Beck Claims Half Million At Rally
The Tea Party seems to be at a point where it can draw a crowd equivalent to the Anti-War movement. That means they are no longer just astroturf. They have a constituency and will be able to win elections. The recent Republican primaries in Florida and Alaska show the right has clout. By driving old school middle of the road Republicans like Charlie Christ right out of the party and giving a dark horse like Miller in Alaska a real chance, they are flexing their new found populist muscle.
Who are these people. They are mostly white older middle class or formerly middle class who feel that they have lost the country to a radical elite bent on enforcing equality for minorities on their backs.
Some of them are the white working classes who we should have on our side. They have been suckered in by nativist rhetoric that proposes that by closing the borders and kicking out illegal aliens their jobs will be protected. This is patently wrongheaded. The jobs are lost due to outsourcing by capitalists seeking the cheapest labor they can find and often as not that is China. The illegals are for the most part doing jobs that American citizens don't want, dirty back breaking jobs and low pay service jobs where they compete with high school kids.
Others, like the Christan Fundamentalists have used social issues to attract people and get them to go against their economic interests. They play upon peoples emotional attachment to babies and the family and claim that the left with its pro-abortion and pro-gay stances is threatening their core values. Adding the wrath of a punishing deity who can send their souls to hell to suffer, and these believers become the fodder for right wing demagogues who know how to push those buttons.
Then there are the libertarians, anti government and anti tax but pro capitalism. They seem to think that the only purpose of government is to defend the borders and enforce contracts. This group is the most like the left in that they have clear ideologies and positions on social issues that often we can agree with but their economic positions are an anathema. Giving corporations free rein is going back to the days of the robber barons.
Here is a report from CNN
Washington (CNN) — Large crowds rallied by conservative talk show host Glenn Beck, among them the Tea Party faithful, descended Saturday where the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech exactly 47 years ago.
People filled the park by the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial in the shadows and echoes of the most pivotal civil rights address in America's history.
Some of those who marched with King said Beck had usurped the day for his own political gain. The Rev. Jesse Jackson told CNN that Beck was mimicking King and "humiliating the tradition."
Other civil rights activists planned to gather nearby with the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network and march to the site of the future Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, just a few blocks from the Lincoln Memorial. It's possible participants in both events could cross paths.
Beck, a hero to many conservative voters across the country, said, however, that the rally is nonpolitical and its mission is to honor American troops.
He struck a spiritual tone in his opening remarks at the rally, which began shortly after 10 a.m. with the national anthem.
"America today begins to turn back to God," he told the crowd, which covered the upper steps of the Lincoln Memorial, as well as a large area around the speakers' stage.
"I have just gotten word from the media that there are over 1,000 people here today," Beck said sarcastically.
"We are humbled that you are here," he said. "The reflecting pool holds about 200,000 people. This field back here holds about 250- to 300,000 people. They are not only full here, they're full in that field, they're full behind me, and they are now across the street approaching the Washington Monument."
Tea Party activists from across the country are attending the event. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a Fox News contributor, spoke to the crowd just after 10:30 a.m.
Palin said she came to speak not about politics but as the mother of a soldier. She said America's men and women in uniform exemplified the virtues and values of America.
"Say what you want to say about me, but I raised a combat vet and you can't take that away from me," she said to a crowd that broke out in chants of "U.S.A! U.S.A!"
Sue Maliszewski of Phoenix, New York, described herself as not conservative but someone who feels that her beliefs are no longer reflected in government.
"I believe that we are dysfunctional as a country," she said.
"I believe it's hopeless unless we get back to our roots," Maliszewski added. "And that means our faith, and it means, reorganize our time. We have been so busy earning a living and raising our children that we have let different small groups overpower our opinions. And we're here to … reclaim what's wonderful about this country."
"Whites don't own Abraham Lincoln. Blacks don't own Martin Luther King. Those are American icons, American ideas, and we should just talk about character, and that's really what this event is about. It's about honoring character," Beck said.
CNN's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report."
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