This is one of those instances where I respectfully question the motives of Glenn Beck. Is he sincere about his convictions or is this ‘Pledge of Nonviolence’ a ratings stunt?
Below is the Pledge of Nonviolence that Martin Luther King, Jr. asked those who believed in his message to abide by as well as his core principles of nonviolence.
I am going to ask you to make the same commitment to nonviolence and give you the opportunity to make that pledge public by having you ‘sign’ these documents below.
-glenn
This is almost the same ploy I got from that Princeton professor on Al Sharpton’s show: his repeated asking that I agree Tea Party racism be condemned. Why should I condemn something that wasn’t and by doing so, be validating a falsehood?
Beck is doing the exact same thing here by asking the Tea Party to sign a pledge of non-violence; he’s in essence making us pledge not to do something we haven’t, nor would do.
For example, go to a Tea Party protest and you’ll see the police leaning on their squad cars, smiling and talking with the participants. Go to a liberal protest and you’ll see the police… in riot gear.
NO Tea Party thus far has been violent and even Glenn Beck himself mocks the liberal and/or mainstream media assertion that little old ladies and retirees are prone to violent behavior.
Should this become an impressive list, those who are smearing the Tea Party will look to this and be validated in their assessment that we are ‘dangerous’. Bill Clinton said as much and a publicity stunt pledge would mean we agree there may potential violence and we need to police ourselves.
It ain’t true.
The Tea Party cleans up after itself everywhere they meet, and unlike the left, we actually like and respect the police and the law. Nothing else need be proven and put in writing.
Even though I like Glenn, I am not going to take the pledge, Bob.
I will not pledge to something I am not going to honor. If some liberal left-wing nut starts to attack me, they’re gonna get whupped. Period. Sometimes you have to smack the bullies right in the balls before they get the idea. I learned that in Junior High School a loooooong time ago.
I guess I’m a sheepdog.
Igor
This is so true. This is what they tried to make the tea party in NH do… when all the violence was coming from their side. They insisted they sign something and when they refused, they were attacked with more smears.
If it doesn’t exist, they tried to create it.
Beck shouldn’t fall for this either.
Why take ‘ownership’ of something you didn’t do in the first place?
He’s probably just covering his butt in the case he becomes the victim of one of the many frivolous but costly law suits the left engages in.
He knows the tea party is functioning just fine without official leadership that would become a media target.
Count me in with Igor.
I figure his motivation is that he wants to point to a huge list of names and use it to dismiss the liberal charge that the Tea Party is violent.
Not his job though.
Way back when MLK was doin’ his thing a white fellow on campus asked me what it was like to be nonviolent.
I replied that I wasn’t.
And then said, “Got a match?”…
I think Beck was rattled by the recent suggestions/accusations that some of what conservatives were saying was verging on sedition. Bob, why don’t you send a copy of your comments on this issue to Beck? Your take on his pledge idea explains the nuances of what his idea fails to cover and with the sensitivity and awareness that a Black man brings to the discussion. I hadn’t thought of it in this way till I read your piece though I was reluctant to sign his pledge based on a gut feeling of my own.
Vote them all in and out on a regular basis……..it is simpler. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
“For example, go to a Tea Party protest and you’ll see the police leaning on their squad cars, smiling and talking with the participants. Go to a liberal protest and you’ll see the police… in riot gear.”
Damn straight we’re the civil bunch.
“The Tea Party cleans up after itself everywhere they meet, and unlike the left, we actually like and respect the police and the law. Nothing else need be proven and put in writing.”
the only thing I’m willing to sign is this new Mt. Vernon statement. After GWB, I kinda have to. Even though GWB wasn’t as bad as Obama and all. For me, it just sort of asserts that I WILL IN FACT stay faithful to the Constitution, as a young conservative Republican (and learn more about it for that matter). Hell, I’ll likely to SAY I will in fact be faithful to the Constitution as I’m sworn in as a member of the Solany County Republican Party Central Committee in January
god what is WITH these TRACKBACKS??
anyway, another thing that rubs me the wrong way about Glenn Beck, is he leaves out key bits of information. Dr. Alveda King was on his program last week or so, along with the Nuge [Ted Nugent]. After watching that episode, to the ignorant, you might as well play “guess the party affiliation” with Dr. King, as King’s party affiliation strangely was never mentioned. Glenn sure likes to quote Dr. King but never mentions what party he belonged to. Does Glenn’s disdain for DemoKKKrats AND Republicans cloud his history or something? was hoping Dr. Alveda King would’ve told Glenn the truth about her uncle that we all know, like the back of our hand.
frustrating…
I may be wrong about Glenn, but I don’t think he’s a phony. I think that what you see, is what you get. I would be very disappointed to find out otherwise. I highly recommend his book “Arguing with Idiots”. It’ll make you mad, no doubt, but you’ll learn a lot about our country and the morons running it.
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Glen Beck is kowtowing to the Liberals, I will not! Many Firefighters, Police Officers, National Guard, Veterans & Military Personnel have signed an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America & are members of OathKeepers.org. Like minded Citizens are invited to join as well. Our motto is “Not on my watch” . This is something worth signing & upholding.