... the biggest tea party Washington, D.C., has ever seen. And what a wonderland it was, with the Mad Hatter -- conservative commentator Glenn Beck -- and the Queen of Hearts -- former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin -- exhorting the crowd to forget politics and focus on a higher power. ...A nasty start that sounds more like the American far left's Howard Dean than a supposed conservative. And the column didn't rise significantly in quality from there. It's doubtful that she follows Beck's program or understands what he actually stands for.
But a good indication of Beck's character and values can be found in the company he keeps. A Wall Street Journal editorial "Glenn Beck's Happy Warriors" provides a description of the hundreds of thousands of people he attracted to the DC rally on Saturday:
Pundits will debate whether the crowd at Glenn Beck's Saturday rally in Washington was the largest in recent political history, but it was certainly among the most impressive. ...
... if he's judged by the quality of people of all colors that he attracted to the Lincoln Memorial, his stock can't help but rise.
One would not be able to find a more polite crowd at a political convention, certainly not at a professional sporting event, probably not even at an opera. In fact, judging by the behavior of the attendees following the event, you'd have a tough time finding churches in which people display more patience as others make their way to the exits.
... Relaxed young parents felt comfortable enough to push toddlers in strollers through the crowded areas along the memorial's reflecting pool.
Not only was the rally akin to a "huge church picnic" (in one Journal reporter's description), but one had to wonder if the over-achievers in this crowd actually left the area in better shape than they found it.
Update. Here's another interesting take on the rally [via FiveFeetOfFury]:
And Tasha K might also be interested to know that The Smithsonian Institute wants to preserve artifacts from Glenn's historic rally.
Yeah, Tasha lost me on that one. Usually she's right on the money but not this time.
ReplyDeleteDid she even see Alice in Wonderland? Its tough to miss the symbolism.
ReplyDeleteDown with the bloody RED Queen!
Mrs. Palin is a lot of things but the Queen of Hearts she is NOT.
Hi Joanne, Lately, to my mind, the Post in general seems to be slipping ever more leftward in its editorial stance. Maybe Tasha's piece is a reflection of a new group think developing among the NP editorial board. Some say that the new ownership at the Post is making its mark.
ReplyDeleteAlex, Good point. I'm by no means certain of Lewis Caroll's intended Queen of Hearts symbolism, but to me it's top-down tyranny. Palin and those at the rally represent bottom-up liberty.
ReplyDeleteI think Tasha missed the point completely. If she was at all familiar with Beck and the Constitution she would know that Beck is a Constitutional Libertarian and that the Constitution proclaims that Americans' inherent Liberties are God-given. In other words, their exalting of God in fact exalts their God-given liberties. Furthermore, it is those very same liberties that preclude establishing a Christian state.
ReplyDeleteBlame Crash and potato, I agree. Two more opinion pieces in today's Post by a couple of snots from Slate, Hitchens and Saletan, similarly miss the mark. Hitchens insinuates in his typically rude, caustic way, ignorant white racism and fear of "the other", while Saletan thinks Beck and the 8/28 rally participants are really "progressives" at heart - they just don't know it (yet). Ridiculous.
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