Weigel

Politico asks if Glenn Beck is going too far by holding a rally on the National Mall on the anniversary of the 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom. James Jay Carafano throws up his hands :

People had a problem with MLK's rally too. Maybe there is a lesson there for the critics.

Cue: Outrage! Maybe! But I sort of agree with Carafano. Who, apart from people who have to put together special issues of Time magazine, cares about the anniversary of events like this? It was odd that Democrats beamed about holding Barack Obama's DNC acceptance speech on the "MLK" anniversary (I have a pretty hideous commemorative mug from that event), and it's odd that Beck wants to drag his fans into D.C., in August, two weeks before the next big rally.

The problem I have with the Beck event is actually about the b.s. way he's selling it . It's supposed to be a " non-political event that pays tribute to America’s service personnel and other upstanding citizens who embody our nation’s founding principles of integrity, truth and honor." You can't criticize the troops, you see, so you can't criticize Beck or ask why the only political figures onstage are Republicans. It's just like Beck's 2002 and 2003 answer to anti-Iraq War protests, "pro-troop" rallies that involved a lot of liberal-bashing and long, rambling, weird remarks by the self-adoring radio host.