Second Thoughts on the Beck-Palin Rally

I talked to my sister last night, after posting my first blog. We dissected the political news of the day, as we always do - she from her home in South Carolina and I from my home in Switzerland. It would seem we wouldn't have much to say with the distance between us and my absence from America. But, it's not so.
I have been more or less in the middle of politics all my life, as a Young Republican state officer in Pennsylvania and later a State Committeewoman. I was a political appointee of President Reagan and consider myself a lifelong GOPer. So, it's natural that I still follow events in the USA carefully. And often, I compare it to what's happening in Europe. 
The more I hear about Glen Beck and Sarah Palin's rally last weekend, the more I think it was mis-placed, if not mis-directed.
If they were really interested in religion and bringing Americans back to their faith, why didn't they go to the space outside the National Cathedral, where every denomination is represented in the funds raised over many years to complete its construction.
I think the answer to this question is that they weren't so interested in religion as they were in comparing themselves to Martin Luther King and the change he brought to America. Not that they would have stood on the Mall with him when he spoke those immortal words, but because they desperately need validation - of their ideas, of their tactics, of their personalities.
I read that Martin Luther King's personal secretary said he would have been proud of their uniting with him. That must give both Glen and Sarah pause. To consider their motives, to re-evaluate their goals, to reconsider whether they were using Martin Luther King just as much as they were using religion.
If you were to ask people in the street in Europe what the most important characteristics of Americans are, they would immediately say, wealth and religious spirit. That's who we are. Religious, charitable to a fault, and unique in our faith as expressed in our daily lives and in our democracy.
The last immensely popular preacher calling for Americans to return to the faith was Billy Sunday. We all remember him for what he was - a charlatan.
Sarah...Glen...find a better message. Bring out voters for better and more democratic government that listens and tries to respond by helping, not by spending America to her death. That's your role. Leave religion where it belongs - in our hearts, in our minds and in our good works.