“American miracle”: Beck’s outrageous predictions for his “historic” 8-28 rally
Glenn Beck has described his August 28 Restoring Honor rally with outrageous hyperbole, calling it everything from “an American miracle” to a “defibrillator to the heart of America.” Beck has also claimed that with the rally, he and his audience will be able to “reclaim” the “distorted” civil rights movement.
Beck on his rally: National “turning point,” “the anti-Woodstock,” a “defibrillator to the heart of America”
Beck: 8-28 will be “a defibrillator to the heart of America.” On the August 16 edition of his Fox News show, before he launched into a fundraising appeal for his rally, Beck described his August 28 Restoring Honor rally as “a defibrillator to the heart of America.”
Beck says his 8-28 rally will be “the Woodstock of the next generation.” On the August 19 edition of his radio show, Beck described his rally as “the Woodstock of the next generation.” Beck further explained that just as “Woodstock inspired a generation,” his rally “could be a new generation’s defining moment.” He also “guarantee[d]” his audience that if they don’t attend, they “will say, ‘Oh crap, I wish I would’ve been there.’ ”
Beck: 8-28 is “the anti-Woodstock.” The next day, Beck described the rally as “the anti-Woodstock.” Beck asked his audience if they remembered “how Woodstock just — it just stopped people and put them in that place” and claimed that “[t]he people who went, that was the moment for them.” Beck told his viewers that “[t]his will be a moment that they will remember for the rest of their lives.” He also told them that if they didn’t attend they will regret it “for the rest of their life.”
Beck: “Maybe in a 100 years from now or 200 years from now … this will be remembered as the moment America turned the corner.” On the June 8 edition of his radio show, Beck asked his audience to “bring your children with you” to his rally, claiming it will be “an image for the history books.” He went on to suggest that he believed that “maybe in a 100 years from now or 200 years from now” the event “will be remembered as the moment America turned the corner.” He added, “I believe this is the pivot point.”
Beck claims his rally will “grow the next George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.” On his May 27 radio show, Beck urged his listeners to attend the August 28 rally, imploring them to join him “to set things right in [their] own li[ves].” Beck went on to suggest that attending the rally would help to “grow the next George Washington and Abraham Lincoln” and restore America.
Beck: “I really, truly believe” that 8-28 “will be remembered in American history as the turning point.” On May 26, Beck advised his listeners to come to Washington, D.C. on the Thursday and Friday nights preceding his rally for events that he referred to as “unforgettable” and which “will make you weep all night.” He then claimed that his Saturday rally “will be remembered in American history as the turning point.” He went on to suggest that though it may be “even erased for history for a long time,” when “our children are the ones that are writing history, it will be remembered as the turning point in the American experiment.”
Beck: “You will see something on Saturday that has not happened in America for 228 years.” On August 24, Beck promoted his rally, claiming that his audience “will see something on Saturday that has not happened in America for 228 years.” Beck then said that the event would be “a historic moment” and that “if you read about it the next day or you see it on TV, you will say, ‘Oh man, I wish I would have gone.’ ” Beck also said of his 8-28 event and Divine Destiny event the night before, “This is a God event on Friday and a God event on Saturday.” He again implored his audience to “bring your children” to the event, claiming that attendees will “come as you are, but you leave there much more powerful.”
Beck: 8-28 rally is “going to be one for the history books,” “a turning point in America.” On the June 10 edition of his radio show, Beck again claimed that his rally will be “a turning point in America.” He also stated that the event is “going to be one for the history books” and could, in fact, be “double history” because it “may be the last time anybody’s going to be allowed to gather at the Lincoln Memorial.”
Beck claims “the Capitol will fix itself if we just stand between Washington and Lincoln and try to be those people.” On May 7, Beck suggested on his television show that while “everybody tries to fix the Capitol,” it is the attendees of his Restoring Honor rally that will succeed. Beck claimed that “the Capitol will fix itself if we just stand between Washington and Lincoln and try to be those people. Restore honor and the country will be fixed”
Beck: Restoring Honor rally “is a shockwave.” On the August 18 edition of his radio show, Beck began “begging” his audience to attend the Restoring Honor rally, stating that if “you are looking for a restoration … and you understand honor” to “come stand with” him. He referred to the event as a “shockwave,” telling his listeners that “it is truly going to be something where you come as you are, but you leave much, much, much stronger.”
