That's exactly the feeling you get around cult-level believers. And sounds like this guy was. Drank so much Kool-Aid, that they reek of it, surrounded by their reality distortion field.

I can spot them a mile away.

Oh by the way, I think EVERY believer has the potential to use God as an excuse to be beastly. But this terrific upstart nation is the FIRST where Freedom has tempered that. Now it's true that as a nation we've fallen far short of tempering that with EVERY religion, because we're starting to see radical islam rear up, and its back isn't going to be broken overnight. And certainly capitulating to it is not going to work. What will work? Keeping our eyes on FREEDOM.

Beck is out there right now at the Lincoln Memorial with his God message, and I wish him well. But I see him as EXERCISING freedom, rather than fighting for it. Or maybe that's a little harsh... I think he's doing both actually. But if I were standing up there, roaring from such a wonderful and charged soapbox... I'd be pointing to FREEDOM and LIBERTY as the answer.

Because without those, somebody is basically TELLING you which god you ought to believe in. Which religion is the good one, and which is the bad one, which I'm sorry, is TYRANNY.

Where MLK said judge a man by the content of their character, not the color of their skin... I'd extend that to "and not by which religion they choose to follow."

Liberty and Freedom will conquer what's beastly. Those things are like taking a civilization pill.

Beck's religion thing works, but only because his chosen religion is humble and for the most part honorable. Which is how he views American Christianity. Which has a tradition of valuing freedom. And he may be right. But it's still religion, and the religious mindset always has beastliness coiled and ready.

I heard one theory that the reason nobody can count American muslims is that when they get here, and experience freedom, they abandon belief, or keep it very private. Either because they figure all Americans hate them, or because they find their own religion repressive. I don't have data to answer that. But what I can say without hesitation, is that if you keep the emphasis on freedom and personal responsibility, you AREN'T worrying about what people believe, and fearing the worst-case muslim, or the worst-case American.

I've always hated worst-case thinking. It seems very Anti-Reagan to me. I know it's tough to shake. Since there are worst-cases. Terrorists are worst-case muslims. Skinheads or KKK guys are worst-case racists. Religious fanatics or cult members can be worst-case Christians. I personally see worst-case liberals like your crazy guy EVERYWHERE here in the deep blue East.

But I think it's a question of does anybody really think it's their responsibility to CHANGE those people? Isn't it far better to lead by example, BE a great American and exercise your freedom, and let that be a guiding light? The worst-case will take care of itself. They'll always ride on the coattails of freedom, looking for the chinks in its armor... but the INDIVIDUAL has to embrace the founder's ideals to really change things. And they start by changing themselves.

So Beck is right, it's up to us. But HE is not going to bring God or Mormonism into anyone's life, who is not already a weakling follower, ready to dive off a bridge in the name of Glenn Beck. But Beck's message is more potent than demagoguery: he tells us to discover FOR OURSELVES what a great nation we live in. That's what I like about him. Even though he does have his intractable beliefs, he's an example because he's EXERCISING his liberty. He takes it out of the drawer and puts it out there for everyone to see.

He's unabashedly Christian, mormon. He believes it's about God, so he says so. Many will agree, and many will disagree, but I think ALL Americans agree about Freedom. And when push comes to shove, even the most kooky ass liberal is gonna balk when they let liberty die.

Gotta admire Glen Becks' passionate presentation. But the rhetoric, oh boy. There is so much sensationalism in Becks' characterizations that it's sickening sometimes. And the conspiracy theories of Glen Beck and much of Fox News; sickening! O'reilly, the only semi-sane voice left, but he seems to be loosing it too.

Anyway whats up fellow brothers, it's been a while. Peace, and keep your brains sane from all this political talk

Beck is the best political commentator bar none out there. His so called "conspiracy theories" have been proven right 90% of the time. And every time I think he's being sensational, the Obama administration, the mainstream media, media matters, or whatever rears up and does something so unbelievable, that it makes the Beck characterizations seem timid.

Naw, man, the guy is a national treasure, every bawling chubby mormony bit of him. Way more than O'Reilly, who's just a pandering chump who thinks he's a tough guy.

The tradeoff is, Beck gets maudlin, and is RIGHT much of the time... while O'Reilly gets pissed off, and is WRONG much of the time. Two imperfect messengers, like anybody... but I'll go with Beck's track record. He's called it time and time again.

