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September 1, 2010 in Opinion
Beck mixes recovery, revival in ‘Restoring Honor’
NEW YORK – Despite all the words spilled in evaluating Glenn Beck’s tentless revival last weekend, the real meaning may have been hiding in plain sight.
Beck’s “Restoring Honor” gathering on the National Mall was right out of the Alcoholics Anonymous playbook. It was a 12-step program distilled to a few key words, all lifted from a prayer delivered from the Lincoln Memorial: healing, recovery and restoration.
Saturday’s Beckapalooza was yet another step in Beck’s own personal journey of recovery. He may as well have greeted the crowd of his fellow disaffected with:
“Hi. My name is Glenn, and I’m messed up.”
Beck’s history of alcoholism and addiction is familiar to any who follow him. He has made no secret of his past and is quick to make fun of himself. As he once said: “You can get rich making fun of me. I know. I’ve made a lot of money making fun of me.”
Self-mockery – and cash – seems to come easily to him.
Any cursory search of Beck quotes also reveals the language of the addict:
• “It is still morning in America. It just happens to be kind of a head- pounding, hungover, vomiting-for-four-hours kind of morning in America.”
• “I have not heard people in the Republican Party yet admit that they have a problem.”
• “You know, we all have our inner demons. I, for one – I can’t speak for you, but I’m on the verge of moral collapse at any time. It can happen by the end of the show.”
Indeed. After the hangover comes admission of the addiction, followed by surrender to a higher power and acknowledgment that one is always fallen.
These may be random quotes, but they can’t be considered isolated or out of context. For Beck, addiction has been a defining part of his life, and recovery is a process inseparable from “The Glenn Beck Show.” His emotional, public breakdowns are replicated in AA meetings in towns and cities every day.
Taking others along for the ride, aka evangelism, is also part of the cure. The healed often cannot remain healed without helping others find their way. Beck, who vaulted from radio host to political televangelist, now has taken another step in his ascendancy – to national crusader for faith, hope and charity.
It’s an easy sell. Meanwhile, Beck has built a movement framed by two ideas that are unassailable: God and country. Throw in some Mom and apple pie, and you’ve got a picnic of patriotism and worship.
Wait, did somebody say … Mom???
Sister Sarah, come on down!
Yes, Mother Superior made an appearance. Sarah Palin, whom Beck sainted a few months ago during an interview in which he declared her one of the only people who can save America, came to the Mall not to praise politics, but to honor our troops.
Palin is the mother of a soldier, after all, and God bless her, and him, and all those who have served. Unassailable. As Palin said, whatever else you might say about her, she did raise a combat soldier. “You can’t take that away from me.”
Who you? Oh, that’s right, The Media. Never mind that Beck is one of the richest members of the media. Or that Palin has banked millions primarily because The Media can’t get enough of her. But what’s an exorcism without a demon? And who better to cast into the nether regions than the guys lugging camera lights?
Covering all his bases, Beck invoked the ghost of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who stood in the same spot 47 years ago to deliver his most famous speech. Where King had a dream, Beck has a nightmare: “It seems as darkness begins to grow again, faith is in short supply.”
Really? When did that happen? Because it seems that people talk about God all the time these days. Even during the heyday of Billy Graham, most Americans could get through 16 or so waking hours without feeling compelled to declare where they stood on the deity.
And the darkness? Creeping communism brought to us by President you-know-who. Conspiracy theories and paranoia are not unfamiliar to those who have wrestled the demon alcohol.
Like other successful revivalists – and giving the devil his due – Beck is right about many things. Tens of thousands joined him in Washington and watch him each night on television for a reason. But he also is messianic and betrays the grandiosity of the addict.
Let’s hope Glenn gets well soon.
Kathleen Parker is a columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group. Her e-mail address is kathleenparker@washpost.com.
A hypocrite by necessity 
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mikemcdonnell on September 01 at 12:49 a.m.
Beck’s “I have a scheme” rally fills a void in the Republican party. Time for some new blood. Problem is they made lots of promises in 1992 but all we got was Tom Delay and Jack Abramoff.
Dazzeetrader1980 on September 01 at 2:51 a.m.
Sorry Mike…Beck fills a void in America. He’s no scam artist .
Hundreds of thousands showed up…and not for nuthin. They carried the message of peace and faith in God in an effort to display just how far the secularists have influenced the US.
Complain or mock all you and Parker want, the people weren’t politicians. Not tea partiers either…not even ffar right wing types. Just folks who came to hear the message. They are the reason liberal Dems will be crushed in November. It’s not Becks fault…he has a conservative message and the country in just right of center NOT left. Obama misjudged his support. Now…he has very little. Becks fine…popular too. Obama and his group can only wish they were too.
mikeln on September 01 at 6:49 a.m.
Beck and palin are good at taking money from stupid people, nothing more, nothing less
johnclarke on September 01 at 6:57 a.m.
The only void that Beck fills is in certain people’s heads. He is nothing more than a scam artist who is long on tears and short on facts. Just like his buddy Rush, he preaches morality yet is a “recovering” addict. I wonder how many people realize they are listening to a Mormon? Not that there is anything wrong with that….Beck is laughing all the way to the bank.
soccermomsusie on September 01 at 7:14 a.m.
I, for one, am happy to have a former/present addict telling us what to do. People forget that our greatest president ever, GWB, was/is an addict.
When a majority of our country suffers from demons, it’s no surprise that they will flock to someone who is representative of them - DWIs and all.
