Monday, August 30, 2010

Tens of thousands of conservatives rally in DC to admit they were wrong.

Tom In Paine:


Tens of thousands of conservatives, most of them Tea Party conservatives and Republicans, descended on Washington DC to attend a rally hosted by Glenn Beck whose theme was "Restore Honor".

It was heartening for anyone to see tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of conservatives rallying to restore honor, something they are now admitting has been missing from their lives for a long time. So it's nice to see that they have seen the light and are now admitting that they've been wrong. About everything.

Beck said the point of the rally, it's reason for being, is that "honor integrity and respect must be restored" to America, something he is obviously admitting has been sorely lacking with conservatives for decades. And since it was a conservative president,George W. Bush who dishonored America more than any president in history it was fitting to see all those conservatives admitting it and asking forgiveness.

Beck's rally to restore honor does come a little late. Its a rally they should have held during the Bush Administration when George W. Bush dishonored America with his gross negligence in ignoring 9 months of terror warnings that eventually allowed the 911 attacks to happen when they could have been prevented, to his incompetence with Katrina, to the first pre-emptive war in America's history which was all based on lies and deceit, and to economic policies that caused the worst economic crisis since the Depression. All with help from the Republican congress.

But conservatives admitting their mistakes and holding a rally to restore honor, integrity is at least a start. After all, conservatives are always a few years behind reality. They were 100 years behind the civil rights struggle of the 60's ( or 400 depending on your point of view). In the case of evolution they've been about 100,000 years behind.

But better late than never. A conservative rally about "Restoring Honor" is a nice way for them to say " We're sorry".

Beck said that conservatives should take back the civil rights movement. That its theirs, that they are the ones responsible for it. And of course he is right. We all have seen the pictures of southern conservatives pushing African Americans through the school house door, even as blacks in this country struggled to preserve segregation. And who can forget the haunting images of Mississippi firehoses being turned on African Americans, blowing them into lunch counters where they were force fed by conservatives insisting on integration.
It was certainly heartwarming to see conservatives now wanting to commit themselves to restoring the honor, honesty and integrity that has been missing from everything they do. Its nice to see them in such large numbers renouncing those who left phone messsages for Bart Stupak that said they were going to pray that he get stomach cancer. But then again, conservatives have always been a deeply religious lot.

And lets give Glenn Beck some credit. It took courage to call for a rally to restore honor, truth and integrity to America. It took a lot of guts and a willing sacrifice of his own welfare. Especially since if it succeeds it will put Fox News out of business.

1 comment:

Chuck Green said...

It's refreshing to hear this view of the movement, and of Glenn Beck. I'm surprised but respect that you didn't bring up Beck's completely fabricated story about having just held Washington's innaugural address in his gloved hands. You showed restraint in not linking that to the distortions his network is especially known for.
Storytellers (and folk singers), not real reporters, wil say "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." But then Beck and Fox News too often fall into the former category.