean he can’t have juts as good a grasp of understanding politics and the constitution. Trust me, I went to graduate school and I had professors who had no idea what they were talking about. I think that’s Beck’s appeal – its self empowerment. Its that everyone can understand our history, our laws, our government, and our constitution if we just took time to read and learn about it ourselves and come to our own conclusions. There is a comedic timing combined with a passion you don’t see anywhere else. You just know he’s now owned by anyone, and his agenda is his alone and not for the purpose of a political party. So I like Glenn Beck a lot.
Chris, I don’t know where you’re getting your history but you couldn’t be more wrong about TR. While I freely admit he was extremely bellicose as a young man, his experience in the Spanish-American War tempered his opinion on war and he went out of his way to avoid it in the future – if he had sought out war, we’d have ended up in a war with Germany over Venezuelan debt during his presidency and we didn’t. He was a man’s man, yes. He was aggressive, yes. But he certainly didn’t want government involved in every aspect of American life, although he did recognize that the only institution that was capable of standing up to the power of trusts was government, and that was a sea change from the pro-business, no-regulation Republican party that had been in power before.
As for eugenics, plenty of folks dabbled in it back then. He was always interested in naturalism and that was just a rational outgrowth of that interest. There was nothing nefarious about it. He wasn’t Dr. Mengele.
He was a great man, one of our greatest presidents, and the white washing of history that ill-informed talking heads like Beck try to pass off is offensive to me.
I didn’t say Beck couldn’t have as good a grasp of politics or history because he didn’t spend lots of time in the classroom. I said I felt the use of a chalkboard is condescending. He’s no teacher. I don’t care what his agenda is, I just don’t find his style appealing. I don’t come away from his show like I’ve learned anything. And I don’t watch news as entertainment. I want facts or at the very least a perspective that provides a greater insight on those facts. I don’t get that from him. I get that from Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity (although rarely), Levin and others.
Dr Bombay:
The difference between us is that you read the “story” and saw a little old man in the airport. He was a Vietnam Vet talking to my friend who is also a Vet. Neither is little. Neither deserves to be patronized. They have concerns about the direction this country is heading. Yes, voting is primarily the way we straighten things out. We hold their feet to the fire by persistently lobbying them. Lots of us visit offices on the Hill and make our opinions known. It’s pretty effective and better than sitting on our butts, wringing our hands or wasting too much time preaching to the choir.
Forgive me if my characterization of the “elderly gentleman with a hearing aid” as a “little, old man” came across at patronizing. My admiration for his service is second to none. But his service does no excuse historically inaccurate demonization anymore than my grandfather storming the beaches at Normandy excused his life-long racial antipathy.
The easy way in which that gentleman described democratically elected members of congress (and presumably the executive) with positions contrary to his own as Socialists and Fascists should be deeply troubling to us all. It is simply not helpful or productive to spend time demonizing the opposition as being totalitarian fifth columnists when we have real problems that affect us as Americans.
Dr.Bombay: There was legislation passed this last session that was shoved down our throats after closed door sessions and votes from Congressmen who admit they never actually read the bill. I am referring to the HealthCare Bill, which had little to do with healthcare and more to do with control. In lobbying against this bill and other measures that this Congress led by Reid and Pelosi might like to have passed but failed due to our diligence, dissenting Americans were riduled and demeaned, discredited and lied about by those in The Media and the goverment who like to tamper down dissent. Many of us, particularly those who were raised in the military, myself included, have lived in other countries and have seen these tactics. I don’t call it Democracy when dissent is stifled. There is more to a democracy that the electoral process.
We are a Constitutional Republic. It is our responsibility to make sure members of Congress uphold their Oath to respect and defend that Constitution. If we are ridiculed for doing so, that is part of tyranny. If we have to wait to vote and let our vote be the only means of expressing ourselves and our Freedom of expression is withheld, that is tyranny. If legislation is passed without our ability to express our concerns and the end result is that we “have to wait for it to pass to see what’s in it,” (Pelosi’s words, not mine) and we know what’s in it down the road is the government picking the pocket of corporations, small businesses and individuals “to spread the wealth around a little” (Obama’s words, not mine) that is SOCIALISM.
Yes, we have real problems as Americans, I agree with you on that. Expressing dissent is not demonizing the opposition–it’s exercising a Constitutional Right.
I’m not disputing that it is your Constitutional right to say whatever you want. It is not your Constitutional right to remain free from ridicule for expressing your position however. And if people continue to run around claiming that a vote for Obama portends the 4th Reich, then they can, and will be marginalized like the people who said Bush was Satan.
The lack of felicity with language undercuts the value of the ideas. That is all I’m saying.
I wouldn’t diminish the importance of the Holocaust to make that comparison. You are pretty much proving my point.
(SIGH)