Saturday, August 28, 2010

Compare and Contrast - Two 8/28 Speeches: Martin Luther King vs. Glenn Beck





Beck is quite loony. But we already knew that.

The best critical review of this bizarre rant so far is by David Neiwert at Crooks & Liars:

Glenn Beck promised there wouldn't "be a dry eye in the house" after his big speech today at the Lincoln Memorial for his "Restoring Honor" rally -- because, you know, it was going to be "so stirring."

Riiiiight. Well, Glenn Beck's eyes certainly weren't dry. He started weeping while telling the crowd that somewhere out there was "the next George Washington".

Dunno about you, but when I saw pan shots of the crowd -- which was one of the whitest crowds in D.C. in recent memory -- I mostly thought I saw "the next Timothy McVeigh." But your mileage may vary.

As for the speech itself: Lunesta in verbal form. I'm having to pick my head up from my desk just to write something about it.

8 comments:

KiheiKat said...

Hi Phil, I watched the whole disgusting performance today. It was nothing but a Dominionist tent revival with every speaker spouting the same basic rhetoric. All fanatic born again Xtians. The Baptist Minister touted Beck as a Dr. and Minister. One of the underlying points was to give to the touted charity Beck & Palin talk about. One speaker even talked about donating even if you have only crumbs. Wonder if all those donating know that all the money off the top goes to Beck to pay off the rally expenses (and his pocket undoubtedly) The charity itself is undoubtedly fundamentalist & helps very few.

Sorry for the rant, I am sickened beyond words by the entire event.

wakeUpAmerica said...

I can't wait until I see in big black letters exactly how much goes to troops. How many people are helped and how much does each one get? We're counting on the blogosphere to shout it from the rooftops!!!!! I notice there are a lot of empty spaces in the stands behind Becker-head.

wakeUpAmerica said...

I like the guy in the red hat behind Becker-head who starts laughing when Beck starts crying.

Anonymous said...

First - let's NOT compare white 21st-century Christian radio talk show hosts to Martin Luther King.
Okay?

The best I can say about this Sarah Palin/Glenn Beck phenomenon is that at least they're emboldening average middle-class folk to think, react, get an opinion.

The giving-until-it-hurts thing. Alaska Christian churches are ENCOURAGING members to prioritize church giving above all household and personal needs, titheing(?), and to use credit and encumber debt in order to do so. Sean Parnell's church has a webpage devoted to this topic.

Kind of ironic. Compare that to government. DO give more than you can afford. DO rack up debt. DO take out bank loans and credit cards (but only for giving to the church, not for personal stuff). DO borrow from your children and grandchildren to pay the church now. God wants you to and you will be rewarded. Let your bills and expenses go until some other time.

Anonymous said...

Frankly, I think there's more to the August 28 date.
This week was seriously important in German history and the rise of the Third Reich.
On this day, Hitler had been the German president for 10 days (August 19, 1934). Manipulation had been going on for awhile.
"In February 1933, Hitler blamed a devastating Reichstag fire on the communists (its true cause remains a mystery) and convinced President Hindenburg to sign a decree suspending individual and civil liberties, a decree Hitler used to silence his political enemies with false arrests. Upon the death of Hindenburg in 1934, Hitler proceeded to purge the Brown Shirts (his storm troopers), the head of which, Ernst Roem, had began voicing opposition to the Nazi Party's terror tactics. Hitler had Roem executed without trial, which encouraged the army and other reactionary forces within the country to urge Hitler to further consolidate his power by merging the presidency and the chancellorship. This would make Hitler commander of the army as well. A plebiscite vote was held on August 19. Intimidation, and fear of the communists, brought Hitler a 90 percent majority. He was now, for all intents and purposes, dictator."

August 28, 1941. More than 23,000 Hungarian Jews are murdered by the Gestapo in occupied Ukraine.

Interesting book about marketing the public appearance of Adolf Hilter and the Third Reich. Leni Riefenstahl: a life By Jürgen Trimborn.
Riefenstahl was Hitler's film producer.
Very good read.

Anonymous said...

The mention of it being a mostly white rally is true but if you look at the left wing rallies they are mostly white, also. I also don't see where he is ranting. Now I've have heard the left rant and spit and scream and yell and screech.

AKjah said...

P T Barnum was right.

Anonymous said...

Anon August 28, 2010 7:29 PM --

You sound like Glen Beck... :-P

Re the charity:
Don't guess. Here's the facts:
http://www.bbb.org/charity-reviews/national/veterans-and-military/special-operations-warrior-foundation-in-tampa-fl-2735
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=7584

About 4/5 of the funds go to programs, the rest are used for admin/fundraising expenses.