The Beckoning: An On-Site Report

Glenn Beck gave his "I Have A Scheme" speech at the Lincoln Memorial today, with 50,000-75,000 people attending.  The event did live up to its promise to be non-political.  Sister Sarah, the queen of the Teabaggers, told the crowd that she was appearing as the mother of a veteran-- speaking at length on how Americans should show appreciation and respect for how the military has served the country.
 

 Indeed, the crowd had a definite "Memorial Day" feel to it-- just replace the POW activists with a heavy dose of libertarians.  Demographically, the crowd most certainly skewed older, and was overwhelmingly white.

Beck's remarks were so bland, I can't imagine anyone having an real objections to what he said.  Unlike his radio and TV performances, there was no fear-mongering, no race-baiting, no hateful invectives, no shilling to either buy or sell gold.

Beck's remarks had strong religious themes-- though carefully avoiding any denomination-specific code words or phrases.  "For too long, this country has wandered in darkness, and we have wandered in darkness in periods from the beginning," Beck said, at times pacing at the memorial. "We have had moments of brilliance and moments of darkness. But this country has spent far too long worried about scars and thinking about the scars and concentrating on the scars.

"Today," he continued, "we are going to concentrate on the good things in America, the things that we have accomplished - and the things that we can do tomorrow. The story of America is the story of humankind."

That's it-- nothing specific, nothing controversial.  Just an over-sized "live" infomercial for Beck Incorporated.