Oh sweet mercy, I LOVED how Beck left Sharpton looking like a deer in the headlights. Sharpton held an anti-Beck rally, protesting Beck for something he never did. Making Sharpton look like a king racist. Which I suppose he is. Oh my god, his appearance on Geraldo was priceless. What a fucking tool that guy is.

A friend of mine went to the Beck rally. I hope to hear from him soon so I can get a report.

My understanding is that the recent event's main purpose is an affirmation of America. No matter how goofy the rhetoric may seem, the main theme is "America is good." Contrast that with any leftist rally where the underlying theme is always "America is Bad." Rather than love or reverence for anything, they all look like a bunch of angry spoiled terrible two-year-olds denied a second or third dessert after their dinner. "What do we want?" "Go-Gurt." "When do we want it?" "Now."

The rhetoric of real, live, sincere civil rights leaders of old has been taken over by socialists, Marxists, and Communists. This is not exactly news, but not many have noticed this shift. But that is why any opposition to the left gets you the label of being a "racist." They really do believe their own bull. This makes them somewhat dangerous kool-aid drinkers. For all of Beck's "God" talk, the real zealots are on the left.

Regarding my lunatic friend (and he certainly did seem that way last time I met him), it's strange how the Jews always get singled out as being behind every conspiracy. Why is it never about feminists, or dog catchers, or postal workers? There are probably more of them than there are of Jews. There are only about 14 million or so Jews worldwide. But arguing logic was not the point to the discussion with my friend. In fact, it was not a discussion. It was him projectile vomiting every crackpot conspiracy theory he had heard with me trying to so "Okay, if fact "X" is true, then how come..."

Nope. Logic need not come to dinner at this conversation. This guy told me that the 747's were reported to have been traveling about 500 mph into the Twin Towers. And according to my lunatic friend, this speed is impossible. (I actually don't remember the exact numbers he used. But, again, facts were of little importance.) And I said "Okay, then if, say, they were traveling 300 mph instead of 500, what does this mean? How is the relevant to any theory, conspiratorial or otherwise? What does the difference in speed tell us?"

All I got was a Homer Simpson blank stare. This lunatic conspiratorial mindset frees itself to spin any yarn it wants by ripening errors (no matter how small) into a complete disregard for an entire order of data. And any human endeavor is, of course, filled with its share of errors and even deceit. And if this fact isn't convenient enough, this lunatic mindset will simply invent its own facts. It will either gather them from various lunatic sources that put a patina of legitimacy on crackpot theories, no matter how thin that patina might be, or they'll simply make them up out of whole cloth.

There is a reason that Michael Savage calls liberalism a "mental disorder." I believe there is some truth to that. And I don't know if my friend is converting to Islam so that is the reason for his rabid anti-Semitism. Maybe he is going to a Jeremiah Wright-like church or is being recruited by the Black Panthers. But he has given up on reason. He is in the midst of punting his entire integrity in order to "go along to get along" with some group or cadre of friends. It's hard to believe he's doing this all on his own, although I suppose that's possible.

The best comeback to any of the left's anti-semitism is to point out that every Arab, including all muslim arabs, are semitic. They are every bit as semitic of a race as the jews, if not moreso. The biggest difference between jews and arabs are language and religion, not race. And the languages are pretty damn close. As close as Shalom and Salaam.

Since we have video footage of the planes going into the World Trade Towers, calculating the speed should be pretty damn easy for a mathematician. I do know that the cruising speed of the aircraft is between 500-600MPH.

And I do know that in order to maximize damage to a structure, it doesn't take rocket science to know that if you accelerate, the damage will be greater. Giving it full throttle on the approach is not something I'd put past the attackers.

Oh my word, the most entertaining thing is to read talkback on any story about Beck's rally. I mean for sheer liberal retardation, it does not get any better. And coming in a close second are the god squad people, riled up by the liberals.

Go deep for the real gems

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Does anyone remember the last time there was an "Honor Rally"? It came one year after a "Freedom Rally". It was 1936 in Nuremburg Germany, the Reichsparteitag der Ehre

Like that one? LOL. It was a Nurembeck rally. I see restoring honor as restoring truth. Who's truth? Well, if you have to ask, you show which side you are on. How about "reality's truth" for starters? How about David McCullough and not Howard Zinn? How about Adam Smith, not Karl Marx (or Paul Krugman)? How about the Constitution (and the ideas and principles it encapsulates) and not this pernicious idea of a "living Constitution" which means you can read into it anything you want and where words no longer mean things?

