Restoring Honor...

Glenn Beck is a strange person, in my estimation at least (for what that's worth). By strange I do not mean weird or freaky, but instead I mean that he is unique amongst his peers. There are dozens of talking heads who willingly dish out their personal brand of political philosophy on a nightly basis, yet few of them do it with the fervor of Beck.

I did not attend or watch even one minute of Mr. Beck's Restoring Honor rally over the weekend, but having read coverage of the event from nearly every angle and having discussed it at length with someone who was in attendance, I feel that I have a fairly good take on what the rally means in the grander scheme of our national political discourse.

First, as a good friend of mine was quick point out, this was not a Tea Party event. This may seem unimportant, as many of the people in attendance may self-identify as Tea Party participants, I think that it is important to note that Glenn Beck, while he may support the Tea Party, does not have authority to speak for it as a whole. In fact, no one has the authority to speak for the Tea Party as a whole (that is a separate issue for an entirely separate post).

Glenn Beck is a firebrand and a demagogue. Some people may object to my branding him as such and that is fine, we are all entitled to our opinions. However, what sets Beck apart from most demagogues is that, at least in my opinion, he is genuine. Sometimes I'm not even sure that he realizes that the emotion that he puts into his arguments is leading his audience away from logic and reason and leading them to decisions/opinions that are based not on fact but on fear.

The Restoring Honor rally was a gathering of individuals that believe that America has lost the connection to its roots. While there may be many among you that disagree with this, I am a part-time member of that club, there is no one among us who can deny the fact that we have in some ways strayed from the vision of this country laid out in our founding documents. Certainly the areas in which we each individually see this diversion is varied, but nonetheless, I don't think that anyone can argue that we have, in some way or another, managed to drift from the intent laid forth in the developmental years of our republic.

Many who attended the rally feel that we have drifted from the "judeo-christian values" that our country was founded upon. Others feel that the federal government has grown dramatically beyond the bounds originally imposed by the Constitution and some feel that the current administration is sending the country down the slippery slope towards socialism and communism. While I would disagree with some of these points and in part with others, none of these (or to be honest most of the issues discussed by those captured on dozens, if not hundreds, of biased videos of the event), it is hardly my place to emphatically deny someone the right to their opinion.

The real issue that exists in relation to this rally is the simple inability of either side (attendees or non-attending critics) to listen to each other and make inroads toward common ground. Instead we are led to believe that this gathering is an insult to the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech or an expression of racial fear and propaganda or some other negative thing.

Now, the right, and Beck in particular, has opened itself up to this criticism by allowing it's fringe elements to control it's message with no active attempt to moderate the debate. The GOP's silent consent (and even the vocal consent of some if its members) of hyperbolic rhetoric directed not only at the Obama administration, but at the left in general, has set the stage for a reversal of that fortune. 

Unfortunately for the state of our political discourse, the left has decided to employ the same tactics in it's response, lowering the discourse to an historically sad level. Historically speaking, this is a return to the example of our Founding Fathers (if you don't believe me, do some reading on the election of 1800), and unfortunately a return to the least amiable trait of he founding generation of leaders in our country. We have reached a point where voters are not given information, but instead provided a steady diet of propaganda from their preferred "news" source.

This rally is not what many are making it out to be, nor is it what Glen Beck will undoubtedly try to mold it's legacy into.  In reality, it is exactly what it was, a gathering of people who are, at least in some measure, aligned ideologically. It was a rally, that's all. If this rally had been put on by someone other than Glenn Beck it would have received a smattering of coverage (certainly more if they had still managed to get Sarah Palin to attend), but certainly not the volume that it managed to achieve. 

So you can watch the videos on YouTube filled with the most obvious signs of naivete and ignorance, but they will not give you a clear image of what this rally was. Because at the end of the day, it was a gathering of the religious, who feel that their beliefs are being marginalized and that they are losing touch with the country that they believe was founded according to their beliefs. 

That is not to say that all those who attended hold these feelings, there are many who could care less about socio/religious debate and would gladly leave it behind to focus in on the real issues at hand, namely the economic plight of the US and the complete and utter inability of our government to affect worthwhile change through the system laid out in our constitution.

So while you try to wade through all of the disinformation, misdirection and obfuscation that will make up the coverage and commentary on this event, remember this, none of it will fix our economy. No debate, no matter how impassioned, about how many people attended this rally will have any effect on the government spending deficit, tax policy or governmental gridlock. This rally was many things to many people, but it was not (well, at least not in the opinion of someone who doubts anyone will read this) worth even 1/10th of the coverage it was given.