RUTHFULLY YOURS

Election ’10: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in the case of the “One Nation” rally it was also the sincerest form of futility. Despite the usual media puffery, this cycle’s enthusiasm gap was clearly visible.

Saturday’s gathering in Washington was so sparse, according to Gateway Pundit, that C-SPAN’s Web site felt it necessary to use a crowd shot from Glenn Beck’s Oct. 28 “Restoring Honor” rally. The Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me” flags in the picture were a dead giveaway.

The “astroturf” slur used by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2009 to disparage the rise of the Tea Party movement clearly applied to “One Nation.” Organizers included groups such as Code Pink, La Raza, the Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America and the International Socialist Organization.

The main drivers were the NAACP and labor unions from the Communication Workers of America to the American Federation of Teachers to the SEIU. They provided buses for members to get to the event, as well as free lunches, free T-shirts and free Metro fare cards. It was an offer many decided to refuse.

The AFL-CIO Now blog noted: “One month before the elections, thousands of union members are joining with community activists, students, entertainers, civil and human rights leaders and progressive politicians to march for jobs, justice and education for all Americans. Unions are sponsoring some 1,400 buses from around the country to come to the march.”

Even in this case there was no such a thing as a free lunch. It was all paid for by dues from unions hoping to save a Democratic Congress that would pass card check and end a worker’s right to a secret ballot in union elections. A rally for democracy this was not.

“We’re here to show the rest of the country that there are people who support the progressive agenda,” said Ken Bork, who came from Camas, Wash. “There may be an enthusiasm gap, but we’re not going to know until we have an election.” Hope and change spring eternal.

While the Beck rally stretched well down the National Mall, Saturday’s event shaped up to be far smaller, with sparse groups lingering around the reflecting pool and other monuments. Judging from the trash left behind, the janitors’ union didn’t show up. The problem is that what One Nation was selling, America isn’t buying.

Self-proclaimed communist and former Obama green jobs czar Van Jones was there to inspire the crowd with tales of income redistribution and environmental justice. He apologized for the crowd size, saying more people would have attended but times are tough even after a trillion-dollar stimulus. “The earth is overheating, the earth is heating up,” he eloquently proclaimed.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who, like other union bosses, has taken no vow of poverty, was there to rail against “the voices of fear and hatred that have risen to dominate our national conversation and the forces of greed, the moneyed powers that put us in the economic mess we’re in today.”

What do Trumka and the rally attendees offer but unbridled socialism of which ObamaCare and government takeovers of the auto and banking industries are but a first step?

“We need to fundamentally restructure our economy and re-establish popular control over the private corporations which have distorted our economy and hijacked our government,” Trumka said recently.

Judging from the crowds on the National Mall as well as poll results to date, socialism is not and will not be America’s cup of tea.