8-28 will “reclaim the civil rights movement”
Beck: It was “divine providence” that 8-28 rally is on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. Beck discussed the date of his Restoring Honor rally on the June 18 edition of his radio show, claiming he didn’t know that 8-28 was the date of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech and stated that it was “divine providence” that his rally coincided with the speech’s anniversary. Beck said of the date, “[w]hat an appropriate day,” because he thought that King’s “dream has been so corrupted.” Beck then argued that “it’s time we picked that dream back up.” Beck later defended holding his rally on 8-28 by claiming that “whites don’t own the Founding Fathers” and “blacks don’t own Martin Luther King.”
Beck compares his “historic” 8-28 rally to King’s “I have a dream” speech. On the August 9 edition of his radio show, Beck stated that “the more we get into” the Restoring Honor rally, “the more historic it feels.” Beck then compared his rally to the 1963 March on Washington at which King delivered his “I have a dream” speech, suggesting that his 5-year-old daughter “will remember this moment,” just as someone Beck spoke with who went to King’s rally when she was 5 years old remembered that event. Beck told his listeners that “this is going to be something that you’ll never, ever experience any other time.”
Beck: At 8-28 rally, we will “pick up Martin Luther King’s dream that has been distorted.” On the June 15 edition of his radio show, Beck claimed that at the 8-28 event, he and his audience will “create history together … as we pick up Martin Luther King’s dream that has been distorted and lost.” He also said that “your children will be able to say, ‘I remember, I was there.’ “
Beck says his 8-28 rally will “reclaim the civil rights movement.” On the May 26 edition of his radio show, Beck claimed that the civil rights movement “has been so distorted and so turned upside down. It is — it’s an abomination what has happened.” He said that his rally would “be an iconic event” and that “this is a moment, quite honestly, that I think we reclaim the civil rights movement.” Beck also stated that though, at the rally, “we’re not going to talk about the issues of illegal immigration or anything that’s happening in Washington,” the attendees of the rally “will reclaim the civil rights moment. We will take that movement, because we were the people that did it in the first place.”
8-28: The “American miracle”
Beck: “I expect a miracle on 8-28.” On the July 22 edition of his radio show, Beck stated, “I expect a miracle on 8-28.” Beck also used a Biblical allusion to encourage his listeners to use the “40 days and 40 nights” before his rally to “change your life” and “start all over again.” Beck then asked his listeners to “witness” the “miracle” with him on 8-28.
Beck: “What is going to happen on 8-28 will be a miracle.” On his television show on August 11, Beck claimed that “what is going to happen on 8-28 will be a miracle.” Beck told his viewers that he is “filled with great hope because I remember, not what I’ve said to you, but what I know to be true. I’ve said for some time now, expect miracles.” He also told his listeners: “Literally, expect to see miracles. Great, powerful miracles are coming.” Beck also repeated the claim that his rally will be “a historic event” and again suggested that “there are forces in the government now that are trying to stop any new gatherings — after this one — on the Lincoln Memorial.”
Beck asks listeners to “be a part of an American miracle” on 8-28. On the August 23 edition of his radio show, Beck encouraged his listeners to attend his Restoring Honor rally by asking them to “be a part of an American miracle.” Beck appealed to his listeners by saying: “Please, if you are not thinking of coming to 8-28, or there’s some reason, you’re thinking, ‘Oh I’m not really sure’ — something miraculous is going to happen on Saturday.”
Beck says that “something miraculous is going to happen” at his 8-28 rally. On the August 16 edition of his radio show, Beck claimed that he doesn’t “know how many people will come” but that “something miraculous is going to happen.” Beck suggested that “your life, your fortune, and your country are at stake.” He further stated that “if the people show up, I think it’s going to provide a shockwave to this nation.” Beck told his listeners they need to “return to God, or we are going to be buried in the rubble of history.”
8-28 “will be indelibly marked” on attendees
Beck: 8-28 rally “will be indelibly marked” on your children. On the August 12 edition of his radio program, Beck encouraged potential attendees of his rally to “bring your children” because the event “will be indelibly marked. It will be marked forever. … It will be a brand on them.” He also suggested that his listeners “sleep in your car” and reiterated, “I’m not kidding you, sleep in your car.”
Beck: 8-28 “will be life-changing.” On the April 16 edition of his radio show, Beck described his Restoring Honor event as one that “will be life-changing.” He also suggested that the event will be “a moment you won’t soon forget.” Beck explained that it would be similar to his “American Revival” events and will be a “spiritual awakening.”
