RE: the NY Times "Rally for America" article.
The original idea did not come from ClearChannel, but from a morning talk host at a Dallas-Fort Worth AM station. ClearChannel talk show host Glenn Beck picked up on it and began organizing rallies in 3 to 4 major population centers distributed fairly evenly around the country. Interest shot through the roof, as listeners began pestering their local channels to host their own rallies or to arrange transport to one of Beck's rallies. Beck has since organized around 15 or 20 rallies, with dozens more held around the country by local stations, including one here in Orlando (not all ClearChannel stations). Most recently, a 16-year old girl in Minnesota organized her own rally, held this Last Saturday, to which 3500 people came (in mid-March in Minnesota). Over 100,000 have attended rallies with Beck, and no one has estimates on total national attendance. Beck is currently considering one final rally in the nation's capital.
It is interesting that the Times published this article. Even NPR (that bastion of conservative thought
) backed away from doing an article when they found that ClearChannel had no corporate direction in the rallies. Oops, I forgot. There is no liberal bias in the media, only conservative. As if all corporations were GOP-owned and operated and tithed of their earnings to the RNC. The only thing that really matters to the vast majority (~99%) of corporations is $$$$$$$. If something will bring in money, they'll support it. It wouldn't matter if Beck's show consisted of quoting Cajun recipes in Pig Latin; if it sold advertising, they'd support it. Beck, incidentally, frequently rips the GOP and Bush for policies with which he differs. If ClearChannel really is in lockstep with the President, they sure have a lot of cleaning up to do at home.