And I have no idea if God is the answer to all our problems. Given how many religious people such as Pelosi are ignoring the Constitution and are friendly toward leftist collectivist policies, I want to make sure were talking about Jehovah (the one from the Indy films) and not the "social justice" Messiah.

I'm pretty sure God isn't the answer to our problems. Unless you mean whatever moral center the individual has chosen to guide their path in the name of freedom.

The answer to our problems is probably NOT behaving like religious fanatics when it comes to trying to solve problems. Religious fanatics BLAME their problems on people who don't believe like themselves.

The best thing about Beck's religious bent is not that he asks God what God wants him to do. It's that he's willing to act and speak honestly and individually in the HOPE that he's doing the right thing. That, to me, is honor. Plus, he hasn't fallen into the trap where the end justifies the means, as has the cowardly and craven Left.

Say what you will about Glenn, but he's not sitting around on his ass waiting for the world to happen. He's stood up, spoken his mind. Whether I think he's slightly daffy and Goddy is beside the point. He's doing exactly what it takes to effect real change. Namely, he's questioning bullshit assumptions, bullshit courses of action... questioning ridiculous policies. Then he's COMPARING that stuff to stuff that worked in the past (think "works/doesn't work"). That's why he's struck a chord.

As much as if it was me talking, I wouldn't make religion the centerpiece... but hey, what I love about the guy is, he's been about the free exchange of ideas, and look at the response. People DO listen to common sense, the truth, even if the messenger has his own quirks.

Me, I grow to LIKE the quirks. I find Glenn affable and FAR from dangerous. In fact, I find him a great American.

Same with Palin. I don't agree with all her religious crap either. But doesn't matter. That's not where as a patriot I HAVE to connect with her. I connect with her on the topics of small government, freedom, liberty, and the Constitution.

Well, I can't disagree with your logic. And I can't damn you (figuratively...hey, but maybe I can literally) for not crossing the threshold of mysticism and believing that a particular metaphysical belief will have real-world material consequences. (Can I still damn him? Please???)

The recent Beck event seemed to be part patriotic rally and part old-style Elmer Gantry revivalist meeting. I'm totally okay with the former and a bit out-of-place in the latter. There is indeed a "higher power" over us, but whether that higher power is measured in sentient goodness or electromagnetic kilowatts, nobody really knows. A force, surely. A mind? An intention? A Providential mover and shaker?

I have to put that stuff in the "I'll believe it when I see it" category. Glenn Beck cracks me up with the way he handles all this. I'm more than okay with the idea of destiny and purpose. And Beck says we all need to listen to that little voice of God inside and follow it . . . unless it's telling us to kill someone and then we ought to medicate that voice. He actually said that this morning on the radio.

So my voice says "Show me." And I don't think that's wrong.

Compare him to Al Sharpton (on O'Reilly tonight, which cemented him in my mind as a king shit racist idiot... which he's never going to be able to dance around any more.)

Like I keep telling you guys, just sit around and wait for tools like Sharpton to hang themselves in front of the camera, which Rev. Al does time and time again. This time he really stunk up the joint. I could almost hear America recoil in unison when he held his stupid anti-Beck rally and DARED to say "This is OUR day!" Waaaa Waaaa the big Bad White people believe in Civil Rights too! OMG. The one person who would NEVER have said anything as stupid as that: Dr. King. Sharpton is finished.

He tried so hard to do damage control on O'Reilly. Nope. Done. Hasta la vista you little racist prick. You did it to yourself. I picture scores of Americans watching his performance on O'Reilly and going: "er, NOT THAT." When it comes to answering the question: "what is an American?"

Hoo Boy, Sharpton showed his friggin' ASS tonight. Buh-bye.

I'll have to remember to turn O'Reilly on 8:00 my time (the repeat). I'm not sure I want to stomach any more Sharpton though. But it sounds like it's a segment well worth watching.

Sharpton is a race hustler. On O'Reilly, you could see he didn't give a rat's behind about racial harmony. He reacted like a street thug who thought someone was cutting in on his turf. And any notion (promoted by Beck or anyone else) that racial matters don't belong to any one race, cause, party, or person is indeed cutting in on his turf. Any real dialogue on race is a threat to the race hustlers.

