[RealCHEAPsoftDOWNLOAD]

I'm watching Glenn Becks' show, or gathering... rally, that's it. "Restoring Honor" rally. Restoring honor, he says means "looking for those who are living their lives the right way." Restoring honor, says Beck, is about God. Sarah Palin is there. Beck is striding back and forth on the stage, portable headset on ala Tony Robbins, shirt, tie but no jacket, glasses. Make no mistake, this is a Jesus rally.

He's going to award medals to some people. Faith is the theme for the first medal... no, tell me he didn't just go to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Yes, he did. Anyway, Beck's video says "to restore America we must restore the faith that once guided us," and then he refers to the values of our founding fathers.

First medal goes to Pastor C. L. Jackson, a Baptist minister who sits on the Texas Board of Criminal Justice and chairs the Community Corrections Committee.

Well, one thing is truly obvious to me, as it must be to anyone else on the planet who may be watching this; that is: Glenn Beck is a frustrated preacher.

I predict that within the next two years, Mr. Beck will give up his secular life on TV and radio and dedicate himself to a life of preaching. It will be televised of course, because Pastor Beck will want to have the largest, most watched religious broadcasts in history. He will have his own nonprofit, religious network.

[Andoror]

If Beck wants to "restore honor" he can start by making a commitment to consistently tell ONLY the truth on his show.

[Idorsearogele]

What award did Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa receive from Beck?

[poulaMahmah]

I predict that within the next two years, Mr. Beck will give up his secular life on TV and radio and dedicate himself to a life of preaching. It will be televised of course, because Pastor Beck will want to have the largest, most watched religious broadcasts in history. He will have his own nonprofit, religious network.

If you mean non-profit with a 7-figure salary and private jet, then yeah, I believe it. Beck will always chase the money.

[Preorbtat]

If you mean non-profit with a 7-figure salary and private jet, then yeah, I believe it. Beck will always chase the money.

It worked for Falwall, Roberts et. al.

At least I hope Beck saved some money: Maybe he melted all his gold assets down to make the medals.

And I'd love to hear La Russa's response to the rally tonight: He said he and the Prince were only going because they were guarunteed it wouldn't be a political rally. Preaching abouts is close enough in my book.

What did Palin do/say?

[AdvertisingPo]

What award did Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa receive from Beck?

Pujols got the medal for charity. LaRussa introduced him.

[Haibundadam]

It worked for Falwall, Roberts et. al.

At least I hope Beck saved some money: Maybe he melted all his gold assets down to make the medals.

And I'd love to hear La Russa's response to the rally tonight: He said he and the Prince were only going because they were guarunteed it wouldn't be a political rally. Preaching abouts is close enough in my book.

What did Palin do/say?

I didn't watch the whole thing, to be honest. A bit after Pujol, I got bored and turned to the weather channel. To be fair, it wasn't really overtly political at all. Very religious. It was Jesus Day at the Mall.

Palin. She talked and... god, she has an annoying voice. Okay, she talked about God and honor and God and America and well, that's about it.

[!!!maryann!!!]

If you mean non-profit with a 7-figure salary and private jet, then yeah, I believe it. Beck will always chase the money.

Yeah, that's pretty much how I picture it. Make no mistake, though, he's very passionate about the whole religion thing. He sounds like a preacher.

[Henldyhl]

He's a carnie. They can all turn on the preacher vibe when it suits them.

[art_fan_12]

He's a carnie. They can all turn on the preacher vibe when it suits them.

Very small degree of separation, Richard. lol I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he truly believes in God. Now, how he applies that belief remains to be seen. The event today, however, struck me as a grandiose exercise in self-aggrandizing showmanship.

[Abnorttrano]

Pujols got the medal for charity. LaRussa introduced him.

Pujols does do a lot for charity, but to receive the award at a Beck rally? I'm torn on that.

[WordofViagra]

Now there are disputes about crowd size. The Park Service doesn't make estimates anymore. CBS News hired a firm that specializes in such things. That estimate was 78,000-96,000. Beck says 300,000-650,000. Fox News (citing organizers) claimed 500,000 and Rep. Michelle Bachmann isn't going to let anyone disagree with her assessment. She states, "We're not going to let anyone get away with saying there were less than a million here today." Yes, Michelle, let's not let any facts get in the way of opinion.

I've looked at a bunch of pictures. One thing is pretty clear, the audience was very white. Very, very white.

