Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally fell short of its 100,000 attendance goal. Does that mean it didn’t work? Did honor not get restored this weekend?
Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally drew an estimated 87,000 attendees with a margin of error of plus or minus 9,000 people, which means it fell below Beck’s prediction that at least 100,000 people would show up.
This may be because there was no actual “cause” to rally behind. Beck is that consummate rebel without a cause whose rally was so vague in its purpose that it devolved in perception into simply a gathering of predominantly white people insisting that the top tax bracket for those earning over $250,000 be lowered just a few notches.
Glenn Beck as a conservative entertainer employs the same confusing self-loathing rhetorical device that his counterparts in politics like Sarah Palin like to employ—Beck is a media entertainer who hates “the media,” just as Palin is (or was, rather) a government official who hates “the government.” Taking the stage, mocking what he considered to be the media’s undercutting of his rally’s significance, Beck said, “I have just gotten word from the media that there is over 1,000 people here today.”
In a more nonsensical jab at “the media,” Beck addressed the broad criticism of his choosing the same date and location as Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech for his rally: “I had no idea August 28th was the day of the MLK speech when we booked it… I’m sorry, media, that I forgot the, oh, so important detail of the date.”
I’ve never understood the logic of politicians on the campaign trail railing about how government can not solve our problems. Why run for office if government can not solve our problems—andy why be so impassioned about the post?
Defending his ignorance of King’s speech is embarrassing in and of itself, but why be involved in media at all if he’s so convinced the medium is evil? Does he honestly believe that of the entire cross-section of media professionals reporting the news, that his is the only voice that’s valid?
This confusing mixed-message may be part of why Beck’s rally drew far fewer attendees than the 1963 civil rights protest (held on the same date) at which King delivered his seminal speech. “Black people should be allowed to vote” is a way easier message to rally behind than “restoring honor.” Whose honor? How do we define honor? And why should we trust a media-hating media mogul who calls our first black president a “racist” to define it for us?
As the “Washington Post” points out, Beck’s rally drew less than a quarter of 1995′s “Million Man March,” which was launched without Beck’s considerable funding prowess in the pre-internet era of 1995 to protest a Republican majority in Congress.
If Glenn Beck were truly galvanizing a populist movement in this country, with the benefits of communication afforded modern-day media mavens, he should have been able to draw way more than 87,000 people.
As it turns out, broad-scale xenophobia and lower taxes for the super-rich might not be quite the values of “honor” Americans are looking to restore right now.
August 30, 2010 at 6:53 pm, AntiSheep said:
You are an idiot.
August 30, 2010 at 7:35 pm, Grodon said:
What a blantant lie. The restoring honor rally was huge, 500,000 to 1,000,000 people. Another few hundred thousand were stuck in the metro system that was overloaded.
August 30, 2010 at 7:45 pm, Billie said:
AntiSheep — I was going to post that! I was at the rally — the photo this blogger posts was taken either early in the day or after the rally. For geniune photos of the rally, go to Facebook and search “Restoring Honor” and find the one that has close to 200,000 members, look under photos.
August 30, 2010 at 9:06 pm, iquanyin said:
can you tell me your counting method? might be handy for me sometime. (also how long it took you. that would be handy too.)
August 31, 2010 at 2:30 am, Davidjohnson98 said:
I was at the rally all day. There were several hundreds of thousands at this event. You do not have to count each head; national park service used an estimation for each area around the memorial based on the size of area and density of the crowd. At 1000 there was a solid wall of people from the Lincoln to Washington monument. I have personal pictures to prove it. This article is an utter lie.
August 31, 2010 at 3:10 am, iquanyin said:
ah, thanks.
November 24, 2010 at 5:14 am, iquanyin said:
so the answer is, you have no method and you're not gonna post the pictures either. surprise!
August 30, 2010 at 9:14 pm, Dusty_road04 said:
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August 31, 2010 at 1:18 am, TheLogistician said:
What's more interesting from our perspective about this Glenn Beck phenomenon is that “The Folks in Control,” however one might characterize them in terms of race, status, class, wealth, geographic location or whatever, allowed our current situation to develop over arguably the last 50 – 100 years, and now there are complaints by a vocal group of concerned citizens.
Is it possible, as postulated by some, that the liberal, conservative, progressive, corporate and banking interests, and libertarian POWER FORCES in our society are laughing all the way to the bank, and that we minions with little money and power (the members of the Institute for Applied Common Sense included) are the ones complaining? And that because of new technological advances in communication and the power of the Internet, the voice of the minions is now being disseminated with greater force, essentially saying, “Stop! Enough is enough!”?
Is this arguably populist movement somewhat similar to the one led by “the Great Commoner,” William Jennings Bryan at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th Centuries?
Is what we are experiencing simply the most vocal expression of the perhaps 80% of we citizens at the bottom of the heap?
September 01, 2010 at 2:37 pm, Lisa Glass said:
And people like you wonder why “mainstream” media is failing? For one thing you completely missed the point of the rally. But that isn't surprising considering you're so devoted to your own hatred of anything non-leftist that you'll even demonize a rally that was all about Faith, Honor, Charity and Unity.
“If he (Dr. King) could be here today he would surely remind us that as brothers & sisters, united by one blood and one single race, the HUMAN race, we are called to honor God and to love each other. He would encourage us to lay aside the devisive lies that cause us to think that we are members of separate races. We are one human family. We must not oppress each other and we must help those who are being oppressed.”
This quote was interrupted a couple of times by cheers & applause. Only someone with nothing but hate in their heart can demonize such a wonderful statement. Obviously this describes you Mr. Moore.
September 01, 2010 at 2:50 pm, Lisa Glass said:
“As it turns out, broad-scale xenophobia and lower taxes for the super-rich might not be quite the values of “honor” Americans are looking to restore right now.”
And people like you wonder why “mainstream” media is failing? If you watched the rally at all, you wouldn't be able to say such a horrible thing. There was no xenophobia. There was no mention of taxes.
“If he (Dr. King) could be here today he would surely remind us that as brothers & sisters, united by one blood and one single race, the HUMAN race, we are called to honor God and to love each other. He would encourage us to lay aside the devisive lies that cause us to think that we are members of separate races. We are one human family. We must not oppress each other and we must help those who are being oppressed.”
This quote was interrupted a couple of times by cheers & applause.
Mr. Moore, only someone who is so devoted to their own anger & hatred of anything non-leftist could demonize such a statement. Obviously this describes you. How could we expect someone like you to understand a rally that was all about Charity, Honor, Unity and Faith? What a twisted world this is when these are bad things.
“There's a lot we disagree on. But our principles and honor can unite us!” Wow, such hate mongering, isn't it? Maybe you need to educate yourself a bit better Mr. Moore.
September 01, 2010 at 10:06 pm, Patty449 said:
I think you have your facts wrong as usual…
September 02, 2010 at 1:48 pm, Mike Smith said:
Why are people compelled to just make up their own facts and information? And who are the brainless lemmings that would consider this some kind of source for information? 87K? Get a life and deal with the reality of the world, please!
September 04, 2010 at 1:03 pm, Martin Luther King Blasts Beck Allies in 1965 Playboy Article | Death and Taxes said:
[...] comments are of particular importance to Beck’s movement, because the “Restoring Honor” coalition includes the Black Robe Regiment, religious figures who fight a holy war on [...]