Media Matters: Reflecting Pool Reflections: It Didn't Part For Mr. Beck

In keeping with our lifetime tendency, and the tendency of most on the left we've had the privilige of engaging and debating, we made a point of listening to the entire(one hour and 20 minutes worth of "entire") Glenn Beck "speech" on the Lincoln Memorial on this the 47th anniversary of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior's historic "I Have A Dream" speech.

Those we've engaged in political or philosophicals discussions on the left, we have observed, tend more often than those on the right to examine and study opposing views, and it was in that spirit that we listened to the "Beckster" today.  Initially we channel surfed to check out what different networks were doing.  We noted that Beck's home base, Fixed(I mean, Fox) News did not cover it live, even though Fox was live at the time.  CNN covered his rant, however split-screen style with the Beckster muted and a black reporter offerring blistering commentary of the "Beckster."  MSNBC was playing a pre-recorded show about someone with tattoos from head to toe.
But C-Span, thank you C-Span, covered the ol' Beck Stabber live, with sound, from beginning to end, despite its length.

At the outset Mr. Beck joked about the size of the crowd, saying the "media," he spoke bitterly about the, apparently evil in his mind, "media" several times this afternoon, saying that this evil "media" would report an attendance of 2, while he preferred numbers in the 6 figures, mentioning 500,000 often. LOL

We noted sadly, the ubiquitous presence of Sarah "I read off the palm of my hand while refudiating" Palin, who stood silently behind the "Beckster" toward the end of his tirade.  The NY Times reported that live video presentations by Libertarian Rand Paul, "Republican" Marco Rubio of Florida, as well as comments by Palin(please remember her voluntary association with Libertarian Rand and "whatever the *bleep* he stands for"Beck" when considering your Presidential pick in 2012, real Republicans voting in primaries if Palin is in the frey) preceded the allegedly "recovering" alcoholic/addict Beck.

Perhaps the Beckster's most inspiring words came when waxing philosophical about planning today's event with his staff over a year ago, when his thinking had been that this should be a political event, and he informed the assembled masses that "And then I kind of feel like God dropped a giant sandbag on my head."  Unabashed Left wouldn't dispute the Beckster's claim.

The "speech" invoked "God" alot, and was short on specifics, politics or anything secular except romaniticized emotionalism regarding slave-owning founding father George Washington, the Declaration of Independence(written by a bunch of elderly white anglo saxon protestant guys like Beck and Unabashed Left--no women or blacks or hispanics were involved in the writing of that document readers may recall--incidentally the NY Times reported his grouping today as "an overwhelmingly white crowd") and references to Abraham Lincoln(his memorial being the dramatic backdrop for the "speech") and claiming somehow that he was heir to the twin legacies of President Lincoln and the Reverend King. 
He mysteriously referred repeatedly to the sacrfices of their very lives in the case of King and Lincoln and somehow implying that Washington had knowingly suffered and sacrificed by means of a violent end, as well.  Very curious.

He invoked God often, the "speech" resembling more of a particularly boring(fortunately there aren't many such boring Sunday morning sermons in any church anymore--Unabashed Left loves a good sermon) Sunday morning mainstream protestant sermon from the 1950's than a political rally.  He called on his "followers" to redeem themselves morally as he claims to have done by choosing to not get drunk and high every day(as Unabashed Left has had to do as well) and then somehow America will be "saved."

He informed us all that if we take the same moral high ground he has that America will have much better success at exporting our "morality" through armed conflict overseas.  Shades of George W. Bush rehashed just 19 months after he left office with the lowest poll ratings of any U.S. President, including the previous most unpopular U.S. President
Richard M. Nixon, who voters may recall was forced to resign as was his first chosen Vice President, Spiro T. Agnew. 

Do you really want to vote Republican this November?

Bizarrely, he began to conclude his speech(the conclusion alone lasted more than 20 minutes) with one of the few black guys actually present(the C-span cameras and Beck himself provided a disproportionate number of such faces as backdrop) and a bagpiper(yes, we're not kidding, a BAGPIPER) doing all 4 verses of "Amazing Grace," the Beck Stabber comparing himself quite favorably to the inspiring slave ship captain who changed his mind and turned his ship around and sailed his latest load of future slaves back to Africa and freed them as well as composing the most famous hymn of all. 

Beck even bastardized the gospel story of Christ at Gesthemenee, offering a twisted,inacurate and egotistical interpretation of this touching gospel story that is near and dear to this Christian's heart.  The message, Mr. Beck, is about Jesus' own humanity and His imperfection in criticizing those napping apostles, not, as you implied, the moral corruptness of the apostles for daring to sleep during Jesus' passion!  The message, Mr. Beck, is that God chose to humanize himself incarnate, and was, in fact prone to human foibles--just like you and I--and his criticism of his best friends, those apostles with Him before he was handed over to suffering and death, was uncalled for, sir. 

Yes, Mr. Beck, later on Jesus' best friend, Peter, did in fact deny Jesus 3 times before the break of dawn, however all the apostles were intimately involved in Jesus' passion and in fact had to be dissuaded from taking up arms to prevent His arrest!  Your pathetic theological machinations were just that, PATHETIC.   In the future, please stick to defending the slave-owning misogynists who wrote your favorite Declaration, and keep your public rants away from Jesus, who is, in fact, the Christ.

At the end, Beck demonstrated his utter confusion, by repeatedly telling the assembled masses that the "night" was coming to an end, and advising everyone to drive safely as they drove home to"night," etc.  The speech concluded in Washington, D.C. at 1:21 pm on a bright and sunny August afternoon, not "night" as Beck imagined.  Good "Night" Mr. Beck.  And good "night" Ms. Palin--any Presidential ambitions you may ever have had may now go to rest along with Mr. Beck, the Libertarian Party of which you are so fond, and your pal Rand Paul the losing Libertarian Senate candidate in Kentucky.