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On August 28, Glenn Beck is planning a rally in Washington DC.  According to Mr. Beck, he intends on picking up Martin Luther King’s mantle and plans to “restore honor” to America.  How does Glenn Beck intend to restore honor? Well, by being as exploitative and dishonorable as possible.

Notably, Glenn Beck has chosen to hold the rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of MLK’s “I I have a dream” speech.  Mr. Beck’s feeble and pathetic attempt to coopt MLK’s legacy has drawn the ire of civil rights leaders and organizations.  Mr. Beck rebuffed this criticism, asserting: “Blacks don’t own Martin Luther King.”

And, how is Glenn Beck funding this event? He’s raising money by using the Special Operations Warrior Fund’s tax-exempt status.  All donations will first be used to cover the cost of Glenn Beck’s event, whatever remains will go to charity.  The Special Operations Warrior Fund is a charity that benefits wounded veterans and their families.

Given what the Special Operations Warrior Fund supposedly stands for, Glenn Beck’s rant against the Purple Heart and his plans for the 828 event are contemptible…

Back in May, Glenn Beck suggested that the Purple Heart was dishonorable and trashed it as a progressive plot.  Accordingly, he plans to begin the event by doing away with Purple Hearts and awarding his own version of it (emphasis added):

Glenn Beck: Today, we announced the first 15 minutes of the 8-28 event and the people that will join me on stage. We announced that we are going to start — restart the badge of merit that George Washington gave his troops. It’s what the Purple Heart is based on, except the progressives — what a surprise — in 1933 introduced the Purple Heart.

The Purple Heart was based on the badge of merit by George Washington. It had nothing to do with being wounded in action. It had everything to do with doing something of honor and integrity, something to — something that — where you really put your neck out and you did something of real merit, not just getting shot — not that that’s –

But he was trying to build people that understood honor and merit and integrity and God.

That’s right, Glenn Beck plans to “restore honor” by trashing purple heart recipients as lacking honor and integrity.

I wonder how wounded warriors feel about Glenn Beck denigrating their sacrifice?

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