Outside of joining the locals in a deep and contented chuckle over the whole "STAY OFF THE GREEN LINE" matter, I'm not sure what there is to say about this coming weekend's "Glenn Beck Sings A Song Of Myself" rally on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. Weirdly, people only seemed to get terribly concerned about how it will be held on the same day of Martin Luther King's historic March On Washington this week, despite the fact that this has been known from the get-go. I'd have never imagined this was necessary, but on the off-chance that you're confused about whether Glenn Beck and Martin Luther King are the same person, here's some exhaustive research from Media Matters demonstrating this is not the case.
As Dave Weigel points out, it might be more worthwhile to be upset about "the b.s. way [Beck]'s selling" the rally. Not that this breaks with any of Beck's established traditions! But, as Politico's Ken Vogel reported, what's noteworthy is that Beck's fameball act is starting to irk some of his nominal allies, spurring some skepticism of his motives:
The rally and Beck's increasing political forays have made him an object of suspicion among some conservatives, even as they acknowledge his influence and potential importance as a spokesman.
"The conservative movement is still split on Glenn and whether he's doing it for himself or doing it for the movement," said Erick Erickson, founder of the influential conservative blog Red State. Erickson said he's offered his assistance to Team Beck in his political exploits, which in the past year have included a high-profile battle with the White House, the creation of a network of perhaps hundreds of political groups, and the keynote speech at a major conservative political conference. "Until that question is resolved, I think you're going to see some groups hesitant to go all in with him."
Some tea party leaders have rejected Beck's requests to help with the rally because of concern over his inflammatory rhetoric and fear that he was seeking to leverage their organizational know-how and grass-roots credibility for his own financial benefit, providing little in return.
"They wouldn't even give us a booth," said a leader of a tea party-related group that rejected Beck's entreaties. "I resented their presumption that a relatively small organization like ours would use our connections to promote an event where Glenn Beck and FreedomWorks are featured, and we get no recognition at all. No thanks."
Well, Beck's insanely melodramatic video promotion of the rally, replete with Goldline scamflackery and nutlog comparisons to Rosa Parks, the Wright Brothers, and the moon landing, isn't going to do anything to damp down that nascent skepticism:
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