Glenn Beck's Culture War Sideshow

The U.S. is in the most severe recession since WWII. Yet at the Beck rally, speakers urged Americans to be more religious and ignored the real problem facing the country.

Here's an actual problem that needs fixing:

The U.S. is mired in the most severe recession since World War II.

Here's a non-problem that does not need fixing:

Today's Americans seem approximately as honorable and God-fearing as prior generations.

Yet at least 100,000 Glenn Beck admirers rallied in Washington to listen to speeches addressing the non-problem and disregarding the actual problem. Ross Douthat described it well.

Beck’s “Restoring Honor” was like an Obama rally through the looking glass. It was a long festival of affirmation for middle-class white Christians — square, earnest, patriotic and religious. If a speaker had suddenly burst out with an Obama-esque “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for,” the message would have fit right in.

But whereas Obama wouldn’t have been Obama if he weren’t running for president, Beck’s packed, three-hour jamboree was floated entirely on patriotism and piety, with no “get thee to a voting booth” message. It blessed a particular way of life without burdening that blessing with the compromises of a campaign, or the disillusioning work of governance.

For a weekend, at least, Beck proved that he can conjure the thrill of a culture war without the costs of combat, and the solidarity of identity politics without any actual politics.