The Beck-Palin 9/11 rally: Much ado about nothing?

As some predicted, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin's "mystery-cloaked" joint appearance on 9/11 in Anchorage, AK, was little more than a smaller-scale version of Beck's 8/28 rally in Washington, D.C., with Beck urging the audience of about 4,000 to commit to the guiding principles of America's Founding Fathers, and to "find God." Though the seemingly pointed decision to hold the event on September 11 had provoked media speculation, was there anything significant about the night? (Watch a short clip from the event)

It was significant for what it wasn't: The "Glenn-and-Sarah buddy act" will always bring out the fans and divert the media, says Mark Leibovich in The New York Times, but predictions that the pair might announce a presidential campaign proved false. They "playfully" toyed with, then shot down, the Tea Party "fantasy" of a "2012 Palin-Beck dream ticket." Still, since they're "the right's favorite populist power couple," that rumor will persist.

"The wish for a conservative Dream Duo"

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What about the 9/11 part? It's notable, however, says Bill Scannell at Wonkette, that Palin herself "thrice refused" to rule out a 2012 bid. In fact, anyone hoping to hear something about 9/11 should be annoyed at the "bait and switch" of paying $70 to $250 to see a "revised Mormon Jesus version of Godspell," with "Glenn the Baptist appearing in Alaska and singing out 'Prepare Ye the Way of the Palin.'"

"Palin and Beck lied to 9/11"

It's ridiculous to say that 9/11 was irrelevant: Of course the rally was about 9/11, says Beth Shaw at Right Pundits. Beck and Palin "took turns telling their 9/11 stories to a crowd of thousands who had gathered there to remember together," and Beck donated his speaking fee to his charity for the families of military members. "Sadly, because both of these people are lightening rods to the left, we have to point that out."

"Palin, Beck 9/11 rally in Alaska"

The "commemorating" was tainted by the politicking: Palin had a little trouble "separating the politics of 9/11/2010 from the tragedy of 9/11/2001," says Christian Heinze at GOP 12. The night was, appropriately, "mainly devoid of politics," but Palin's perfunctory jab at the "brutal, leftist-dominated lamestream media" was jarring, since that same media "covered 9/11 so elegantly in those first hours."

"Commemorating a talking point?"