I know I will be called a hypocrite because I think addicted conservatives are OK but liberals are not. Go ahead. I don’t care. I am just doing what my higher power tells me to do - through my stomach feelings.
Word of advice to the Libtard Demoncrat Stinkgressives. Go to the liquor store right now, buy a big bottle of creme de menth. Chug. Repeat. You will become one of us. You will see the light. You will vote Republican!
HEAR OUR VOICE!!!!!
ChefGus/ John Olsen on September 01 at 8:01 a.m.
Here’s a link to a photo montage by BBC U.K. news John
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11121542
impressive number of folks showing up at their own expense?
spokanada on September 01 at 8:42 a.m.
Daisy, 87,000 people is not “hundreds of thousands” of people.
Were there any non-whites there?
If the rally was about restoring honor, why did Beck lie about holding George Washington’s inaugural address?
And if the people weren’t teabaggers why were they showing up on buses chartered by regional tea party groups?
The only smart thing Beck did was ask the baggers to leave their signs at home.
schleufer on September 01 at 8:47 a.m.
glenn is the corporate flavor of the week. the way he is constantly flip flopping on things and conterdicting him self, i think his own personal beliefs are handed to him each week with his pay check.
when i first saw him on tv i got interested because he seemed so compassionate about what he was saying but almost immediatly i noticed he kept leaving out key parts of stories that led a person to the total wrong conclusion to what actually happend.
besides that who the hell does he think he is trying to cram god down every bodys throats. so if we dont go to church we are not living up to his standards? take a look at the religious scandals around religion. prostitution - drugs - money and little boys being sodomized. yeah there is a place for the kiddies.
i think a person is better off practicing at home. just a couple years ago here the churches were setting up ATMs so you could donate to help pay for the bankruptsy and sex abuse claims. and the up side to it all was that the preists who did it still get to keep collecting thier pensions.
you might not ever see me in church but it seems to me that my personal ethics and morality are not going to be improved by attending the hyprocracy or glenns bunch of BS.
mikeln on September 01 at 9:51 a.m.
Beck would’nt know god if god spoke to him, highly improbabable, as god has never spoken to man, and those who claim he has are either delusional are just plain liers. All the people that believe what the preistcraft tell them should read the fables in the bible and koran. Maybe then they would see what a bunch of crap religion really is. I have said it before, there is more proof in a blade of grass that god exists then in all the fable these two works of fiction and the preistcraft interpretation of them will ever have
mikemcdonnell on September 01 at 1:40 p.m.
Sorry Daisy, I believe conservatives fear a free society, trying to control what people do… whether it’s in Iran or the USA! Conservatives are bad for America.
July 1, 1956. The Steve Allen Show, New York City. “As Elvis rehearsed for an appearance on The Steve Allen Show, national media buzzed with backlash against Elvis’s hip-swinging performance on Milton Berle’s show just a few weeks earlier. Conservative critics called Elvis a “disciple of the devil.”
alanb4130 on September 01 at 3:08 p.m.
@Daisy Beck is one of the biggest scam artists to ever put his mug on the TV and radio next to married 4 times oxycontin abuser Rush Limbaugh. And Mike you are spot on with your assessment.
misjustice on September 01 at 6:50 p.m.
Beck, or as the French call him, “…Le bebe homme pleurant (crying man-baby) a post modern tragicomic clown.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/10/progressive-groups-mock-g_n_493905.html
Beck and Palin are very good at separating suckers from their money!
Scoutster on September 01 at 8:19 p.m.
Daisy likes Beck.
Sometimes the whole world just comes into focus.
misjustice on September 01 at 8:30 p.m.
She likes popular boys! Dry drunks that have a persecution complex, and can cry at the drop of the chalk. Who’d have thought it?
misjustice on September 02 at 9:58 a.m.
DAZE, here’s the link for Beckerheads, you can download his “get off my phone” meltdown and use it as your cell phone ringtone. Good times!
http://www.mobiles24.com/downloads/s/436744-3-glen_beck-get_off_my_phone
Dazzeetrader1980 on September 03 at 12:42 a.m.
Mere fun in the Summer. Beck did donate much of the $5.5 million raised though. How many people were there?
CBS said 87K people. National Parks said 300K or more. So how do you lose 200,000?
Only Keith Olberman would know! He comes on MSNBC and they lose 200K immediately! lol
Quite a following for Beck. Complain all you want….those people reflect the voters for November. They’ll turn out and vote conservative. My guess is that things are gone for the Peacock in Chief. Sure, he’ll give more sppeches and try to look Presidential. Carter did that too. Nobody cares about him anymore.
The one thing he NEVER should have done was the “hope” thing. People trusted him and feel betrayed by his actions. He done as it gets. He’ll rally but in November Dem libs should run for the hills.
james_l on September 03 at 9:58 a.m.
Daisy: Beck took out a permit from the National Park Service listing 300,000 as the maximum attendance. CBS News hired a professional aerial photography firm to estimate the crowd size and they came up with the 87,000 (plus or minus 9000) estimate. Sorry to intrude into your fantasy world with science.
I still find it impressive that Beck and Palin were able to get 87,000 to attend, since that is nearly the total membership of the KKK, Aryan Nations, and American Nazi Party combined. They sure know how to mobilize their base!
I do, however, give him credit for the donation, however miniscule a portion of the receipts it ends up being.
misjustice on September 03 at 12:07 p.m.
I’ll take the hope thing over the hate thing anyday.
Beck as Billy Sunday is as laughable as Palin as VP! And goodness knows, we could all use a laugh! ; )