For all those people who thought the outrageous rhetoric coming from Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin was about anything other than the Benjamins, you were wrong.
Fresh off of his free Washington, D.C., rally, where he claimed to "restore honor" to America, Beck and Palin are restoring decimals to their wallets by charging anywhere from $73.75 to $225 per ticket to hear them speak on 9/11, according to the AP.
The event's 4,500 tickets have already been sold, netting a minimum of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Now, both Beck and Palin have made themselves very wealthy with their divisive, ignorant and (often) untrue statements. ABC News estimated in April that Palin had raked in at least $12 million since last July 2009. She earns $250,000 per episode for her television show about Alaska and demands $100,000 per speaking engagement. I'm sure that figure is higher by now.
Beck has also done well for himself by making ridiculous statements, such as calling President Barack Obama racist. Forbes estimated that Beck made $32 million in 2009.
"I could give a flying crap about the political process," Beck told Forbes. "We're an entertainment company."
That's why both Beck and Palin should be ashamed of themselves for exploiting the 9/11 anniversary for their own financial gain.
When asked why the event was being held on 9/11, event organizer Chris Cox called it a "coincidence." He claimed he didn't want to compete with the Alaska State Fair, which was being held on Sept. 4th.
Why not hold the event on Sept. 12 or another date that accommodates both Palin's and Beck's schedules? The problem with these two taking serious issues facing this country and turning them into cartoon-like issues complete with uninformed and outrageous comments is that people actually take their comments as facts.
Millions of Americans, including the 4,500 people who paid to see these two speak, are taking Beck and Palin's commentary on everything from health care, immigration, race relations and foreign relations and using it to inform their opinions on these important topics.
Meanwhile, as Beck himself stated so clearly, he's in the business of entertaining and getting paid.
The result is the erosion of decent civic discourse in this country. It's now about who can say the most outrageous thing or who can twist facts and history to fit their version of events no matter how nonsensical that version of events may be.
Even some Republicans acknowledge that Beck, Palin and Rush Limbaugh are now the de facto leaders of a major American political party.
"There were no death panels in the (healthcare) bill ... and to encourage that kind of fear is just the lowest form of political leadership. It's not leadership. It's demagoguery,'' said Rep. Bob Inglis, a South Carolina Republican who lost his primary.
Ingles said that people like Limbaugh, Beck and Palin are "preying on" the "fears'' of Americans.
"I think we have a lot of leaders that are following those (television and talk radio) personalities and not leading,'' he said. "What it takes to lead is to say, 'You know, that's just not right.'''
02-Sep-10 - Hip-hop zillionaire 50 Cent, who is no stranger to drug arrest, offered fellow rapper T.I. and his wife, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, some advice on how to best deal with the recent felony charge that they're facing for possession of a controlled substance.
02-Sep-10 - Hip-hop zillionaire 50 Cent, who is no stranger to drug arrest, offered fellow rapper T.I. and his wife, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, some advice on how to best deal with the recent felony charge that they're facing for possession of a controlled substance.
02-Sep-10 - Iconic rapper T.I., 29, and his new bride, Tameka Cottle, 35, a TV reality star, were arrested Wednesday night in West Hollywood and booked on felony possession of a controlled substance charge.
31-Aug-10 - The eldest of John McCain's four children, Meghan has now publicly revealed her feelings about Sarah Palin in her new book, 'Dirty Sexy Politics.'
27-Aug-10 - Alveda King's decision to join forces with Fox News host Glenn Beck during his bogus March on Washington is likely one of the most shocking and extraordinary political events in recent months.
25-Aug-10 - According to TMZ, superstar producer Timbaland, whose real name is Timothy Zachery Mosley, was the subject of a manhunt on Tuesday, after his family believed he was in danger of pulling a Fantasia and committing suicide.
24-Aug-10 - Aid workers in the Congo reported that 200 women and baby boys were gang raped over a four-day period not far from a United Nation's peacekeepers base near a mining district.
23-Aug-10 - Brenda Chaney, a nursing assistant, was not allowed to help the woman up, primarily because she'd left instructions stating that only white aid workers should be able to work with her.
23-Aug-10 - The Associated Press is reporting that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is considering hiring translators to help agents understand the language of drug dealers.
