Ironic backdrop

Conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck can certainly attract a crowd. On Saturday, those attending the "Restoring Honor" rally he organized packed nearly a mile stretch of the National Mall. NBC News reported 300,000 people.

The turnout suggests how upset many are. Mr. Beck gives voice to their fury. But aside from generalities that patriotism is good, government is bad and taxes are too high, the fury remains unfocused.

As The Wall Street Journal noted, the event provided "three hours of religious and patriotic speeches, but offered few details on how to fix the country's problems."

Mr. Beck called the event nonpolitical - yeah, right - and draped himself in piety.

"America today begins to turn back to God," Mr. Beck told the multitude, exhorting them to "recognize your place to the creator."

Such a mix of religion with a political agenda should always be cause for concern. It suggests God takes sides in debates over how to pay for health care, revive the economy and provide for the needy. If one side seeks to turn the nation back to God, it says something about how they regard their political opponents.

The rally's timing and location - the Lincoln Memorial 47 years after Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech - could not have been more ironic, given that Mr. Beck's tea party supporters are forever demanding states' rights and a reduced federal government.

President Lincoln, they might be reminded, preserved the Union when states' rights advocates would have allowed the Southern states to secede. And during Dr. King's civil rights movement, it took federal action to force those states to provide people of color with equal rights.

This brings us back to specifics. What parts of the "too big" federal government and its protections would Mr. Beck and his backers eliminate? Perhaps they know providing such details could quickly sap the movements' popularity.