The Conservative Cave
Current Events => Politics => Topic started by: 5412 on August 26, 2010, 04:44:32 PM
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Hi,
Well my wife and I got to Annapolis yesterday and decided to scout out the transportation, etc. for the Saturday event. Now mind you, this report is from an overweight 70 year old man so keep it in that perspective.
We drove to the train station today with no problem and took the elevated/subway train and got off at the "Smithsonian" stop which is supposed to be closest to the Lincoln Memorial where Glenn and others will be speaking. Close my foot, it is around a mile away but you can see the monument so it feels closer....my feet told me otherwise.
When you get there, in front of the monument is the reflection pool so there will be really few folks directly in front of the stage, they will be off on either side. Now they were putting up porta-potties and I counted over 200 so there is likely going to be a whole lot of people.
I would suggest you get there early if you want to see, or even see a screen or hear a loud speaker. They seemed to be set up between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. If you can lug lawn chairs that would help although there is grass you can sit on...unless you are like my wife with two artifical knees and unable to get up without a whole lot of effort and help...
I would also suggest you get on the left side (as you look at the stage) because the is a lot more shade and trees, plus there is a larger park on that side with a huge monitor for viewing. It got pretty hot and we walked back around 11:30AM to the Smithsonian so I would suggest bringing something cool to drink, sun tan lotion and dress for a hot day. I just cannot imagine what it will be like with a few hundred thousand people.
One thing for sure, if you are standing by the Washington monument the speaker will look like a very small person if you can see them at all. Were I to guess there will be lots of folks crowding forward to see which will likely add to the thrill or whatever you want to call it.
As an aside, I looked at the rail system, saw a nice Amtrak train go by, saw several government buildings and found myself very, very angry. These clowns sure know how to spend our money without even batting an eye. Sorry to get off on the tangent but it sure does reinforce the impression that our beloved congress has little concern for the hard working Americans that have to pay the taxes to fund their extravagance.
We then went to the American History building of the Smithsonian, had lunch and spent another four hours on our feet. Twas an amazing experience, well worth the time and effort. We are now back in our hotel, my wife with her feet up and me soon to join her.
Hope to see many of you on Saturday morning, getting excited about it.
And finally, in the words of my wife as she waked to the Metro station to return. "Where the hell are they going to put 1100 buses?" Boy I have no clue, much less as to how I would find the right bus after the event is over. Were I to guess the buses will drop passengers off, drive to the parking lot at the stadium, then return to pick folks up again. Patience is a word that came to mind......and it will likely apply to those taking any form of public transportation also.
Regards,
5412
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Thank you!! I live in the VA/DC area and just might try to go.
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Looking forward to reading your updates -- have a great time!
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Thank you!! I live in the VA/DC area and just might try to go.
Hi,
My guess is it will be something you will remember the rest of your life, should be something special. If nothing else it will likely show us up close and personal just how full of crap the mainstream media is when they report the event.
regards,
5412
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I can't wait for your update! Please be careful, and make sure to have water, so you don't have to buy it for a brazillion dollars. Be safe!
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Thanks for the update. Can't wait for your next update.
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You two be careful, take lots of pictures, and if the loonies get there....LEAVE FAST!!!!
Looking forward to your reports....wishing I could be there with you! :hi5:
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I also wish I could be there with you. Thank you for the update 5412. If any idiots show up, you all should use your thousands of voices to drown the creeps out! I'm excited for you and you wife. This is gonna be huge!
PS: I know there is a special 8/28 site (glennbeck.com/828) however, will Glenn be streaming ANY of this live at all. Will we have to just wait for youtube video, or will some of the alphabet net6works at least show some of it so that we can drown out the ancor's voices, and hear what they're saying at the event? I have a really hard time believing that this will not be covered at all on Saturday. Kind of pisses me off that FNC won't be on it.
After all, I think this is going to be historic.
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Thank you for sharing this with us. I would love to be there so hearing about it is wonderful.
