Glenn Beck Debases, Dishonors and Disgraces MLK’s Dream

Still unable to accept the outcome of an election not decided by the right-wing Supreme Court, tens of thousands disgruntled white people gathered on the very spot where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech 47 years ago to decry the African American President that normal people legally elected to clean up the abhorrent aftermath of 30 years of class warfare Reaganomics and 8 years of disastrous Bush policies.

Beck, a incredibly-wealthy huckster told Forbes magazine that he could “give a flying crap about the political process”, but is only in it for the money, and who uses his Rupert Murdoch and Saudi Prince Alwaleed-owned Fox News show not only to convince his willfully ignorant audience into losing their money by “investing” in a gold coin company currently under investigation, but also to espouse an ideology meant to cultivate divisions in this nation – lest people turn their anger on the big moneyed interests that Beck convinces his dupes to loudly rally to support.

Bussed to Beck’s Restoring Honor ™ rally courtesy of billionaire climate denier right-wing billionaire David A. Koch of the oil giant Koch Industries, the so-called “non political” event steeped-in politics attendees were praised by half-term governor opportunist Sarah Palin, praised “patriots” in the audience for “knowing never to retreat”… from… I guess… the legally-elected black guy in the White House… and directed to join FreedomWorks, the Astroturf funding arm of the Teabaggers run by former representative Dick Armey, who holds the notable opinion the government-run socialist healthcare known as Medicare- that many of the Teabaggers currently enjoy without a sense of irony – “trashes the Constitution.”

Of course, Republicans traditionally become born-again Constitutionalists during Democratic administrations when it seems like their true constituents – big-moneyed interests and their transnational corporations – may have to loosen their grip around the neck of working people if “pesky” government gets in the way.  This is nothing new.

Beck, who has ensured that racial wounds remain wide open so that our economic royalist masters can drive a wedge between the people who they seek to control, has called the first African-American President a “racist with a deep seeded hatred against white people” as well as railed against the very philosophy of “social justice” that Martin Luther King devoted his life to.

The People For the American Way released a statement about Beck’s bastardization of MLK’s dream here:

Glenn Beck and Dr. King

Michael B. Keegan, President of People For the American Way, released the following statement about Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally in DC this weekend:

“Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech was one of America’s proudest moments, and helped define the core values of a nation. Dr. King’s speech was a powerful call for tolerance, compassion, and unity in a harshly divided country. On that day in August of 1963, his March on Washington gathered hundreds of thousands of Americans devoted to expanding equality and opportunity.

“Forty-seven years later, Glenn Beck is trying to appropriate Dr. King’s legacy in order to push his agenda of intolerance, fear, and division. Beck says he’s ‘reclaiming civil rights.’ In fact, he’s insulting exactly what Dr. King and his movement stood for.  Beck has made himself famous for his attacks on progressives, Muslim Americans, union members and even churches who preach the social justice values to which Dr. King dedicated his life.  He claimed that President Obama has ‘a deep-seated hatred of white people.’  Beck is not ‘restoring honor’ to our country; he’s just fanning the flames of tired old prejudices amplified and enlarged for political gain.

“Beck’s histrionics and his deeply cynical appeals to bigotry are anathema to Dr. King’s legacy.  In honoring the life work of Dr. King, Americans should stand for justice and equality for all people, and against hate and those who speak, teach and promote it.”

Robert Greenwald invites us all to “stand with Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a just, diverse and equal society. I do not stand with Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin and their attempt to destroy and distort King’s vision.” Go to Greenwald’s site “Glenn Beck is not Martin Luther King Jr. to sign the statement.

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