This morning CNN.COM posted an article by Will Bunch, titled “Glenn Beck rewrites civil rights History”. The editor’s note indicated that the author was part of Media Matters and an author of several progressivist books. Pretty much the guy is a hardcore Liberal/progressive. With that in mind I proceeded to cautiously read the article. I am a staunch conservative bordering on Libertarian in my views, (just so you know) I am also a fan of Glenn Beck.
My expectations were that Mr. Bunch would make factual arguments that Glenn has made over the past few weeks or months showing that he was revising history, or re-writing it (as the title suggests). What I was looking for as far as an argument was “Glenn bed said x, but the truth is y”. I was greatly disappointed. While he shares his opinion in several places, he never really shows that Mr. Beck is twisting or re-writing history.
Mr. Bunch does quote Dr. King once, “Famously, King lashed out at the Alabama governor -- George Wallace -- who had "his lips dripping with the words of 'interposition' and 'nullification' " -- a reference to claims by Wallace and other segregationists that states' rights trumped the power of Washington to promote integration.” Really what I think Dr. King was more concerned was the fact that Governor was twisting and misusing what interposition* was originally meant for. The declaration of Independence clearly states “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” The Governor of Alabama at that time clearly misused interposition, and that was what Dr. King was referring to. I think Dr. King cared more about ending segregation than states rights vs. federal rights, he simply wanted to get the job done and I don’t think he cared who did it. Even with that being said the 8/28 rally isn't even about race or Dr. King, it is about honoring our armed forces, Glenn Becks website re-inforces this.
What bothers me most about this article is that it doesn’t contain facts proving the premise true. I understand that this is an opinion piece, but I think Mr. Bunch would have been much better off titling his piece “Glenn Beck and Tea Parties Suck”. But that is my opinion, and I think unjustified phrases such as... “bending the history of 20th-century America like a Philadelphia soft pretzel.” And “Beck has led his loyal followers on a journey not just to "reclaim" civil rights but much more audaciously to rewrite the sweeping narrative arc of American history from the time of the Founding Fathers forward” proves my point.
This is my opinion of an opinion piece, I have no doubt that Mr. Bunch has a great deal more of an education that I do and is a far superior writer, but then again so does and is Mr. Beck.
Much Love,
Ryan
* Interposition, in the context of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, refers to an asserted right of U.S. states to protect their individual interests from federal violation or any abridgement of states' rights deemed by those states to be dangerous or unconstitutional. In the words of the Virginia Resolution of 1798 – Wikipedia.org
2 comments:
once again you should be jealous that i might go to the Glenn Beck "Restoring Honor" rally.
but it should be noted that i'm going just to be able to write a blog about how funny it was.... trust me I already have some good points :)
Good blog. Keep up the good work.
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