Cindie
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You two be careful, take lots of pictures, and if the loonies get there....LEAVE FAST!!!!
Looking forward to your reports....wishing I could be there with you! :hi5:
Hi,
Thanks to all for the concern. We will try to be careful. If loonies show up I will likely be laughing so hard at them I will have to get out of there. I know we have my wife's camera along which can take videos so whe will be clicking away. We plan on following our own advice and taking some food and water along.
I suspect the event will be live on Fox News. If someone can check the schedule I would appreciate it, cannot do it here in the hotel. I have a slingbox and may end up in the crowd watching the video on my phone with some bluetooth headphones.
Boy I hope a zillion tea partiers show up.
regards,
5412
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Hey 5412.....just found this on Glenn's site....
will it work for you and your wife?
ADA and Elderly Shuttle
A complimentary ADA shuttle will depart from RFK Stadium parking lots beginning at 7:00 am and drop directly at the Lincoln Memorial on Independence Avenue at the Washington DC War Memorial. Individuals meeting ADA requirements plus one person will be permitted on the bus only. A return shuttle to RFK will be offered from the same location.
couldn't find anything about it being on tv, but I bet it will be on line from his site...
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Hey 5412.....just found this on Glenn's site....
will it work for you and your wife?
couldn't find anything about it being on tv, but I bet it will be on line from his site...
HI,
I spoke with the folks here at the hotel and it appears the way we worked out is the best. We want to be able to come and go as we please. While I complained about the walk, we do need the exercise. My suspicion is that it will be so crowded we will take the walk in stages. Our real decision is just how early we want to get there.
One more day,
5412
PS: Off to the Naval Academy today where my oldest son graduated in 1984. Been a long time since I have been here. Will be a nice relaxing day of touring.
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A handi little gadget I found people using in DC. is an item that costs about $40-50 bucks that can be purchased on line or at a medical supply house.
I was fascinated with the darn thing people were using and asked around about it.
It is a walking stick that can fold down into a seat. Some new age technology metal that is light, extremely strong, it is said to hold a couple hundred pounds.
I had no idea just how tired my legs would get ---this was before I was diagnosed with nerve disease ---so I spent $10.00 on an umbrella with a crock handle and long enough to use as a walking stick and something to lean on. Lots of steps to climb in that city.
If you look around you will see them everywhere but you have to look really close as when folded up they look like just a walking stick.
I am curious about the cab situation in DC today. A couple years back the fare was determined on areas, we were told that the cabs were soon to go to meters. Also look for the Disk hanging from the front window mirror, it denotes the driver is a Muslim and they are not as interesting as the seasoned drivers that will talk to you and point out things and history that you may have missed.
Have fun and keep us informed, this will be quite the adventure for you and wife, can you smell the Totestone of the powerfull yet ???
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Have fun and be safe!
We need pics!! lol :cheersmate:
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I get more giddy about the Restoring Honor event as the hours slip by. I can't imagine how excited you and your wife are, 5412. Have a blast!!
EDIT: The event will be streamed live on FaceBook for those that cannot attend personally.
http://www.facebook.com/restoringhonor
Never gave a damn about facebook until now, but I may just have to creat an account in order to watch this unfold. :hyper:
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Hi,
My wife and I went into DC today to the Glenn Beck rally. It was called "Restoring America" with huge monies being donated to the wounded warriors fund which helps provide for soldiers families for those who are wounded or killed in serving the country. Certainly a cause all Americans could be supportive of. This report will be more of our personal feelings and observations.
I found myself a bit excited, actually woke up around 3:30 AM and did not go back to sleep. While my wife had mentioned to me several times about the fact that there was plenty of potential for conflict, I reassured her and tried to calm her fears every time she brought it up. My feeling was that someone has to step up and stand for what they believe in. Well it did concern me more than I let on. I found myself daydreaming about things like what happens if we are greeted with thugs at the train station like some did when they went to the polls to vote. How would the two of us, senior citizens, handle a situation like that. Came to no conclusion other than to realize, in a small way, just how many of the civil rights protesters had to feel the night before they went to march, they had to be really apprehensive.
