About ready to bail

[Bgno64]

I don't know folks, today's Glenn Beck rally just about did it.

Let's not downplay the size of the crowd - it was humongous. Lot of people out there amenable to Beck's message. But what is that message? Unite and pray more.

Well what the hell does that mean?

"Unite?" Though the people on the mall today took pains to tell reporters that they were not solid Republicans - some said they'd even voted for Democrats in the past! - my bet would be that about 98 percent self-identify as "conservative." They're not Republicans because the Republican Party on the whole isn't conservative enough for them.

They've seized on the national debt issue, they're been impacted by the economic malaise, and now they want us all to "unite."

On what basis?

What - shall my kid be forced into mandatory prayer in school? Is that an issue they think we can "unite" on? Or permitting those without health care to just suck it up, because these God-fearing Americans don't want to have to pay for the "deadbeats" health care?

Is this something we're supposed to "unite" on?

Beck's movement doesn't signify the beginning of something, it's the end of something. The end of the Reaganite conservative movement, its last desperate gasps. But cornered desperate animals are quite dangerous. So is this movement.

And yet, the only real alternative we have to it is the corporatist Democratic agenda. A Democratic Party, led by a president whose overriding goal seems to be buttressing the status quo - a status quo even I, a stalwart liberal, believe has failed and must be changed. Basically - vote for continued Wall Street impunity, or vote for the Beck/tea party alternative.

I don't know folks. I'm extremely sad for my country, and on the verge of thinking maybe I should leave it - leave America to its self-inflicted implosion, watch sadly from afar, another country, far from Glenn Beck's maddening crowds.

[sharp_stick]

1. Humongous?

Hell maybe 60 or 70,000 on a beautiful August Saturday. It's a good crowd but I'll be Justin Bieber would blow it out of the water if he decided to show up.

If the beckfest is all it takes to get you to bail you don't have the stomach for any real kind of politics I'm sorry to say.

[backwoodsbob]

8. im hearing 150+k

fuckers are drawing a crowd.

We need to shut them down with reason.....not hate

[sharp_stick]

13. There was nowhere near 150K

Take a look at the following link taken from the Washington Monument

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9034279

The crowd was pretty decent but nowhere near 150K, maybe 70K

[emilyg]

27. NBC said 350K

[sharp_stick]

28. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

who cares?

[emilyg]

29. You care. You have 3 posts on this thread.

[sharp_stick]

33. Actually the who cares

was directed at the laughable notion that 350,000 people were at the site. There were nowhere near that many and anyone that claims there were is delusional.

[walldude]

41. 150,000 is half of a half percent...

Of America. Not exactly a majority. Hell that's not even a minority. It's a fringe group.


But I agree things are spiraling down the shitter.

[donco6]

36. Doesn't matter. It was whatever size they want it to be.

See, that's the problem. People WANT to believe this Beck shit. They're purposely CHOOSING to believe whatever that whackjob says. If he says it was Eleventy Trillion, that's how many it was. THAT'S the real problem. They don't care about facts anymore - even video documentation won't sway them. And it's not about Beck, either. If it wasn't him it'd just be some other loser. It's the PEOPLE themselves that are fucked up. They seek out these liars because they say what they are wanting to hear. Beck doesn't influence anyone - he just parrots what they already believe and they lap it up and demand more.

You can argue crowd size and try to get Beck to shut up, but none of it will matter. The real question is, How do you convince people of their error, when they are absolutely convinced they're right?

[EstimatedProphet]

39. You can't, and we won't

This is why it is that these things are so disturbing to me. What we're really talking about are people living in a delusional world. There is no way to argue someone out of a delusion. And if it is a paranoid delusion, such as the kind Beck sells, then any attempt at reasonable discussion will automatically be perceived as a threat to their beliefs. Unless some way is found to break the brainwashing that Fox performs on the public, it will continue to get worse until the situation blows up. There is violence coming. Count on it.

[donco6]

40. +1

:scared:

[NC_Nurse]

2. I'm still in wait and see mode myself, but I have sympathy for the feeling you have.

I'm always taken aback when I see how many gullible people there are in this country willing to follow some charlatan down the path to madness. It's sad.

[RagAss]

3. Ok...goodbye.

[uppityperson]

4. It is sad that there are so many people who feel that way, like those at the rally

I shake my head and wonder why and it makes me sad and somewhat afraid because there are those types/

[NJCher]

5. you need

to go back through pics of the protests against bush after the election and also against the Iraq war.

And these are protest after protest after protest.

Does anyone have a picture collection of these protests? Can someone help the OP?

I do not wish to downplay the number of idiots in this country, either, but this protest in no way compares to the ones we have held.


Cher

edited to add "picture" to collection above

[barbtries]

7. the difference of course

is that those never made the news. this one will dominate it.

[Bgno64]

9. Correct

The media, cowed by the "lib'rul media!" canard on the right, is forced to give the Beck event far greater coverage than it gave the larger anti-war protests. Because if they don't, the conservatives will scream about bias - they've mastered working the refs. It works. The press is hamstrung, forced to give conservative movements/causes/events greater coverage than they will ever give liberal events.

It's another reason why this country is so fucked.

[barbtries]

16. it's a big reason

this country is so fucked. it just can not be overstated.

