In their speeches on the Mall yesterday, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin followed a script familiar to students of American history's most storied demagogues: They played on their followers' murky fear that a sinister and Godless other is trying to transform our country into something no longer recognizable as America.
Consider their money quotes. Beck called the rally for the sake of "restoring honor," and said:
"Something that is beyond man is happening. America today begins to turn back to God. For too long, this country has wandered in darkness."
Beck also insisted that we must turn "back to the values and principles that made us great."
Palin, meanwhile, said:
"Say what you want to say about me, but I raised a combat vet. You can't take that away from me."
And Palin also said:
"We must not fundamentally transform America as some would want. We must restore America and restore her honor."
Consider Beck's claim that his speech marks "America" turning "back" to God, and the exhortation that we turn "back" to what made us great. The unbearably obvious implication of these quotes, and of the title of the rally itself, is that someone or something has tarnished our honor and turned America away from God and American greatness -- presumably two sides of the same coin.
Beck repeatedly claimed that his rally wasn't meant to be "political." As high-minded as that may sound, the real point of stressing the rally's apolitical goals was political in nature. The idea was to relieve himself of the responsibility to pinpoint who, precisely, he wants his followers to blame for leading us away from God and for tarnishing our honor. Beck wants this all to be drawn by inference -- classic political demagoguery.
The intent of Palin's quotes were even more obvious. Palin, after all, noted explicitly that "some" want to "transform" the country into something that now requires us to "restore America." She also implied that someone, somewhere, wants to "take away" from Palin the fact that she raised a combat veteran.
This is classic politics of resentment: "They" have nothing but disdain for your values, your accomplishments as parents, your national pride, and your way of life. They want to take all that away from you. No need to say who "they" is. We've already agreed upon that in advance. Indeed, if you read through many of the quotes from the rally's attendees, they understood precisely who Beck and Palin were talking about.
All of this absurdly transparent demagoguery and resentment-mongering took place exactly 47 years after King delivered his "I have a dream" speech from the same spot in 1963. I wonder if yesterday's orations by Beck and Palin will be considered essential to the American history curriculum in the year 2057.
By Greg Sargent | August 29, 2010; 9:38 AM ET
1 comment:
Palin, meanwhile, said:
"Say what you want to say about me, but I raised a combat vet. You can't take that away from me."
Yeah and so did my grandmother and millions of other mothers
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