Sharpton is Sharpton. He's a total fraud. He showed that again tonight on O'Reilly.

Perhaps what surprised me more is just how much of a one-note partisan Juan Williams is. He's the "me" that Markle always accused me of being. This guy is extremely shallow.

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He's the "me" that Markle always accused me of being.

Hahaha, that's a great way of putting it.

I'm not speaking of the thalo.net faithful, but I wonder how many of "The Beautiful People" out there (you know...the ones who are too smart to believe in religion or God) are able to see George Orwell on parade. When you listen to the lamestream media (Palin's term), the message is that if you don't believe in what the "Progressive" left wants, you're acting out of motivations of fear, racism, anger, ignorance, or something evil or dark.

Those who oppose ringing up trillions of dollars of debt (this indictment alone is weighty enough), those who oppose the government taking over financial companies or car companies, those who oppose government taking over the health care industry, those who oppose shitting on our allies (Israel, England, Poland, and others) and bowing or kowtowing to our enemies, those who oppose voodoo Keynesian economics, those who oppose activists judges, those who oppose the growing administrative state, those who oppose the growing unconstitutional power of the Federal government, those who oppose illegal immigration, those who oppose higher taxes, those who oppose environmental hysteria, those who oppose giving our power and prestige over to corrupt international organizations such as the United Nations, those who oppose Marxism and socialism — all of these people are acting not because of real concerns but because they're not as wise as Keith Olbermann.

I wonder how many of "The Beautiful People" are buying the left's propaganda on this hook, line, and sinker. Are "The Wise People" really so wise? Have all those smarmy people who claim they will never be fooled been fooled?

It was nice to see O'Reilly give such a stiff defense of Beck. "Whatever you're doing out there, I got your back." Those are approximately the words he said to Beck.

It was also interest to watch Sharpton and the left squirm about how racist Beck and his followers are — and yet at Beck's rally they had one of MLK's daughters or granddaughters speaking. This morning they were playing excerpts from some of Sharpton's old speeches side-by-side with Glenn's. Sharpton was basically saying that the white man is the enemy. And Beck is the racist?

But I do think even the ignorant deluded "Progressives" out there, and those who think "conservatism" has nothing to do with liberty, are starting to see through this junk.

"The country is hungry for authenticity." — Laura Ingraham when taking about "reach across the aisle" conservative-of-convenience Lindsay Graham.

I think that's true among a great many people. But I think it's also true that a great segment of people prefer to live away from the truth and in the la-la land of "Blame Bush," "blame whitey," "blame America," blame "the rich," "blame conservatives," and/or "blame capitalism." I think a pleasing, and quite selfish, unreality is what many people are still clinging to.

And then there are those — of either party — whose principles run no deeper than "getting and staying elected."

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It was also interest to watch Sharpton and the left squirm about how racist Beck and his followers are

I KNOW! I mean holy crap, for a guy (Beck) who has not had the SLIGHTEST HINT of racism escape his mouth, he's getting tagged by these fools as being a racist? Er, why? Because he criticizes Obama? That's IT??? Did he ever say it's because Obama is BLACK? I must have missed that. I mean in America is it racist to say he's a crappy president no matter what color he is? Do we have to approve of what he does BECAUSE of his color? I honestly don't get what their beef with Beck is. I've never heard him crack a racist joke like Imus... I've never heard him say anything, and I mean anything but that race doesn't matter to him.

And THAT'S the guy they vote America's biggest racist? Huh?

Sharpton had that thousand yard stare he gets when he's in big trouble. His body language was ALL about he knows he's cooked. It was kind of wonderful to watch.

I guess I'm one of those Ivory Tower Harvard guys too smart for religion. But I can't say for sure I don't believe in God. And I don't think healthy suspicion of religion, or even Atheism for that matter, equals the evil immoral behavior for the left. In fact, I think I've argued in the past that it ain't guys like Hitchens everyone needs to worry about... it's the people with the statist religious mindsets. The guys that make Obama into a semi-deity, who gulp the kool aid, who burn heretics, who blast Christianity not because of its history or whatever... but because it's a competing RELIGION to the one they've swallowed.

I think the truly non-religious or skeptical people (Beck often gives the example of Penn Gilette, who I view as a guy much like myself... a devotee of James Randi). Penn is a bona-fide atheist, while I'm not... but I'm every bit as skeptical, and frankly I wouldn't do more than shrug if I got proof there WASN'T a God. I think the gods which human creativity has MANUFACTURED are enough for us.