Well the alarm went off at 5:00 and I watched the clock tick over on the digital clock and was immediately out of bed. The hotel restaurant breakfast did not open until 6:00 so we dressed, packed the backpack with pb&j sandwiches and around 5:50 started loading up the car. Well the door in the two rooms next to us opened and there were folks from New York and PA and darned if they were not wearing patriotic shirts and immediately we became friends realizing they too were going to the event. We went into the breakfast area and there was some 30 of us from five states all going to the rally. We left in a caravan to the train station. All fears I had the night before seemed to vaporize by the time I was finished with my Raisin Bran, this is going to be fun. We are not alone.
We got to the train station at 6:45 as the first train left at 7:00 AM. What a shocker! There had to be 10,000 people waiting in line to buy a ticket, the line was out of the station and down the block. We realized that if we already had tickets, which mercifully we did, we could go right in so we left our friends and ended up on the 7:15 AM train. We talked to one lady who arrived at the station at 8:00 AM and she reported waiting two hours to get a ticket and they did not arrive at the event until after 11:00 when it was over an hour old.
Got off the train and it took about 15 minutes to get up the escalator and on to the mall. When we got there, around 8:00, two hours before the event started, there were thousands of people there. As we walked along we saw all races, kids carrying American flags, people smiling and talking with strangers, and people from all over the country. We walked around a mile and the crowd was so thick we decided to park our chairs where we could see a monitor and hopefully I could hear the speakers with my hearing aids. People in front of us had arrived at 3:00 AM and several others had arrived at 6:00 AM. We got the last row before the blacktop walking road where they said you could not set up chairs. It was crowded.
My wife braved the crowd to go take pictures and then went to the porta-potty. She was gone long enough for me to worry. Then it was my turn to make the porta-potty trip and I waited in line for almost 45 minutes despite the fact there were hundreds of them set up all over the place. Had to really wedge my way back to my seat as the intensity of the crowd was amazing. The only thing I can compare it to is the crowd you might experience in leaving a full football stadium after a game where they have to wedge together on the way out, there was no spare room.
The crowd was orderly and respectful. Other than one lady who we had to yell at to sit down....she did not want to get her white slacks dirty...all sat down and we could all see and hear. One guy gave her his chair and he sat on the ground.
I cannot tell you how many times I had to wipe tears from my eyes. Palin was exceptional, but the thing that really got me was talking about the soldiers and the marine who was there with hooks for both hands. As I listened to his story I once again had to pull out my handkerchief.
Beck and others introduced several speakers and it was a well coordinated event. There was quite a few black clergy members there and most felt that Dr. King would have very much approved of what was going on. The political remarks were really a bare minimum,counted two remarks, very subtle and that was about it. Dr. King's niece was a very powerful speaker and was impressive to say the least.
While CNN reported that the crowd was not angry, I would disagree somewhat. The mood was excellent, however I made the comment to several people that I doubted that the ruling class had any idea just how pissed off the public really is. To a person, that remark was met with affirmation in the least and reinforced many times over. One person echoed that the crowd today was the tip of the iceberg. We will see in November, but I feel the public is fed up with an electorate who forget their job is to represent those that hire them.
After it was concluded, there was one more interesting observation. Recall the photos of the trash left behind from the Obama inauguration.....we saw folks picking up their own and their neighbor's trash what little there was. The park looked as clean as it was when we arrived. The crowd was estimated by a park service employee to be around 750,000, was very orderly, filed out and folks were talking and laughing with strangers as we started our walk back. Again folks were from all over the country, many flying in, or driving on busses for hours to get there. Took over an hour to walk the mile back to where we started at 8:00 this morning.
