Just when you think Glenn Beck has finally run dry of uncouth tricks, he’s back with more.
Two weeks after Beck and Sarah Palin descended on Washington to try to create a religious revival -- and desecrate the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech -- the two hucksters plan to reunite to bring shame on a different anniversary: 9/11. But this time the sideshow has a cost.
Beck and Palin are inviting "patriots" to join them in commemorating the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks this weekend in Anchorage, Alaska -- more than 4,000 miles from where they took place. Tickets range from $65.50 to $115 -- not including the Ticketmaster convenience fee. If you want to meet the snake-oil salesman himself, that'll cost you another Benjamin -- VIP tickets go for $200. And in case you're nervous about meeting your hero, you can sit in the "wet section" and knock a few back – after all, what better way for a patriot to celebrate a national tragedy than by getting wasted?
Thus far Beck and Palin have been mum about the event and whether it will be political or not, though Palin did say on Facebook that she could think of "no better way to commemorate 9/11 than to gather with patriots who will 'never forget.'" But the question everyone seems to be asking is: Where is all this money going? No doubt some of the proceeds will be put toward the cost of the venue -- and Ticketmaster's making a nice profit off it. And the rest? I called the Northern Stage Company, the local sponsor of the event, which said Beck’s appearance was privately booked with his speaker's bureau. But neither the sponsor nor the speaker's bureau would say whether Beck was being paid for his appearance. It's bizarre that Beck, who has outwardly boasted about the millions he has raised for veterans' groups and other charities, would suddenly be so modest. But maybe it's just another publicity stunt for two figures better known for celebrity than tact.
-- Justin Snow
