Glenn Beck Rally, Washington, DC, 8/28/10

Yesterday 8/28/2010, I attended the Glenn Beck Restoring America Rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. It was very well attended. I am not an expert at determining crowd size, but my best guesstimate was that the attendance was about 250,000 to 300,000. Some reports claim that there were up to 700,000 attendees, and one news source claimed 87,000. I’ll stick with my original estimate.

This was not a political rally. It was about celebrating the greatness of this country, and a cry to return us to the principles that made this country great. Another purpose of the rally was to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The event raised over $5 million dollars for this noble cause. The mission statement of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation states: "The Special Operations Warrior Foundation provides full scholarship grants and educational and family counseling to the surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions and immediate financial assistance to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families."

It was a very emotional event for a lot of people. Many of those in attendance had lost family members who were serving their country in the US Military. I’d say that about 3/4 of the people that I talked to either had served in the military, or had a family member that either served or currently serves their country. As I was walking around, I came upon a group of ladies sitting together in the shade under a tree. Some appeared to be in their late 30s or early 40s, and some appeared to be in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. They all had one thing in common. They all wore a rectangular pin that had a red border, cream background, and right in the middle, a gold star. They were members of the Gold Star Mothers, an organization of women who have lost sons or daughters in action.

There was many a tear shed as the various speakers gave accounts of how members of their families had been killed in action, and how the SOWF had helped them by making sure that their children or grandchildren had enough money to earn a college degree. Recipients receive scholarship grants, not student loans. Radio and television personality, Glenn Beck, hosted the event. Other notable speakers included former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, who was there speaking as a mother of a son serving overseas in a combat position, not as a politician. Dr. Alveda King, the niece of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., also was a featured speaker. It was hot, crowded, and rewarding.

The only drawback that I saw was the lack of attendance of minorities. Others noticed that too, and expressed their regret. Every single person I talked to, and there were many, showed absolutely no racist tendencies at all. All of us would have loved having a large contingency of Black Americans and Hispanic Americans joining us. There were some, but not a whole lot. I have no idea why. Maybe they were told not to attend. Maybe they thought that they wouldn’t be welcome. If that was the case, they were 100% wrong.

I did not attend the counter rally sponsored by the Reverend Al Sharpton, who bitterly complained that Beck’s rally, on the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s "I Have A Dream" event on the same Lincoln Memorial steps, was a denigration of Dr. King’s legacy. I have news for Reverend Sharpton. There was no denigration at all. In fact, Dr. King’s legacy and greatness was addressed by speakers and approvingly recognized by the mostly white participants. From what I saw, those so insultingly called by the Liberal Elites and their minions, the "little people," the ones that out of "desperation cling to their guns and religion" at this gathering, showed not signs, covert or overt, of racism, if there was any at all in the first place. Have Reverend Sharpton and his followers? How much money did the grievance industry make this year? What was your cut of the action Reverend Sharpton?

I felt good about what I saw. I came away with a sense of hope and rejuvenation. Does this mean that I’m going to become a religious fanatic or something of the sort? No. I’m going to still go through life as a relatively spiritual person who, even though I was raised Roman Catholic and still loves the rituals of the traditional church, does not really practice a religion at this time in my life.

I will say this. If people attending this rally were but a microcosm of a much larger group of similar minded folks, we have a great future ahead of us…provided that people like this can become the dynamic majority force leading this country again. I think that the "Silent Majority" has been asleep at the switch for too long. This and the Tea Party movement may be the waking of the sleeping giant. I hope so.