Beck's Biggest Gamble

By choosing to rival Martin Luther King with a rally on the anniversary of the “I have a dream” speech, Glenn Beck may have set himself up for failure.

There are two dangers inherent in speaking from the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's “I have a dream” speech. Danger one is presumption: that you will somehow try to arrogate or displace one of America's foundational historical moments. We heard a lot about that danger in advance of Glenn Beck's big rally on the Mall. Danger two got less attention in advance - but may get more danger now: that is the danger that you're setting yourself up for failure. You don't call your new play “Hamlet” unless you are very, very sure it's good, and you don't try to rival Martin Luther King unless you have something big to say.  If you don't ... the big setup only leads to a bigger splat.