Beck: Restoring Honor rally “is going to be a moment” and “you will never, ever forget it.” On the May 24 edition of his radio show, Beck explained that he felt “overwhelm[ed]” by the “gravity” of organizing his rally. He then told his audience that he wanted them “to bring your son and daughter, and I want you to bring your grandchildren,” because “this is going to be a moment.” Beck claimed that “you will never, ever forget” the rally and that “it will be worth your time” and described the event as a “pivot point.”
Beck: 8-28 is “historic” and “will be a thing that your children will remember.” On the August 9 edition of his radio show, Beck suggested that his 8-28 rally will be a “historic” event. He claimed that “this will be something that you will read about and say, ‘Oh man, I wish I were there,’ ” and will “be a thing that your children will remember.”
Beck: An 8-year-old who attends rally will 20 years later say, “That’s when my feet were put on a path.” On the August 23 edition of his radio show, Beck claimed that “in 20 years from now, someone will be 28 and they will say, ‘I remember my parents took me as a kid, and I remember that moment, and I remember — that’s when I decided that I was going to live my life in a different way. That’s when I decided I knew what was important. That’s when my feet were put on a path.’ ” Beck also suggested that “if your children are with you at the Lincoln Memorial this Saturday, I can tell you that America will be fine 25, 30, 35 years from now.”
8-28 has so many “enemies” because it’s “going to be one for the history books”
Beck: Because 8-28 is “going to be one for the history books,” the “enemies have come out from the woodwork.” On the June 28 edition of his radio show, Beck claimed that he knows that his 8-28 rally will be “historic” because, “boy, have the enemies come out of the woodwork on this one.” Beck also touted the fact that people are coming to the event despite not knowing what is going to happen because “they feel something is going to be big, something is historic, something important is going to happen.” Beck continued by saying that his event is “going to be one for the history books.”
Beck: I “can’t be more clear” about 8-28 rally because “the forces arrayed against this are unbelievable.” On the July 15 edition of his radio show, Beck claimed that he could not “be more clear” and was not releasing more details about the Restoring Honor rally because “the forces arrayed against this are unbelievable, and the depths that they will dive down to is incredible.” Beck explained that he could not “tell you what’s going on” because “I am not going to put anybody else in danger. I am not going to put anybody else in the line of making their life a living hell up until 8-28.” He added, “Just know that it is going to be inspirational and history will be made.”
Beck: The Obama administration “is coordinating” effort by New Black Panther Party to “disrupt 8-28.” On the July 9 edition of his radio show, Beck suggested that “what’s happening with 8-28” is that the Obama administration “is coordinating through the Center for American Progress or Van Jones” an effort for the New Black Panther Party to “come and disrupt 8-28.”
Beck: “The campaign against this thing is absolutely unbelievable.” A few days later, on June 30, Beck claimed that “the campaign against this thing is absolutely unbelievable.” Beck also suggested that “this may be the last time people are gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, and boy, the left is doing everything they can to stop it from happening.” He also alleged that people were trying to “smear” him by claiming that he did not have the proper permits for his rally.
Beck: The left is organizing like never before because they “know how important this is.” On the July 1 edition of his radio show, Beck detailed transportation options for the rally when he claimed that “the left is organizing against 8-28.” He further claimed that “they are mobilizing like I have never seen before.” Beck alleges that the reason for such unprecedented opposition is because “they know how important this is” because, according to Beck, “this is the summer that it turns.”
Beck: “The left is doing everything they can to suppress turnout” to 8-28. On the July 19 edition of his television show, Beck told his viewers that “the left is doing everything they can to suppress turnout” and to “discredit this event.” He further claimed that “they have said and will continue to say all kinds of things about me,” because “they want you to be angry” and “they need you to strike out.”
The conservative Republican proponents of the corporate-bigot alliance known as “the Southern Strategy” are mounting one last frenzied Battle-of-the-Bulge effort to push the Bigot Buttons one more time in order to gain what they think will be unbreakable electoral dominance. Be it whipping up anti-immigrant hatred to freaking out about brown people they claim are Muslims — who they apparently figure are the last group left that it’s OK to hate — they have been working overtime. But when their actions result in things that might hurt their game plan — like when the folks whose prejudices they’ve inflamed go running out to stab cab drivers — suddenly they start singing the “But We’re Not Racists, Really!” song. (Even though, as Gene Lyons points out, they have nothing to fear from the “respectable” journalistic community, which is too cowardly to call them out by name.)
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