Can An All-Conservative Event Be “Non-Political”?

Glenn Beck and the Tea Partiers are at the Lincoln Memorial.  Beck claims his event  is “non-political” but evidence points to it being anything but.

Mr. Beck is billing his three-hour rally as an entirely nonpolitical event, a celebration of the military and a fund-raiser for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. But the timing and location – the very place where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his most famous “I have a dream” speech 47 years ago – make it anything but that.

How “non-political” is this event? Groups supporting it are all conservative.

• Tea Party Patriots providing staff, promotion.
• National Rifle Association sponsoring, promoting the event.
• FreedomWorks to cater to attendees’ “political” interests. According to a July 17 Politico article reported that Beck had “offered assurances” to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation that “he will leave his politically charged rhetoric behind” for the rally, but will nonetheless encourage attendees interested in politics to join the right-wing group FreedomWorks, which is chaired by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey.
• Americans for Prosperity providing buses to rally.

Every speaker is also conservative. Here we have a commemoration on the day Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous speech, and every speaker has been a vehement critic of our first black president.  And that includes the much-heralded niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Alveda King, an anti-abortion activist who has compared gay marriage to genocide and says Planned Parenthood has a “eugenic agenda.”  AlterNet has some ideas as to why she would speak at this rally.

Her decision to speak at Beck’s rally might also be a little vindictive payback. A few months ago, she was booted from the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta for holding an impromptu pro-life rally without the proper permits. Maybe it is also in direct response to King’s own son, writing into The Washington Post, about how shameful Beck’s rally is to his father’s memory.

Martin Luther King III has his father’s legacy correct:

My father championed free speech. He would be the first to say that those participating in Beck’s rally have the right to express their views. But his dream rejected hateful rhetoric and all forms of bigotry or discrimination, whether directed at race, faith, nationality, sexual orientation or political beliefs.

Featured speakers originally included Ted Nugent, who has a history of racist remarks.  Nugent had a conflict in his schedule and couldn’t attend.  Sarah Palin, who recently defended Dr. Laura’s use of the N-Word, did attend, however.  Yes, Abraham Lincoln today has his face in his palm.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.