Glenn Beck's 'Honor' rally: What you missed
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(CNN) - Conservative commentator Glenn Beck says his revival-style rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday was about restoring America's honor and returning the country to the values on which it was founded.
Tens of thousands of people showed up for the event, which also featured former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Beck insists the rally was nonpolitical, but the event, which took place on the 47th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, and in the same place, was not without controversy.
The message: Support the troops; return to God.
Video: Is Glenn Beck the voice of the GOP?
Anderson Cooper | BIO
AC360° Anchor
Saturday Night Beck
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/POLITICS/08/27/beck.conventions/art.new.glenn.bcck.cnn.jpg caption="Beck: good talker, poor listener"]
Bill Bennett
National Review Online
There’s a lot to say about CPAC. This morning the major papers are highlighting Glenn Beck’s speech. I like Glenn a lot and I think he has something to teach us. But not what he offered last night.
Analogizing his own struggles with alcohol to the problems of our polity and in our politics, he said, “Hello, my name is the Republican party, and I have a problem!” “I’m addicted to spending and big government.” ”It is still morning in America.” ”It just happens to be kind of a head-pounding, hung-over, vomiting-for-four-hours kind of morning in America. And it’s shaping up to be kind of a nasty day. But it is still morning in America.” And, again, “I believe in redemption, but the first step to getting redemption is you’ve got to admit that you’ve got a problem. I have not heard people in the Republican party yet admit that they have a problem.”
Glenn is among the best talkers in the business of broadcast. I am not sure he’s a very good listener.
Everything you need to know about the CPAC conference
Program Note: Don't miss our reports from CPAC tonight on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.
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AC360°
Conservative activists from across the country spent the first day of the annual CPAC convention discussing policy, blasting the Obama administration and plotting a return to power in November.
The three-day Conservative Political Action Conference features speeches from national political leaders, potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates, 2010 candidates, and the likes of conservative Hollywood-types such as actor Stephen Baldwin.
Opening day speakers included Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist and Liz Cheney.
Go here for information about the conference, including a list of speakers, what's on the agenda for each day and a list of sponsors.
America's chilling future
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/10/02/art.whitehouse.jpg]Glenn Beck | Bio
Host of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck
Editor's note: Glenn Beck is on CNN Headline News nightly at 7 and 9 ET and also is host of a conservative national radio talk show.
Dear America: Happy 300th Birthday!
It's 2076 and we've just invented the time-fax machine. (Actually, "we" didn't invent the time-fax machine, the State did - they pretty much control everything now.)
I'm faxing this back to you in 2008 because that seems to be the year we had the best chance to reverse our course and get back to the vision laid out by our founding fathers - a vision that didn't include the government being in the insurance business.
I don't have a lot of time (the State only gives us one 30-minute break per day) so let me give you some advice: Stop worrying so much about who runs the country and start worrying about who runs your towns, your states, and your Congress.
I know you're all distracted by the presidential election, but for all the money and time poured into it, the truth is that you're choosing between two roads that will lead you to the same destination. Sure, one may be the Autobahn and the other a two-lane highway, but you'll end up at the same place either way.
Decades of Republicans and Democrats alike have all chipped in to lead you to where you are today. Believing that one person, from either party, can change that by themselves is a big mistake.
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