When we got back to the Metro station the line was huge, figured it would take a couple hours to get to the escalator just to go down to the train. We walked over to the Smithsonian Castle, used the rest room, the relaxed for over an hour. The line at the ladies room got so long they actually changed the sign and they used both the ladies and mens room for ladies. There was a small, and I mean small, men's room down a long hall which was ummmm, crowded and friendly. Again people were courteous, there was seating and folks were glad to share benches etc.
Took my wife almost 45 minutes to wait in line to buy a coke and cookie and we sat and rested before going back to the Metro. The line was somewhat shorter and in about 30 minutes we were in line to get on the train. Now the train was crowded. My wife found a seat and darned if a nice young man offered me his seat and chose to stand so I could sit. My first thought was, "Do I really look that old?" I have been on busses going to Cub games and seen teen agers sitting while little old ladies with canes stood in crowded busses so the offer was a pleasant surprise. Turned out the young man was from PA, father of four, and saw fit to come to the rally.
Arrived back at the hotel at 4:00 PM, tired but energized. Our country is going to be OK folks, real hard working Americans are determined to take back our country from the special interest and something for nothing crowd. I seriously doubt that any of the adults would argue with Beck when he said we have to protect our freedom and insure that our grandchildren have those same freedoms we have enjoyed our entire lives.
Glad we came, now the trick is to not let the spirit of the event die; but rather it must become a beginning or continuance for many of us to take the political class from both parties down to size, they work for us, we are their employers and they need to be reminded of that daily.
Hope this has not been boring, hard to capture the emotion one feels when they attend an event with 3/4 million of their best friends. In the words of Sara Palin, "We are not alone!"
Best personal regards,
5412
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Of course the DUmmies who weren't even there will tell us that there was only ten people and they were wearing hoods and sheets. :-)
Sounds like you had a good day.
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That was a great update -- thanks for sharing!!!!!
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That was EXCELLENT, 5412! I felt like I was at the event with you.
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Awesome. Thank you, 5412.
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Great report!!
As I watched this morning....I kept looking for a couple in yellow shirts. Do you want to know how many people had yellow shirts on? I just know that I saw you both though! :-)
So glad that you had a wonderful time.
Safe travels home. :heart:
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Great report!!
As I watched this morning....I kept looking for a couple in yellow shirts. Do you want to know how many people had yellow shirts on? I just know that I saw you both though! :-)
So glad that you had a wonderful time.
Safe travels home. :heart:
Hi,
Tomorrow we treat ourselves to a day at the chocolate factory in Hershey, PA.
Thanks for the kind words,
5412
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Hi,
Tomorrow we treat ourselves to a day at the chocolate factory in Hershey, PA.
Thanks for the kind words,
5412
Enjoy that treat! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for representing those of us that couldn't be there. I am glad to know that you and your wife are safe and sound.
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Thanks for the update. I watched today too, wishing I was there.
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:bow: Thank you for the update!!!! Ended up not being able to go to due to hubby having to work and putting a kink in our plans. I did watch though!!! :hi5:
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Thanks for the trip report 5412 ! I too was there, though my son and family got stranded in Vienna, VA when he couldn't get his car within a mile of the metro station :(
We stayed at the L'Enfant Plaza hotel, right behind the Smithsonian Castle (and your metro stop!). So we had an easier time of it, and more sleep, though were able to get within "30 porta potties" of the main stage at 6 a.m. Though halfway through the rally, we needed to get up and walk around.........only to realize that there were many more people there than you'll see at the "official AP" photo or other tv coverage. It was a solid sea of patriots as far as the eye could see .... from the base of the Washington Monument ! And people were still arriving at the end of the rally. The DC transit and highways were choked to a shutdown. The metro was filling up at the first stop only to pass all the other stations into the Mall. Good ole DC ran their weekend metro schedule AND had only one lane open on I-66 inbound (from Dulles) into the district, for repaving. I feel badly for those who got stuck in that mess, I hope they're counted.
Groups came from all over the country......including Alaska! The rally speeches and messages were great, but the real inspiration came from the people who showed up....and at their own expense! We met so many (and many former Dems) who were there for the Giant Group Hug :-)
The media is trying to kill the buzz now, don't believe them :cheersmate: We are going to be fine!
