Light Bulb Moment. I think I understand what Beck is trying to do.

[Perky]

It occurs to this observer that Mr. Beck's speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial was a transparent attempt to forge common ground between religious conservatives and Libertarians who have largely gone separate ways since the Tea Party came to life. That's a very tricky thing to do.

The Tea Party Movement is hardly a coordinated effort, but one thing all these fiefdoms seem to have in common is a shared outrage about the size of Government and Obama in general. But they have also been a largely libertarian movement, which means they want to stay away from the Religious Rights determination to use the government to control personal behavior and privacy.

The Religious Right on the other hand, has sort of been pushed to the background since the Tea Party came into vogue. But don't be fooled, though faded from view. they are stilll an army of voters and they are hightly organized.


Beck, by being overtly religious in his intonations clearly seems to be setting up a straw-man that everyone can latch on to "we must unite to defeat the Heretic-Marxist, not because of his views on Abortion or Gay Marriage, but because he is a Liberation Theologist,

This give cover to both groups to ally.

I think trying to brand the president as a "liberation Theologian" may sell in some quarters, but I seriously doubt Beck has read the work of many Libertarian Theologians (Gutierrez, principally). There is very little in Obama' writing or speaking pr agenda that would validate Beck's notion of what Liberation Theology espouses. But I am sure the next screw to be turned is to directly link The President to LT and thus to Karl Marx.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

1. He doesn't believe in any of that bullshit. He's a demogogue and a propagandist.

He doesn't believe it. It sells. He's a narcissist who only cares about ratings and making money.

[doc03]

2. To me the purpose of the Beckapalooza was to soften up

the Teabagger image. They know they overstepped last year with all the racist crap and turned many people off.

[Aramchek]

8. no signs allowed!!

[flamingdem]

3. The Don't Tread on Me imagery back this idea

That's often used by Libertarians. Could a Libertarian ignore the fundamentalist BS?

[FBaggins]

4. He's trying to do the same thing Palin and Rush and Hannity (etc) are trying to do.

They perceive a wave election coming and they want to get on that wave before it passes... so that after the election they can claim to be the leader that got people to the promised land.

[Swede]

5. I thought he was trying to promote his book.

:shrug:

[Cognitive_Resonance]

7. I think Beck is about selling books and boosting TV ratings.

IOW it's all about the money. I further suspect he (and his backers) study the demographics, and realized there were inroads to be made among the Religious Right. The rally's focus on God was a play to those "new marks". His lengthy closing rant struck me as third-rate televangelism.

[Orsino]

6. That's more coherence than Beck has ever mustered.

I figured he was just promoting himself and pumping up the values voters for November.