[_tppga_]

Congratulations to Glenn Beck for an awesome rally on 8/28!

And to outdraw Martin Luther King, Jr. himself with only one little radio show and one little TV show to get the word out is amazing.

I believe America is waking up (finally) and is realizing what the politicians in Washington are doing to this country. Virtually every person I talk to is disgusted with the current way things are going in our government. Now, get out there and vote November 2nd and throw the bums out!

God Bless America.

[LindaSmithXV]

Yes. In the time-honored tradition of every snake oil salesman and carney throughout American history, Glenn Beck used God and well worn platitudes to sell the conservative utopia to the frustrated masses. Just pray and honor the America way, Beck told them, and everything will be okie dokie.

Look for the book, video tapes, tshirts, hats, coffee mugs and nationwide tour coming soon to your town.

[S.T.D.]

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug...lly-20100829/2

Says about 200,000 people were there, which is about as many as were there according to historical estimates to hear Dr. King. CBS, seemingly using a more scientific method, estimates upper 70k-mid 90k, as DES days.

Organizers say 500,000. But of course that's the only valid number in Reg's book.

You seriously are comparing using what you call "small" national television and radio shows as a hindrence to getting the word out? That's a lot more than what Dr. King had to work with.

If you think it was easy for an empoverished African American society to make it to the Mall in the 60s when travel was still much more of a luxury than a convenience, and you think it was hard for a well-off Beck audience to make it to DC, then you don't even understand what the argument of civil rights was or is. I'd like to see how many Beck supporters would have made it back then to DC, or how many, given time to prepare (as opposed to the hastily-prepared countr-rally) would have shown up to support Dr. King in 2010.

[bestformaldress23]

And I'd love to hear La Russa's response to the rally tonight: He said he and the Prince were only going because they were guarunteed it wouldn't be a political rally. Preaching abouts is close enough in my book.

Don't know if you want to read this, but this was posted on the STL Cards facebook. It has quotes in it from LaRussa, mainly about Pujols backing his decision to go to the rally.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...tnerId=rss_stl

Also that night the Cards lost to the Nationals, LaRussa was mad at the boys and then reporters asked him about the rally and he got mad at the reporters over that. Rumor has it people have pulled out of his and Pujols charities over the Beck rally.

[XqrkN4a0]

Washington Post:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plu...lly_turno.html
While the official Tea Party estimates of Saturday's rally attendance may range between a gajillion and the fafillion, the company CBS hired to give an estimate placed the turnout at a respectably large 87,000, larger than the official estimates of turnout last year's 9/12 rally but no where near the estimated 1.8 million that attended Obama's inauguration.

The number of people who showed up for Beck's rally was also considerably smaller than the 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom, at which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech and which Beck self-consciously styled his "restoring honor" event after, to the irritation of many liberals. The 1963 march drew around 200,000 people, according to contemporary estimates. The crowd then was considerably more diverse, had a leftist economic agenda and was organized by admitted socialists who palled around with a number of other lefty types who likely would have ended up on Glenn Beck's chalkboard back in the day. That crowd also was produced without the kind of financial support provided by Freedomworks and Americans for Prosperity, and at a time when long-distance communication tools were considerably more limited.

In fact, given the money and technology available to Beck, it feels like there should be a way to adjust for inflation when it comes to historical comparisons of crowd sizes. Imagine what King, the black church and labor movement could have done if they'd had access to the Internet and a television network.

The Million Man March in 1995, the last big event that similarly mixed a sort of vague spirituality with political criticism of the then-Republican majority's congressional agenda, drew around 450,000 people, according to the lowest estimates. Louis Farrakhan's relative obscurity other than as a right-wing bogeyman may also be instructive for liberals looking for some historical perspective. Ten years after positioning himself as the de-facto leader of black America, he was pretty much a non-factor politically.

[Pznrrmaf]

I watched a little bit of Beck today: He was going on about all the bad reports in the media: How MSNBC mistakenly reported Bachman and Armey would be there and the likes... All the while sticking to the 500,000 claim.

I look at the MLK speech, and it looks like people reach all the way to the Washington Monument. The Beck rally peters out by about the WWII Memorial, which wasn't there for King's time.

[pBiRXp8u]

Washington Post:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plu...lly_turno.html

Yep, that's what I was alluding to, what if MLK were speaking today.

[GillTeepbew]

Remember this thread? Seems Bill Maher has picked up on this, too.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bes...iref=allsearch