But if I'm one of those beautiful people (er, without the beauty)... I certainly don't share the blame game nonsense. I mean shit yeah, I blame the left for this country going to hell in a handbasket, but it ain't their unbelief that did it. Hell no. It's exactly the religious mindset that they think they're superior to. Uh, oops. Turns out their religion is just more pernicious than the ones they set themselves up against.

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I guess I'm one of those Ivory Tower Harvard guys too smart for religion. But I can't say for sure I don't believe in God.

My office is the central clearing house for conserva-chat. I had a nice chat with a local pastor this morning. He's sincere when he says he doesn't like religion. He eyerolls at the whole organizational crap (even while he runs an organization...and has his share of crap). But let me put it this way. I think there is a dividing line between those who are hardcore religious and softcore religious. Check that. Too often the "softcore" means no Jesus, no faith, no God with high expectations. The "softcore" religion is often just a mushy version of "socialism lite." In fact, this pastor told me of one of his flock who used to be part of a Unitarian church but was kicked out because he was conservative. That will tell you all you need to know about the Unitarian church and the flakey leftist direction many churches are going.

So the dividing line isn't between belief and flakey leftist belief. I mean the dividing line between The Jesus ethic and the Holier Than Thou ethic. Both believe in supernatural things, but the former tends not to look down on those outside of religion. This guy cracked me up because he goes NUTS when he sees those guys out there in Texas with the "Fags will burn in hell" signs being held up.

If we ever went to church, this is probably the church to go to. This guy is a staunch capitalist. He didn't check his brain at the door just because he believes in supernatural things. And he's aware that the ethic of Jesus is more important than being anointed "better than thou" and then parading it around for all to see. And I'm well aware that I'm his long-term project but [Bugs Bunny]He doan know me vewwy well, doo hee?[/Bugs Bunny]

I love hearing this guy's tales of the atheists or the drug addicts he's help saved, at least saved from the gutter and despair. In this profession, they see the dregs of the earth. How someone still maintains a faith in face of what they regularly see is a testament to something, and certainly not to Karl Marx. And just like me, he eyerolls at all the superficial do-gooders who we both admit really do want to help people but make the grand mistake of supposing that government is the way to do it.

No, Hitchens ain't the guy we need to worry about. He's in a different league than Dawkins, Dennett, and Sam Harris. He's still got his blind spots, but he's shown in the past that he's willing to change his mind about things. He's apparently no longer, for instance, a big booster of socialism.

Yes, I heard Beck talk about Penn this morning and he said some good words. I can't speak either for Beck or Penn, but perhaps there are those who can discern a difference between the Beck-like true believers who are harmless and those who are predatory in their use of religion. I doubt Hitchens would admit to this distinction, but morals do need to be passed on, and the general set of Judea-Christian ones are mostly tried and true, although certainly not perfect, but a damn site better than the kind that engages in infanticide or shits on the Constitution while raising up Karl Marx or Saul Alinsky. There is a difference.

What's so rich for me is seeing Beck on his "Restore Honor" tour. Yes. We need that. We need to restore truth. And, good god, we need to bring those who truly are religious and who believe in god back to a capitalist personal-responsbility freedom-based god and not the "social justice" collectivist wishy-washy morals god so many Christians and Jews have embraced. I told this nice pastor up front that, although it's not supposedly kosher to talk about another man's faith, I think a large portion of those who say they believe in god really don't, or else why would they keep trying to make the State into the functioning arm of god?

If we're to have god, we need the Charlton Heston god, not the Unitarian god or even the Pat Robertson god. We need truth, reasonable (but clear) standards of right and wrong, and most of all the honoring of the concept of freedom rather than slouching our way towards a socialist Gomorrah. Beck perhaps doesn't quite fill the shoes of Heston, but his entire message could be condensed to a simple plea directed to the statists, control freaks, and thugs of our time: "Let my people go." And Palin would add to that "Hell, yeah."

I got a chance to talk to my Glenn Beck rally-goer today. He had a great time. The atmosphere was very much of a religious revival meeting. (They really should have used that reflecting pool for a mass Constitutional baptism or something like that.)

He was sitting back about halfway down the reflecting pool. Every so often down the sides were big monitors and he was near one of these. But he was too far back from the stage to really see what was going on first-hand.

