The crowd attending the "Restoring" Honor rally, organized by Glenn Beck, is seen from the base of the Washington Monument in Washington, on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2010.
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"I don't understand it, but this is where we're going," said Glenn Beck, as he recounted his inspiration to rally people in Washington, D.C. And for those looking on as he spoke on Saturday before the Lincoln Memorial, a few stairs down from where Martin Luther King, Jr. told America about his dream 47 years ago, it was easy to know exactly how Beck felt.
Tens of thousands had gathered along the reflecting pool in the name of "restoring honor" -- the name and theme of the rally -- yet no one could quite specify what that meant. And though the conservative media personality was full of passionate exhortations for his audience, most of Beck's instructions weren't exactly intuitive. (How does one, for example, "wrap truth in boldness"?) All present agreed that America needed to be rebuilt, but with no list of grievances, no Vietnam-sized conflict to end, no particular right to extend, it remained unclear what the blueprint should look like.
One attendee from Ohio said they gathered to spread a message of "respect for all religious and political parties." Another said the day was largely about getting away from computers and talking to people face-to-face. A third was more blunt: "We're here to unite -- as long as you believe in the United States of America, the Constitution, conservative values and God." At its heart, the day was more a celebration of Christianity and the military than anything else. As Beck said, "It has nothing to do with politics; it has everything to do with God."
Looking out upon the carpet of stars-and-stripes-clad people spilling out from around the pool, across nearby fields and up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Beck went for an old chestnut: the Field of Dreams reference. "If you build it, they will come," he said as he greeted his jubilant audience -- and they had come in earnest. A person wearing a "Buck Ofama" button, sparkly American-flag hat and "Don't Tread on Me" shirt was by no means overdressed.
Beck came on stage following a mixed-race a cappella group who sang the national anthem, and his effort to include a heterogeneous lineup -- despite his homogeneous (read: white, Christian, conservative) crowd -- continued to show. There were rabbis and preachers, black people and white people, immigrants and Native Americans on the stage, all amidst two women everyone was particularly excited to see: Sarah Palin and Alveda King, an anti-abortion activist and niece to Martin Luther King, Jr.
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