For the AU College Republicans, Saturday’s Glenn Beck rally was a break from politics.
In speeches that were equal parts patriotism and prayer, Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally on the National Mall was meant to evoke civility and honor, rather than parties and politics.
“The message was to see each other as all Americans,” said Dan Roberts, the AUCR community service chair and a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. “It was a great message, applicable to everyone.”
About 25 members of the AUCR traveled to the Mall, most standing right near the Reflecting Pool, about halfway between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.
“No one party gets to dominate compassion,” said Stephen Laudone, the AUCR president and a senior in the School of Public Affairs and the School of Communication.
Beck, a FOX News commentator known for his conservative politics, asked his audience to unite the country on core values and principles, punctuating his words with scripture.
“It has nothing to do with politics, it has everything to do with God,” he said.
People packed the Mall from the Lincoln Memorial to past the World War II Memorial, many toting lawn chairs and Gadsden “Don’t Tread On Me” flags in each hand.
There are no official numbers for the size of the audience, but Beck said at one point he’d heard there were between 300,000 and 500,000 people in attendance.
The rally focused on three tenets: hope, faith and charity. Beck intertwined these into honoring the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, an organization that provides money for college to the children of fallen Special Operations soldiers.
Beck said over $5.5 million was raised for SOWF by the end of the rally and donations were still coming in.
The rally honored veterans for their service and sacrifice, and included a speech by Sarah Palin — former Republican vice presidential candidate and the mother of a U.S. Army soldier.
“Say what you want to say about me, but I raised a combat vet,” she said.
Other speakers included Pastor C. L. Jackson, who was present at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech exactly 47 years ago in nearly the same spot. King’s niece, Dr. Alveda King, also spoke.
If King were here today, “he would surely commend us for giving honor where honor is due,” Alveda King said.
Bobby Trivett, the AUCR secretary and a senior in SPA and the Kogod School of Business, said he found the rally to be an informational, anecdotal and peaceful demonstration that was more about individualism and personal responsibility than politics.
Jim Banks, the AUCR’s newsletter editor and a sophomore in SPA, said the religious tones tied today back to the founding of the United States — people fleeing religious persecution and oppression.
Roberts said the idea of charity resonated with him, as the AUCR community service chair.
Helping others should be a measure of your character, he said, rather than a compulsory service.
About 10 AU College Democrats also went to Glenn Beck’s rally yesterday out of “curiosity,” according to Quinn Hurdle, the College Democrats’ alumni director and liasion.
“I didn’t hear one substantive thing from Glenn Beck. I heard a lot of slogans, and I heard a lot of promises, but it was hard to know what they were actually advocating for,” said Hurdle, a graduate student in SPA.
Hurdle said the rally’s theme of “Restoring Honor” was problematic, as it made it seem that the Democrats and President Barack Obama have somehow taken honor away.
He also said he thought the rally was actually political and not simply religious and patriotic.
“The nature of bringing political leaders into the rally — I think that makes it inherently political,” he said.
Rev. Al Sharpton also organized a five-mile march Aug. 28 to honor the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The march began at Dunbar High School in Northwest D.C. and ended at the southeast side of the National Mall, where the King memorial is currently under construction.
sdazio@theeagleonline.com
