Back when they were still culturally relevant, U2 penned a song in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, “Pride (In the Name of Love”).Interestingly, while U2’s ode to the good doctor has now reached such luminary heights as being included in several top 500 lists such as Rolling Stone magazine’s all time singles , and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s songs that shaped rock music, upon its release, top music critics blasted the tune for its moralistic high road and simplification of Dr. King’s philososphy. Now, on the 25th anniversary of the song’s release, and more importantly, the upcoming 47th anniversary of Dr. King’s speech at the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King’s legacy is subject to being undermined by something more insidious than any rock lyric.

     That stalwart of cultural decency, Fox News talking head Glenn Beck, has secured the use of the Lincoln Memorial on the same date as Dr. King’s time honored speech, August 28, in order to conduct a rally under the auspicious heading of “Restoring Honor.”  Although Beck initially claimed that the rally was intended to take back the Civil Rights Movement, Beck has now segued the event to its antiseptic name. Perhaps the need to change the event’s moniker was due to Beck’s recent tirades, which includes such efforts as labeling  President Obama both a racist and a Nazi,  and further equating  life in America under the Obama administration to be akin to the movie “Planet of the Apes” and more. Maybe Beck only selectively heard part of Dr.King’s speeches, since King’s demand for equal opportunity for all, was not intended for equal opportunistic bigots.

     Not content with simply denigrating the legacy of the man generally held as being the father of the civil rights movement in this country, Beck now has added Dr. King’s niece to his all star line-up of speakers at the event. Proving once again that every family tree has a genetic mutation, Alveda King has laid claim to such polarizing statements as Planned Parenthood is an organization geared to fulfill the work of the Ku Klux Klan and eliminate the black race;  gay marriage is a form of genocide; and Dr. King’s late widow was not a true representative of the King legacy since she lacked the King DNA. Alveda King should have no trouble sharing the stage on August 28 with such other intelligentsia luminaries as half-term governor Sarah Palin; tote a gun for God rocker Ted Nugent; and Mr. sublime himself, Beck.

     To further cloak himself in the veil of hypocrisy, Beck has now enlisted a charity, the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, as being the beneficiary of the proceeds from the Restoring Honor event. While the SOWF is undoubtedly serving a good cause (financial assistance to the families of dead or wounded special operations armed force’s members), a disclaimer embedded at the bottom of the event’s website (amazingly found on his website), discloses that only funds in excess of the cost of the event itself will be paid to the SOWF. No mention is made as to whether any booths selling Beck or Palin tomes, or Nugent cd’s, will likewise make donations to the SOWF.

     But, as despiteful as the foregoing may be, the ultimate disservice to the King legacy (and this country’s collective intelligence), is the fact that Beck has curiously failed to enunciate who, or what, stole our “honor.” Was it the shameful pretense that the Iraq war was due to Sadam Hussein’s alleged ties to 9-11? Was it the former president’s administration having amassed the largest budget deficits in this nation’s history? Or, perhaps, the timing of the rally is not important as to the date of the event itself, but Beck’s potential claim that honor was lost when an African-American was elected president?

     Perhaps Beck could restore honor, if by nothing else, taking to heart the lyrics of the aforementioned U2 song, and its line: “Free at last, they took your life, they could not take your pride.” Maybe then, good ole Glenn would comprehend that no matter what indignities he attempts to inflict upon the King legacy though his attempts to usurp the cultural importance of August 28 and the Lincoln Memorial, the importance of the message of Dr. King transcends any calendar date, or locale of an otherwise ill-timed rally.