Glenn Beck’s dream not so far-fetched

Glenn Beck has a dream.

Beck envisions a country that will forever embrace the principles of integrity, truth and honor established by the men and women who founded the United States. He dreams of

honoring great Americans who fought to uphold those principles — including Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love or hate Beck, his dream is righteous.

King used his “I Have a Dream” speech to exalt the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence and to proclaim the rights of individuals over the oppression imposed upon them by governments. “I Have a Dream” may stand as history’s greatest limited-government speech. King spoke of a country that defaulted on a promissory note that guaranteed freedom for individuals — a guarantee betrayed mostly by governments.

King warned against the type of racial politics that seem dominant today.

“The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people,” King said, in “I Have a Dream.”

Yet Beck, who is white, finds himself at the center of a racial controversy for espousing values similar to those professed by King. Some opponents are outraged that Beck planned his massive “Restore America” rally in Washington for Saturday — the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

“Beck and Co. haven’t only exploited and subverted King’s message, they’ve spat on it,” wrote Nadra Kareem, who authors “Nadra’s Race Relations Blog” on About.com.

“Imagine if a bunch of lefties held a rally on Ronald Reagan’s birthday at the library bearing his name,” Kareem wrote.

Imagine if those lefties espoused Reagan’s values. If that were the case, why would anyone mind?

The opposition to Beck’s rally seems rooted in an ill-founded belief that King was a leftist who would oppose Beck’s limited-government message if he were alive to hear it. Where they get that notion seems unclear.

Alveda King is Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece. She grew up under the guidance of her uncle in a family she said was extremely close and religious.

“My uncle believed we must honor God first, then our parents and families and communities,” Alveda King said. “That is the message Glenn Beck brings to Washington. It’s a message of repentance and honor, which is what my uncle spoke of 47 years ago. My uncle would be happy to see people of every ethnicity and all religious denominations coming together for this event.”

Alveda King explained her belief that less government, not more, enhances civil rights and fulfills the dreams instilled in her by her uncle, her father (the late civil rights leader A.D. King) and her grandfather.

Most racial discrimination was the result of more government, not less.

School segregation was imposed and maintained by government school boards, not individuals or the free market. Slavery was upheld by governments. Big governments commit most racial genocide.

Government — in the form of school boards, legislatures and various local bureaucracies — brought about or facilitated most of the atrocities King despised. The constraint of government, through strict judicial interpretation of the Constitution’s demand for individual autonomy through limited government, moved us away from government oppression of minorities.

Beck often defends individuals against the runaway scope of government that we’ve seen under the direction of Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and a host of 19th century politicians. That’s why Alveda King likes him.