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Speaking as a Canadian I'm impressed, Canadians are so apathetic they don't give a da.n....
I thought Glenn Beck had a very positive message and did his best to keep it non-political/non-partisan while on the on the other hand, Al Sharpton made fun of the Beck rally being quite negative toward it.
Beck, Palin and other speakers at the Restoring Honour Rally asked the crowd to help restore traditional American values and honour Martin Luther King's message (where MLK's niece, Alveda King, chose to speak)
I found portions of Sharpton's messages to be quite negative and possibly serving to increase the divide, while Beck was inclusive, Sharpton was not. Quite a troubling picture actually.
Our left wing CBC which exists through public money, severely underestimated the crowd by tens of thousands LOL This really has the lefties in a howl LOL
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Speaking as a Canadian I'm impressed, Canadians are so apathetic they don't give a da.n....
I thought Glenn Beck had a very positive message and did his best to keep it non-political/non-partisan while on the on the other hand, Al Sharpton made fun of the Beck rally being quite negative toward it.
Beck, Palin and other speakers at the Restoring Honour Rally asked the crowd to help restore traditional American values and honour Martin Luther King's message (where MLK's niece, Alveda King, chose to speak)
I found portions of Sharpton's messages to be quite negative and possibly serving to increase the divide, while Beck was inclusive, Sharpton was not. Quite a troubling picture actually.
Our left wing CBC which exists through public money, severely underestimated the crowd by tens of thousands LOL This really has the lefties in a howl LOL
Welcome,
I have spent a good bit of time in Canada during my working career. Canadians are, on the whole, generally wonderful, sharing and tolerant people. At the same time, I do not underestimate them at all. Let your government start to govern against the will of the majority of the Canadian people and you will see the same backlash as you have in the US.
Al Sharpton had to criticize the Beck rally. They must keep the hatred alive, that is how they have made their living since the original MLK rally years ago. Were they to admit that there is truly equal opportunity in the US, then they are out of a job, who needs them?
regards,
5412
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Thanks, It's nice to have found a conservative forum, most forums I frequent seem to be heavily tilted to port side :)- I do like following U.S. politics, much more interesting than ours LOL
I don't see Canadians getting excited enough about anything to come out in such large numbers, although the lefties were all in a howl over our Prime Minister proroguing Parliament ( postponing a session of Parliament) last year, they even set up a huge FB page. What they all ignored was the fact that that the Liberals had a corner on proroguing having done it numerous times, but it's only a problem when conservatives do it. They did get pretty worked up about it, but then the media helps to stir it up too.
If any one would like to pm me here I can give a link to a smaller forum that could use some diversity :hyper:
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Violation of the Hatch Act ? Wonder if Bush's ED secretary did this ::)
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/08/31/education-secretary-pushed-employees-to-attend-sharpton-rally/
President Obama’s top education official urged government employees to attend a rally that the Rev. Al Sharpton organized to counter a larger conservative event on the Mall.
“ED staff are invited to join Secretary Arne Duncan, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and other leaders on Saturday, Aug. 28, for the ‘Reclaim the Dream’ rally and march,†began an internal e-mail sent to more than 4,000 employees of the Department of Education on Wednesday.
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Just saw this comment from a friend of mine posted at another blog, and I thought his take on it was interesting, if not positively spot-on regarding Beck's intent to get America back to a value-based society, despite an individual's particular religion or creed...
Okay, at first this seemed intuitively obvious and I wondered why it was a big deal. OF FREAKIN’ COURSE that is what Beck is trying to do.
So I did whatever I do when I find myself thinking something is intuitively obvious, and look more closely. Think about it. Try different angles. Is it really obvious, and is the “obvious†explanation defensible? And I conclude that yes, it is. Beck is trying to lay the groundwork for people who believe in America to come together over their common ground, and to examine and articulate what it is that they believe in.
