Report From the Front Lines Of Glenn Beck’s “Restore America” Rally
“Seriously, no shit, I did not know,” says the prematurely gray icon when asked why he chose to hold his “Restore America” rally on the very same day and location of Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech.
That only weeks before, on his own show, he outright claimed that he had carefully chosen the exact date and location as a quite intentional attempt to reclaim the date for his own purposes seems to have somehow been forgotten by the Foxs News commentator whose most recent book, “The Overton Window”, was so full of grandiose self-delusions and outright lies that his publisher, Threshhold Editions (a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster) chose to release it as a work of fiction. There is now talk of doing the same for his previous books as well.
Beck, of course, is a visionary who recognizes that times have changed. In the 1960′s, Martin Luther King spoke fluently, poetically, and with a straight-forward message of peace and equality that was heard not just around the country, but around the world. Newspapers carried complete transcripts of the speech and, though there were only three networks, all featured the speech prominently.
These days, such words would only fall on deaf ears because, though there are numerous networks devoted to 24/7 news coverage, none believe their audience capable of digesting an entire speech. Additionally, they are 100% unwilling to air something that they haven’t pre-approved, for fear of being seen as an impartial news organization. See, impartiality endears you to no one. Even a news organization is slave to the almighty dollar and, as a result, they must not merely attract viewers, but keep them. Thus, they will edit and broadcast only those points of a speech that serve their particular agenda-of-choice which will, in turn, attract their audience-of-choice. Beck, genius that he is, realizes this and proves it to a nearby journalist by thrusting his checkbook into the reporter’s face.
“See that number at the bottom with all the zeroes? It ain’t my phone number, beeyotch!”
His cell phone vibrates again, looking at the Caller ID, he again begs off of our interview to take it.
“You tell Palin that she has five fucking minutes to decide whether she wants to read the speech my writers wrote for her or I will just tell the crowd she’s stuck in traffic. If she doesn’t believe me, she can ask the rabbi, or the Islamic representative who are also ‘stuck in traffic’ and not able to appear.” He seems to take a perverse pleasure in emphasizing his words with outlandish air quotes, even though he’s barking into a cell phone.
He closes the phone before whipping it at his assistant, ricocheting off her forehead. “You’re supposed to be screening my calls! What am I paying you for?”
Never mind that the phone had been in his pocket. Beck is a man on a mission and, today, let’s face it, he is not going to let truth stand in his way. The fate of the world rests in this man’s hands, just ask him. He knows that isn’t true, but his followers do not. Thus, he owes it to them to not only continue to live the lie, but to further it as well. He knows all too well their insatiable need for more. If he refuses to feed the beast, or does not feed it enough on a daily basis, he runs the risk of losing this audience. The consequences of doing so may very well be the final rip in the fabric of this great nation. His audience is gullible, fragile and easily led. If not for him, many would have joined cults or lost their life savings to scam artists.
That’s why, as a reporter from the front lines, I recognize that the man standing before me is a modern-day Martin Luther King, fighting the good fight for America on behalf of all stroke victims, elderly shut-ins and regular folks with an IQ lower than 80. They may not have a dream beyond that of their next trip to Hometown Buffet on “Endless Chicken Wings Night”, but Glenn Beck does!
The next time their fingers are glazed with the grease of a thousand dead chickens, they may or may not fully realize the price Glenn Beck pays so that such joys are possible, but I do and, for that, I say “Thank you, Glenn Beck. Thank you!”.
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Darren Robbins is a fellow graduate of the “Almost Famous” University, a gifted songwriter, raconteur and lovable curmudgeon. When you’re not reading him here, check out his terrifc blog… HE’S A WHORE…check out his new STORE as well.
