Dear PoP – Should I Protest the Glenn Beck Rally?

Photo by PoPville flickr user Mark Brueggenjohann

“Dear PoP,

I just found out about the Glenn Beck Rally – “Restoring Honor” – being held Aug. 28 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and wondered what people think is a good/effective/proper response to something like this.

DC is of course the Mecca for protesters of all kinds and there is the whole free-speech thing of course. My usual inclination is that counter-rallies or protests just fan the flames and generate more publicity and often exploitable ugliness, especially in this case, where Beck has his own powerful TV juggernaut where he can manipulate images & news however he likes.

What should one do when something this offensive is going on? Ideas?”

The Post’s DeNeen Brown just wrote about this in the Style Section:

“Social activists and civil rights leaders, among them the Rev. Al Sharpton, are planning marches and demonstrations — including the unveiling of a nearly four-story-tall original sculpture on the Mall — on Aug. 28 to coincide with a rally organized by Fox News personality Glenn Beck…

“For Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin to have a march, they have the right to do so. Many of us suspect they are using the symbolism of that day in a way that does not reflect what the day is about,” Sharpton said. “At no point will we interchange. We will not desecrate the march and what King stood for.”

What do you guys recommend is the best way to counter a rally that you find offensive (no matter the subject)? I usually lean towards ignoring them, personally. What about you guys?

Ed. Note: For those that don’t like political discussions on this blog please just move on. A reader wrote in the question and I think it is a fair question whichever side you happen to be on.