The example of Penn Gilette is a good one, Penn being an atheist. It demonstrates that what we, as Americans, believe is not based on religion but on what we hold to be universal concepts. Nobody is being asked to join a church, and that is where we have allowed the leftists to drive the debate. Years ago I realized that if I ever complained that our schools do not teach ethical behavior some smug leftist would so preciously ask “Whose ethics?†with the sneering self righteousness lefties substitute for conviction. I always respond with “Basic human ethics - that it’s wrong to abuse people, or to lie to them, or to take advantage of their weaknesses, or to steal from them, or to treat them as less than human - and why does that threaten you so?â€
It always wrongfooted them. First of all, because they are not used to being challenged, and secondly because there isn’t an answer they’d be comfortable giving. The only way to attack ethics is with moral relativism, which even most leftists are ashamed to express openly. When they say “All cultures are equal†they’re really saying “You people not in our club are inferior.†If you’re going to be a decent person because you fear God is watching, great, that’s close enough. If you don’t accept a god, then does that free you up to be a psychopath, or will you try to derive an ethical framework for your behaviour so you still can respect yourself? A rational atheist will do the latter, a reflexive atheist (the sort who doesn’t actually disbelieve in God but who actively hates Him) will, in rejecting faith, also reject any ethical basis for behaviour because he has not only destroyed God, but set himself up in His place.
An elitist hatred of human beings is, I am convinced, at the core of all leftist ideology. That’s why they can’t let people go about their business while minding their own. They aren’t content just knowing they are superior, they need to ensure everyone else acknowledges their superiority. Beck is just one of the people attempting to stand against the cultural nihilism that is a precondition to the leftist’s dream utopia. You can’t make people perfect because our frailties are part of our common clay - you first must deconstruct humanity and then remake it.
Conservatives aren’t interested in creating Heaven on Earth. The religious ones know that’s blasphemy, the secular one know that’s impractical. We simply want to ensure that everyone here, in the time he is alloted, can live the best life he can mange.
And obviously I am using “he†in a general sense, and not an exclusive one based on gender. Not that I expect any of the womyn here are going to miss my point.
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The central point being that, yes, Beck was trying to find common ground for a gathering of people who respect life and the rationale that there is a Power Greater than us.
His leftist-bashing sort of takes away from that argument (not that I disagree with it), but the central point is viable and accurate.
Any approach other than this would not have worked so well. The religious right is rather dogmatic about religion, especially Christianity and Beck, I'm sure, felt that it would be folly to cater exclusively to that club but to invite other points of view, other religions, other philosophies to the rally. I'm not sure that the religious right found that oppressive or argumentative - perhaps nothing more than inclusive.
When you think about it, this is the kind of approach that worked for Obama so well. This is not to suggest that everybody at that rally had the Obama-like worshipful glow, but that Obama's handlers did find the chord that he could strike. Events such as this are reflective of that approach, methinks.
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Those promoting the Bummer used peoples guilt in order to get him elected! I'd be hard pressed to see it any other way!
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Just saw this comment from a friend of mine posted at another blog, and I thought his take on it was interesting, if not positively spot-on regarding Beck's intent to get America back to a value-based society, despite an individual's particular religion or creed...
Hi,
While I think you are on to something, I see it in much simpler terms. There is a group of people who want power over others. They also are very greedy and want something for nothing. They will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. They applaud folks like Mao, Castro and Chavez and want to destroy individual liberty and capitalism so they can be the kings. They exploit others making hard working achievers and companies the bad guys and the government the wonderful God of redistribution. That sells well when the non-producing members of society can out vote the producers; particularly when the media is carrying their propaganda machine at full throttle.
Americans in general push back on that crap and are starting to figure out what is going on and do not like it one bit. Probably going to get a lot worse and very ugly before it gets better. Hopefully God will help us.
regards,
5412
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Might as well post this awesome photo someone I know took here too:
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii86/remgre/babybeckrally-1.jpg?t=1283915385)
That rally was one of the most inspiring events I've ever attended.