WHEN SHAMELESS HUCKSTERS LOSE WHAT’S LEFT OF THEIR DECENCY…. If you don’t have plans for Saturday, a couple of leading right-wing personalities would love for you to celebrate the anniversary of 9/11 with them. It’s a little expensive, but who among us can really put a price on exploiting a terrorist attack?
Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck are appearing together in Anchorage, Alaska Saturday to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and tickets don’t come cheap: The Ticketmaster page for the event lists regular adult tickets at between $73 and $130 and tickets plus a “meet & greet” at $225.
The event will also have a “dry section” where no alcohol is served and a “wet section” for those who want to drink.
Palin heralded the event on her Facebook page last night with a message beginning, “Glenn’s coming to the Last Frontier!”
“I hope my fellow Alaskans (and anyone visiting from Outside) will join me this Saturday, September 11, 2010, at Anchorage’s Dena’ina Center at 8:00 p.m. Glenn Beck will be there – you won’t want to miss it,” she wrote.
I seem to recall an understanding that 9/11 needed to be treated with reverence, and must not be politicized or exploited. Are we to assume this quaint notion is a thing of the past?
Will Bunch noted, “If there’s a contradiction or some sort of irony in cashing in over 9-11, that seems to have eluded the hosts. Palin wrote this week on her Facebook page: ‘We can count on Glenn to make the night interesting and inspiring, and I can think of no better way to commemorate 9/11 than to gather with patriots who will ‘never forget.’ Visa and MasterCard accepted.”
Bunch added that this is a reminder as to “why Glenn Beck made $32 million last year and Sarah Palin made $12 million in a matter of months. The only difference is that this time it’s 9/11.”
Adding insult to injury, Lee Fang noted that others on the far-right also hope to profit from the anniversary of 9/11. Disgraced lobbyist Ralph Reed will wrap up his “Faith and Freedom Conference and Strategy Briefing” on Saturday, and Newt Gingrich will unveil some new movie he put together on the same day.
It was offensive enough when the right treated 9/11 as if it belonged to conservatives. This new tack somehow seems worse.
