As you may have heard, Conservative radio and TV personality Glenn Beck is organizing a rally, “Restoring Honor,” on Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.
The rally will take place on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Beck claims it is “a coincidence.”
Beck does not call the rally political, but rather as a moment that he thinks will reclaim the civil rights movement to his side.
Whether that will be the case is of course an open question.
This how the event’s web site describes the rally:
Throughout history America has seen many great leaders and noteworthy citizens change her course. It is through their personal virtues and by their example that we are able to live as a free people. On August 28, come celebrate America by honoring our heroes, our heritage and our future.
Join the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and many more for this non-political event that pays tribute to America’s service personnel and other upstanding citizens who embody our nation’s founding principles of integrity, truth and honor.
Our freedom is possible only if we remain virtuous. Help us restore the values that founded this great nation. On August, 28th, come join us in our pledge to restore honor at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.
Others have very different takes on this event and on Glenn Beck’s motives.
Jason Linkins at the Huffington Post sees it as a rally that “will be like moon landing, Wright Brothers and Rosa Parks all rolled into one massive orgasm of American History.”
Of course, one of those little, yellow “smiley,” winking faces belongs at the end of this one.
At the same site, Philip Elliott says “Glenn Beck Rally, ‘Restoring Honor’, Stirs Controversy.”
Somewhat of an understatement.
Elliott quotes Jess Levin, a spokesman for the liberal Media Matters for America as saying:
The 8-28 rally is supposedly about ‘reclaiming the civil rights movement,’ but it is being led by someone whose idea of a racist is the president of the United States…This rally is about one thing and one thing only. And that’s promoting Beck’s political agenda.
Elliott adds:
Civil rights leaders said they hoped Beck wouldn’t exploit the King legacy at the site. But the imagery – a crowd listening to a speaker standing in the shadow of Lincoln – was certain to draw comparisons.
“I hope that’s not what he’s trying to do. I hope that this is a coincidence,” [president of the NAACP] Jealous said. “But more than anything, I hope that he, having chosen this day and this location, pushes himself to really honor the unifying legacy of Dr. King.”
Finally, over at The Root, Cord Jefferson asks, “Does Glenn Beck Plan On Restoring Honor?” and goes on to again ask, “With [Beck’s] episodes in mind, and given that Beck has done more harm than good in the arena of racial politics, is Saturday guaranteed to be as disastrous as many imagine it will be, or will he do right this time?”
His answer:
At this point nobody knows, but a powerful coalition of minority groups is betting against Beck. In an interview with The Washington Post last week, National Urban League President Marc Morial called the Restoring Honor rally “insulting.” “August 28 is something special,” he said. “It is a day that means something in American history because it was the demonstration in the United States in support of civil rights.”
We’ll see…