I think he arrived by plane that morning and was at the mall by 5:00 am where he pretty much stood until about 3:00 in the afternoon. That's a long time, but he said he loved it. Being in a crowd like that was apparently pretty cool.

Earlier (or later) he also visited various sites in the area including the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian Institute. He told me he nearly got thrown out because he kept pointing out all the mistakes to the officials inside. He said there was an "impeachment" display, for example, that had only Nixon's photo in it. But Nixon wasn't impeached. The process never got that far. Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were the only two presidents ever impeached. (Neither was convicted by the Senate. Andrew was saved by only one vote.) He said there was so much crap like that, he wants to go back and document it all.

People seem to be in agreement that Palin's remarks that "We don't need to 'fundamentally change' America. We need to restore it." were the words of the day.

That's cool you got to talk to someone who was there. I would have liked to have gone, but I have a business to run, and I really don't see any need to affirm a religious faith I kinda feel "meh" about.

But I happen to admire Beck, and Palin, and a few of the honorees.

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No, Hitchens ain't the guy we need to worry about. He's in a different league than Dawkins, Dennett, and Sam Harris. He's still got his blind spots

Well, as for Hitchens, he wrote this rather surprisingly tone-deaf piece. For Hitchens, it's unbelievably cloudy-minded. A testimony of pure worst-case American invective.

One of the things I'm always suspicious of, is when white people start bemoaning whiteness, as if that's somehow the root of all evil. As if the racial makeup of the majority somehow means squat about squat.

How rapidly disapproval of big government, and allegiance to the Constitution and American Values, or affirmations of religious belief get seen through the lens of RACE is utterly astonishing. Rather than addressing this supposed White FEAR, I wonder if Hitchens shouldn't be trying to figure out where his own WHITE GUILT comes from. Probably all those years as a socialist.

I sorta expected Chris to come out against the RELIGIOUS bent of the rally... I was actually looking forward to that, wringing my hands to hear how he was gonna show me how religion was poisoning the Tea Party movement. Instead, I got "White Unease", "White Fright", White this, White that...

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The numbers were impressive enough on their own, but the overall effect was large, vague, moist, and undirected: the Waterworld of white self-pity.

Beck did an excellent job of countering Hitchens on today's show. And for every critic who began to bemoan the whiteness of the event, Glenn showed footage of the many African Americans who participated. I mean, there certainly wasn't any truth in the idea that Blacks weren't invited to this party... and not as Tokens, but keynote speakers, honorees, and audience members.

This, like his global warming comments, is a rare misstep for Hitchens, who I'm an actual fan of. In this piece, he seriously tries to COMBINE every political hotbutton issue of late, and see them under some strange umbrella of racial politics. That's a hallmark of the left. I mean, without taking a breath, we've got the allegations of Obama as a muslim, the Arizona immigration law, anchor babies, the Ground Zero mosque fracas, and now

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and culminating, at least symbolically, with a quasi-educated Mormon broadcaster calling for a Christian religious revival from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Oh please. "Quasi-educated?" That was uncalled for. Beck doesn't claim to be a scholar. He claims to be an everyman, who started reading everything he could get his hands on, because he was sure he wasn't getting the facts from schools or the media. There was a time in this country where we would have LAUDED the self-taught. Now Mr. Oxford looks down on the hoi polloi because he lacks an advanced degree? Come on.

You either make good points or you don't. And I think Beck has made excellent points. Hitchens normally makes quite compelling points. This time he seems intellectually lazy. Rather than get a comment from the horse's mouth, he simply scabs off of some Washington Post interviewee to make the tiresome point that the words "under God" were inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance in the 1950's. That was appropriate in his religion book (which I really enjoyed)... but here, Chris comes off as Patrician and smug.

I have my own criticisms of Beck, believe me I do... I would have preferred a rally without all the god squad crap myself. I see the religious expressions as EXERCISING our freedoms rather than remembering and promoting them, but what do I know?

But Beck believes that politics is the problem and religion is the solution. And he was very effective in communicating that. How this became RACIAL is unbelievable to me. White schmite who the fuck cares what color people are... Dr. King talked in the same spot about Content of Character, not color of skin.

Beck was talking about getting back to God, expressing his religious views, not his whiteness. I understand that a Christian revivial is not Hitchens' cup of tea, but I don't see how you go to a thing like this, and write a story of how it's about White Fright, unless you went there ready to count white faces to begin with.