My Thoughts On The Glenn Beck Rally

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

It was my understanding there were a handful of people who sang Lift Every Voice and Sing (the Black National Anthem), more like hummed it since they didn't really know the words, when Alveda King (the Doctor's niece) spoke at the rally

I never even knew we had a black national anthem. That could be another thread on its own.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by firstdown

I never even knew we had a black national anthem. That could be another thread on its own.

Why don't you start it

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy

I'm not entirely clear on the point of this thread, but I am extremely uncomfortable watching someone spout that level of insanity and actually have an audience of the numbers being reported. That there are 6 digits of simpletons willing to spend their Saturday listening to a pandering moron, spout mythology and c-grade spirituality is a sad, sad commentary on the public and the state of our collective grip on reality. I would like to believe that we, as a modern society, are past the point when we give rapt attention to someone claiming divine inspiration ( I mean, really, ****ING DIVINE INSPIRATION?), presenting convenient scapegoats along the way... but clearly, that is not the case. How sad is it that there is such a leadership void in this country that people are turning to Glen Beck in his Jimmy Swaggart costume, as a source of guidance?

I was just giving my own personal perspective, peppered with my own opinion of the rise of Glenn Beck. I guess you take it in many different directions.

[dmek25]

Originally Posted by firstdown

I never even knew we had a black national anthem. That could be another thread on its own.

i grew up surrounded by blacks, being in the lower class. i have never heard of this. and it has to be one of the most ridiculous things that i have never heard about. you want your own anthem, start your own country

[12thMan]

Okay, so the thread isn't about Lift Every Voice And Sing - which is often referred to as the Negro National Anthem. Anyway, it dates back to 1900. It was orginally written as a poem and later set to music.

It's not a new song, it's hardly controversial, and I've seen it sang by whites, blacks, and everything in between since I was kid.

[mlmpetert]

The only things I watch on tv regularly are news, sports and…… Glenn Beck. Every now and then ill watch other tv programs, but I don’t really follow anything, too much of a commitment for me. Ive mentioned I watch Glenn Beck on thewarpath before but otherwise I rarely talk about it. Ive noticed that people are quick to lump Bill O’Rielly, Rush and Sean Hanity in with Glenn Beck. I honestly don’t like either of the aforementioned personalities besides Beck, their shows are garbage mixed with bashing while I believe Beck’s show is not. His show comes on at 5pm so its pretty inconvenient to watch. I think his radio show comes on at 3pm, so most people don’t listen to it either. In my observance most people have already made up their mind about Glenn Back without ever watching or listening to him.

There are 2 sides to his show; one where he presents factual backdrops for events and adds his “insight” into what he thinks the motives/ideas/decisions/considerations on why those events happened, the other has less objectiveness and is him ranting about something he doesn’t like. The vast majority of his shows are the factually musing type, those are the ones that I really like and watch. Glenn is also a very colorful guy and he gets very passionate and emotional about certain things and has a self described “big, fat mouth” so he says stupid things without always thinking them through. He really isn’t that great of speaker, he often trips up on what hes saying, but he tells a really great story and is extremely engaging.

A lot of people say Glenn Beck lies……. But when you ask them for specific examples of what he lied about there is nothing to back it up. You may be able to research things and say he mislead or lied about X, but ive never seen a good example. He also regularly asks his viewers to dig deeper into what he is saying, to prove him wrong or to get a better or different perspective of what he is talking about.

Also as a note I would define myself as fiscally conservative and very socially liberal. I disagree with him on things but he also makes great points without ridicule and to me its nice to see the other side of things. I encourage people to watch a few episodes of his show and do their best to watch it without already having their minds made up about what his intentions are before you just dismiss him. Clips from Olberman or thehuffington post don’t count.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by firstdown

I never even knew we had a black national anthem. That could be another thread on its own.

We already had a thread on the subject and you commented on it.

[12thMan]

Hahaha...Saden.

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by dmek25

i grew up surrounded by blacks, being in the lower class. i have never heard of this. and it has to be one of the most ridiculous things that i have never heard about. you want your own anthem, start your own country

I'm black and I don't even know the words.

Anyway, it is interesting to see Dr. King's niece there... Have to wonder what Dr. King would think about this whole thing if he was still here or if he would even support Beck's positioning. Part of me think he's rolling in his grave... But then the other part wants to think differently.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by DynamiteRave

I'm black and I don't even know the words.

Anyway, it is interesting to see Dr. King's niece there... Have to wonder what Dr. King would think about this whole thing if he was still here or if he would even support Beck's positioning. Part of me think he's rolling in his grave... But then the other part wants to think differently.

I think you're asking the right questions, DRave. But knowing Dr. King's history of reaching out to people whose (who's?) politics and approach were quite different than his own, I have to believe, while he may have had some reservations, he would have no strong objections to Beck's rally and may have offered tepid support.

Dr. King and Malcolm (not our Malcolm) had differences of opinions on a variety of issues, but towards the end it seemed that Malcolm was beginning to move more towards Dr. King's philosphy of non-violence and social justice. So I have to believe that on some level, King would agree with Beck's message of turning America back to God.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy

I'm not entirely clear on the point of this thread, but I am extremely uncomfortable watching someone spout that level of insanity and actually have an audience of the numbers being reported. That there are 6 digits of simpletons willing to spend their Saturday listening to a pandering moron, spout mythology and c-grade spirituality is a sad, sad commentary on the public and the state of our collective grip on reality. I would like to believe that we, as a modern society, are past the point when we give rapt attention to someone claiming divine inspiration ( I mean, really, ****ING DIVINE INSPIRATION?), presenting convenient scapegoats along the way... but clearly, that is not the case. How sad is it that there is such a leadership void in this country that people are turning to Glen Beck in his Jimmy Swaggart costume, as a source of guidance?

[Chico23231]

Originally Posted by DynamiteRave

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."

pssst...(thats what I was getting at)

[Beemnseven]

From what little I saw of this event, it looked less political, and more of the same religious, mystical, spirit-world, sky god crap that we usually get from Glenn Beck.

[DynamiteRave]

It's times like these I love my sig.

[Beemnseven]

I like this one:

"Eternal damnation awaits those who question God's undcontional love."