[NJCher]

10. yeah?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9034776


Cher

p.s. you are right, of course, that many did not. I was an organizer for the inaugural protest against bush's first theft of the election and I was sick when I read the NY Times the next day--and not a word, though we'd had something like 20-25 buses out of NYC.

[barbtries]

21. i love those pictures

i'm just saying the media hypes up every tea bagger event and pretends huge demonstrations on the left never happened. it is maddening.

[NJCher]

26. yep

I am filled with disgust over the fact that it is the lead story on NBC Nightly News.


Cher

[JuniperLea]

30. Well said!

We have short memories. I hope Beckfest lights a little fire under our collective butts. My hope is that in a week we are thanking Beckkk for uniting us... Much like Dumbya did as illustrated by those protest photos.

[barbtries]

6. i feel pretty much the same.

don't know where i'd go or how i'd live once there - i'm 55 now. but i am deeply disillusioned with "my" country tis of thee. ain't what it used to be. is it true that the crowd chanted "USA" for 51 whole minutes???

[onethatcares]

11. your lyrics are quite stirring.

"my country tis of thee
ain't what it used to be"

I avoided tv coverage today just because it hurts my heart to think that many folks would travel that far to maybe hear someone give a hate speech.

Oh,I know I shouldn't think that hate was going to be a part of today, but in all honesty,20% of the country thinks our president is a Muslim, 23% would want us to go back to Jim Crow laws and take the vote away from people. What's even worse, the folks that did show up today in the mall think * did the right thing in invading a sovereign country and killing its' leader based on lies.

I just turned 59, I'm probably at the last job I'll ever work at (if it lasts) and I was hoping it was going to be a little different than this.

If I were to lose my wife, I'd be outa here in a nanosecond. Where I would go, I haven't thought yet.

Peace.

[barbtries]

15. thank you

peace to you and to your wife.

[bobbolink]

12. Some of us have said for a long time that we need to give the choir a rest, and start

speaking to those outside our circle.

That suggestion falls on deaf ears, or meets with derision, as shown by some of the replies here.

Once again, I will say.. there are ways to reach that great divide, and help at least some of the people understand.

We could do it, if we had the will.

But it is much more fun to come here and blast those we consider beneath us.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bobbolink]

22. As you know, I am not concerned about conservatives.

When I can't even get "liberals" and "progressives" to be active in saving the lives of people who are being cut off disability under a "Democratic" president, then how am I supposed to care about the elections or anything else?

Then, multiply me by thousands... by millions......

[Fumesucker]

24. I haven't had a job in over two years..

If it were not for the kindness of family I'd be out on the street..

So I know just where you're coming from..

[bobbolink]

23. I wish it wouldn't say it didn't post, when it did.

:argh:

[TBF]

34. Excellent post and correct as usual. nt

[pinboy3niner]

14. More likely they'll be hoist on their own petard

This is a minority, captivated by empty demagoguery.

A lot of conservatives are turned off by hucksters like Palin, Beckkk and Limbaugh. Some have begun speaking out against them and their message, and I think we're going to see more of that. Palin may seem to have an impressive following, but look at her approval ratings and how many candidates blessed with her imprimatur have failed.

Bail? Give up? NOT ON YOUR LIFE! They don't cause me to despair--they only get me more fired-up, more engaged, more determined to oppose them.

I don't see how they can sustain whatever momentary success they've had. Their message is full of so much BS and so many contradictions that they're really quite vulnerable. And the more they speak out, the more vulnerabilities they create.

Remember--Joe McCarthy was popular for a while, too...

[Ryano42]

17. Amen brother...

A wise man once said,

NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER. (I know it's a movie but hey he was right! :))

Seriously...you think for a moment I will let the MORANS win? Nope...this is war. I am prepared to fight for my country. Look at our history; these idiots are far, way far from the worst we have ever faced.

And if there is one reason to get out there and vote this is it! FIGHT AMERICAN EXCEPTIONAL STUPIDITY!

:patriot:

[EFerrari]

19. Actually, that rally is a fullfillment of the Reagan movement.

Are you kidding? Reagan ran overtly on states' right. He was as racist as they come.

[Swamp Rat]

31. *plop!*

thus ended the 'Reagan Movement' in 2010. :)

[Parker CA]

20. Never let the convergence of mass idiocy stand in the way of the right direction. Persistence. nt.

[Obamanaut]

25. Check the immigration laws for whatever host country you select, before you go. nt

[Steely_Dan]

32. I Understand Your Feelings

My soul hurts today. Even if the Beckfest isn't the beginning of some new RW thrust, it does seem to indicate the ending of something. I'm not sure what that something is...

All I know is that I'm tired of fighting for Progressive causes (what used to be known as simply Democratic causes).

I will feel different tomorrow. I will pick up the banner again and fight. Just now, however, my energy is near spent.

-P

[TBF]

35. I want to leave too -

hoping for a job transfer through my husband's company. They have the austerity measures in Europe (class warfare alive and well across the globe) but at least our kids wouldn't have to deal with all the fundamentalists.

[HipChick]

37. Europe isn't exempt from them either unfortunately..

[NNN0LHI]

38. But you stayed when Bush had a +90% approval rating?

Something is funny here.

Don