Obama Plays Off Glenn Beck Rally, But Education Secretary Urges Employees To Attend Sharpton Rally
Apparently, there were two rallies in DC over the weekend, commemorating the 47th anniversary of Dr. 
Martin Luther King's, 'I Have A Dream' speech. One, from an unexpected promoter... FOX News commentator, Glenn Beck.
Described as more of a religious revival than anything political, Beck's event drew a massive crowd, estimated at least 300,000 and as much as a million. President Obama played it down and said that he didn't watch any of it, in an interview with NBC anchor, Brian Williams.
he swears he didn't watch any of Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally on the National Mall yesterday and says he doesn't find it surprising that "a Glenn Beck can stir up some of the people."
Yet, interestingly enough, his own Education Secretary Arne Duncan, is reported to have urged his employees to attend a hastily organized rally by Al Sharpton, which mainly characterized the Beck rally as racist and was more sparsely attended.
Arne Duncan
From The Washington Examiner:
"ED staff are invited to join Secretary Arne Duncan, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and other leaders on Saturday, Aug. 28, for the 'Reclaim the Dream' rally and march," began an internal e-mail sent to more than 4,000 employees of the Department of Education on Wednesday.
Sharpton created the event after Glenn Beck announced a massive Tea Party "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial, where King spoke in 1963.
Oddly enough, Sharpton originally hadn't planned anything for the occasion. Speaks volumes, really.
Permalink | tagged Al Sharpton, Glenn Beck
Reader Comments (8)
That email should never have been sent. That kind of "suggestion" shouldn't be given to federal workers. No way.
Vanishingly unlikely. Beck drew quite a few folks, for sure. But—just based on the raw space it took up—the crowd total is highly unlikely to have exceeded 100,000. Of course, there will always be some people who won’t hesitate to make the most inflated claims.
True enough, Winston...but it would be unwise to dismiss the massive disparity between the numbers of both groups as not indicative of the mood of much the nation.
You said the crowd was “estimated at least 300,000.” It’s quite unlikely it was even one-third that large. Beyond that, I just find it ridiculous to even suggest that a million (much less a million six) people gathered in a space of slightly less than a million square feet.
Yes, the disparity between 87,000 (give or take ten percent) and 1.6 million, or even 300,000, is massive. Now, look, I recognize large rally attendees also represent lots of people who may sympathize but for one reason or another don't show up, and I know there's a lot of dissatisfaction with Democrats generally and the Administration in particular. Hell, I share some of that dissatisfaction.
But it’s highly questionable whether the mood of the nation is a wholesale embrace of TeaParty Nation's rage, ignorance and nihilism.
Presuming Beck’s followers to be more or less identical to TeaPartiers, you have to admit some significant subset of this group has racial attitudes that are, uh, troubling. Compared to the general public, more than twice as many think the Administration favors black Americans. Seriously. They’re more likely than the general public—even more likely than other Republicans—to say too much has been made of black peoples’ problems.
But look: rather than get tangled up in the distracting, unproductive “who’s a racist” game, let’s completely set their attitudes aside. Let’s look at what we know for sure about them. They don’t look much like America does anymore. They’re not very diverse. They’re disproportionately older, male, married, and well-off. They are more—quite a bit more (14%) than the rest of us—likely to admire George W. Bush.
Do they represent a slice of Americans? Sure. We’re anxious and angry and rightly so. We have a lot of serious problems. Many solutions have been blocked and hamstrung because government functions have been captured by special interests.
But if the message is, we can trace our problems to Muslims, Mexicans, immigrants, black folks, poor people, gays and liberals, I just don’t think a lot of people are on board with that. If the message is, keep deregulating and keep cutting taxes for the wealthiest and services for the poorest, let's do nothing to create jobs or to help people stay in their homes, and let's end Social Security, well, honestlty, I don't think a lot of people are going to find that a compelling message, GR.
There are reasons, you know, billionaires support the Tea Party “grass roots.” To some extent these groups were created by billionaires, and billionaires didn’t get that way throwing their money away.
"300,000 -- The number another National Park Service official gave to NBC News."
Of course I know the people that handle these things according to Winston don't know shit but ever sense Barry's ‘snake oil inauguration ceremony’ came in under that five million number we were all promised, the left just can't stand to be upstaged. Hang in there Winston; you'll always have "The Million Man March" with Farrakhan. LOL.
Whatever you say, Tom. Whatever you say. LOL.
"Whatever you say, Tom. Whatever you say. LOL."
I sense slowly but surely its dawning on Winston that come November its over.
"Tidal wave? 10-point edge for GOP
By JONATHAN ALLEN & RICHARD E. COHEN | 8/31/10 10:37 AM
The party's lead on a "generic ballot" is the largest in the Gallup poll's 68-year history."
BTW in 94' the Republicans were only tied in this poll and picked up 40 seats. Holy shaaat; what does a 10% lead translate too? 70 seats?
This guy Winston's a hoot, man. He seriously brings teh funny.