Anyone else watch Glenn Beck yesterday?

It was quite something. I watched some of it via Facebook on my computer yesterday and live blogged some of it at The Angl0-Catholic, but the moderator pulled my post. Okay, okay, I know it was off focus. Beck is a Morman, for one thing. And like Sarah Palin, he's someone those with perhaps a more cultivated background like to hold in a bit of contempt.

But I loved what I heard. Especially because I am American-born.

Here's a link to videos of the event. Do not trust the mainstream media on this, folks. Listen to the original speeches. The a capella rendering of The Star-Spangled Banner is enough to send chills up your spine.

Kathy Shaidle as a good round-up of posts on yesterday's seminal event:

PLUS: "You go to war with the tv personalities you have"...

And what I wrote a few months ago on the same topic.

UPDATE: J.E. Dyer writes...

The left will do what it’s going to do, but what I’d like to do here is reiterate a point I made about Palin last year to my fellows on the right. The point is this: people like Beck, Palin, and Limbaugh are as much a test of our character as anything else.

Are we so dedicated to a set idea of decorum and credentials that we will close our ears to people who are telling us the truth, because of their social attributes, communication style, and demeanor?

When we see 500,000 or more people turn out on the Mall at the end of August – in the heat and humidity, in a painful recession, after school and sports have already started in many states – are we going to insist that that’s “not conservatism,” that it’s something we need to triangulate away from and reject, because people prayed to God, got emotional, and talked about character?

And if so, what is it we’re waiting for that we think is better?

I didn't listen to the whole thing, but what I heard was inspiring. It was a call for every individual to come back to God and to take responsibility for turning America back to its founding principles.

Amen.

Robert Costa writes at The Corner:

They came for many reasons — to see Sarah Palin, to pray, to hope, to socialize — but come they did. Hundreds of thousands of Americans gathered at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, lawn chairs and Gadsden flags in hand, to participate in “Restoring Honor,” a nonpartisan rally hosted by Glenn Beck, a Fox News host.

In a surprise appearance at the FreedomWorks conference in Washington on Friday, Beck had explained why he decided to spearhead what was, in many respects, an ecumenical revival. “My role, as I see it, is to wake America up to the backsliding of principles and values and most of all of God,” he told the assembled conservative activists. “We are a country of God. As I look at the problems in our country, quite honestly, I think the hot breath of destruction is breathing on our necks and to fix it politically is a figure that I don’t see anywhere.”

The following morning, as Beck’s event opened, soft piano notes swelled from gargantuan loudspeakers as images of America — purple mountains’ majesty, oceans white with foam — slowly streamed across the high-definition video screens positioned around the Memorial grounds. Then, to a great roar, Beck took the stage. “Something that is beyond man is happening,” he said, his voice echoing all the way to the Washington Monument. “America today begins to turn back to God.”

Beck’s opening theme, calling the assembled to embrace God and remember the traditional, foundational values of the country, was carried on by the ensuing speakers. Calls for unity and inspiration were ubiquitous, interspersed with history lessons, personal testimonials, sermons, and a bit of country music — John Rich and others performed. “For too long, this country has wandered in darkness,” Beck said, gazing out toward the reflecting pool. “This country has spent far too long worrying about scars and thinking about scars and concentrating on scars. Today, we are going to concentrate on the good things in America, the things that we have accomplished, and the things that we can do tomorrow.”

Beck’s healing message also included numerous citations of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the site 47 years ago to the day. Dr. Alveda King, a niece of the civil-rights activist, was a featured speaker. Palin, the former governor of Alaska, also addressed King’s legacy. “You have the same steel spine and moral courage as Washington and Lincoln and Martin Luther King,” she told the crowd. “It will sustain you, as it sustained them.”

According to Beck, the event raised over $5.5 million for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a charity that supports veterans. Patriotic tributes to the men and women of the American military were frequent. Palin, who son Track currently serves abroad, said that she had “been asked to speak as the mother of a soldier and I am proud of that distinction.” She then told her critics: “Say what you want to say about me, but I raised a combat vet and you can’t take that away from me.”

Ultimately, however, it was Beck’s call for a religious rebirth that dominated. He urged the throngs to “recognize your place to the Creator” and to “realize that He is our king.”