WASHINGTON (AP) - Glenn Beck says it's just a coincidence his
Restoring Honor rally on Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial will take
place on the anniversary and at the site of Martin Luther King
Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech. But he's hardly apologizing
for the connection.
"This is going to be a moment that you'll never be able to
paint people as haters, racists, none of it," he says. "This is a
moment, quite honestly, that I think we reclaim the civil rights
movement."
Some civil rights veterans are skeptical.
"When we heard about Glenn Beck, it was puzzling," the Rev. Al
Sharpton said. "Because if you read Dr. King's speech, it just
doesn't gel with what Mr. Beck or Mrs. Palin are representing."
Beck, a popular figure among tea party activists and a
polarizing Fox News Channel personality, is headlining the event,
and Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and
a potential 2012 president candidate, will be a featured speaker.
But Beck says it's not about politics.
The event's website says the rally is to pay tribute to
America's military personnel and others "who embody our nation's
founding principles of integrity, truth and honor." It also is to
promote the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, which provides
scholarships and services to family members of military members.
The website urges citizens to attend and "help us restore the
values that founded this great nation."
The rally, on the 47th anniversary of King's plea for racial
equality is drawing a strong reaction - and several counter-rallies
- as the nation looks toward November's elections.
Beck is known for his strong opinions, including his statement
that President Barack Obama is a racist. But organizers of
Saturday's rally are telling attendees not to bring signs, "as
they may deter from the peaceful message we are bringing to
Washington."
Signs at some tea party events have included pictures of Obama
embellished with a Hitler-style mustache, racial epithets and
threats to Democratic officials. Such posters have given tea party
critics grounds to claim the loose organization of activists is
motivated by racism against the nation's first black president.