I find it interesting that there has been no DU discussion of Glenn Beck's rally last weekend

[n2doc]

At least, none I could find on a cursory search.

'All Lives Matter' march draws more than 20,000 to Birmingham

Led by conservative activist and talk show host Glenn Beck, more than 20,000 people chanting "All Lives Matter" marched the historic civil rights route from Kelly Ingram Park to Birmingham City Hall this morning.

"It's about taking our church out in the streets," Beck said. He said marchers came from as far away as China, Dubai and the Netherlands.

Actor Chuck Norris, a conservative activist known for his martial arts, action movies and TV show "Walker, Texas Ranger," marched about two rows behind Beck. Alveda King, a niece of civil rights activist the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., marched in the front row. Bishop Jim Lowe, pastor of the predominantly black Guiding Light Church in Birmingham, co-organized the march with Beck and marched with him at the front. As a child, Lowe attended Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, where the march started, a headquarters church for the civil rights movement in Birmingham. Lowe and his sisters were in the church when a KKK bomb blew up the church and killed four little girls on Sept. 15, 1963.

http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2015/08/all_lives_matter_march_draws_m.html

Disturbing.

[Demit]

1. Well, you're a DU member & could have posted on it before this, right?

How come you didn't start a discussion before?

[n2doc]

2. I just did

I am just surprised. If Trump had held such a rally, you know it would have been posted about a dozen times by now.

[Demit]

6. Well, you just answered your own question. You weren't interested enough before now.

Why be surprised that other people weren't either?

[riderinthestorm]

3. I didn't even know about it probably because Glenn Beck is totally off my radar

i don't purposefully avoid him, I simply don't give him any attention.

Ever.

That said, this protest march (now that I know about it) is very puzzling. Why are any prominent black activists participating? I understand this was more of a religious event from the description but the deliberate blurring of "black lives matter" with "all lives matter" is offensive and I'm sure they know that.

[drm604]

4. What is the point of this?

What is the message here?

"It's about taking our church out in the streets," Beck said.

What does that mean? Has there been some sort of attack on churches? I know there was a mass shooting in a church but the fact that it was a church was incidental and unrelated to the motivations of the shooter. No on says that we need to take our movie theaters out in the streets.

Regarding the whole "all lives matter" meme; of course all lives matter but it totally misses the context and point of "black lives matter". To any thinking person who's paying attention it goes without out saying that when someone says "black lives matter" the word "also" is implied. No one is saying black lives matter more. They're saying that black lives matter just as much, which is something that, sadly, needs to be pointed out in this society.

[byronius]

5. Disturbing and kinda crazy.

Like a hippie love-in funded by Koch Industries.

The massive numbers of perfectly-designed, carefully-chosen-font signs -- creeeeeeepy.

Like Glenn himself.

[drm604]

13. The large number of obviosly mass produced signs is consistent with astroturfing.

The question is, who puts money into something like this? Who benefits from creating this sort of disunity? It's seems like someone with financial resources is intentionally trying to delegitimize the "black lives matter" movement.

Is this some misled wealthy person or group who genuinely believes in what they're doing, or is it a cynical move by someone who stands to profit from it (maybe sign manufacturers)?

Then again it may just be Glenn Beck trying to maintain his public visibility so he can sell books.

[Starry Messenger]

7. Frederick Douglass is rolling in his grave.

[haikugal]

10. Indeed.....

[B Calm]

8. Who in the hell is Glen Beck?

[underahedgerow]

9. I thought he died a while back.

Walking dead then, perhaps?

[Bluenorthwest]

11. 'Bishop' Jim Lowe is an infamous anti gay activist and bigot and great promoter of Beck.

The event was full of anti gay and anti Muslim religious persons.

[CBGLuthier]

12. Whose what?

That tool is still around?

[KG]

14. a stampede of stupidity

[chalmers]

15. Who are the goons out front?

Pretending to be Secret Service agents.

[djean111]

16. If Beck was either relevant, or running for president, this would have been posted earlier.

It is not like anyone at DU agreed with it.

[mountain grammy]

17. 20,000 is roughly 10% of the population of Birmingham, AL.

I think that's a chillingly large number for this type of rally. These people militantly believe "all lives matter" as long as it's the all lives who share their homophobic, xenophobic, fundamentalist Christian beliefs, and only their god is the answer.
Personally, more than 100 of these folks in one place gives me the creeps.
Thanks for posting. This was off my radar. When this many people show up at a rally like this one, I want to know if any elected officials are there, from Senator to dog catcher.

[MisterP]

18. at first I thought it was Lincoln and Marx, but it's Lincoln and Douglass, which is just as stupid

and are they against Roof and Blanton?

because that's not funny

[nolabear]

19. Apparently Beck's time is up.

Not that that is anything to sneeze at, but you could get that many people to a college football game. The media just doesn't care.