Park Service Approves Glenn Beck's DC Rally

Glenn Beck's controversial DC rally is a go. The National Park Service has approved a permit to stage his "Restoring Honor" event at the National Mall on Aug. 28, the anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech at the same location, reports the Washington Post. Sarah Palin will be one of the featured speakers. The agency is considering a permit for a counter-rally planned by Al Sharpton.

Beck's enemies are in full roar over the date, but Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (who calls Beck an "amoral huckster") is OK with giving him the right to rally. "Why? He is protected by the very same Bill of Rights he would deny to others." She agrees with Beck's assertion that "blacks don't own" MLK. "He belongs to America—an America much better because of the life he lived. Beck doesn’t seem to believe in that America, but I don’t believe King would have tried to deny him his rally on Aug. 28." (More Glenn Beck stories.)