What would a rally of 500,000 liberals look like? ….

This past weekend Glenn Beck organized a non-political and spiritual rally in Washington DC. Based upon some estimates, 500,000 people decided to attend the event which had as its theme, “Restoring Honor in America”.

Alarmist warnings by liberal and leftist commentators claimed that attendees were racially motivated bigots and represented no less than a seething pit of hatred and potential violence.

They predicted all hell would break loose since the rally was being held on the same day as another celebrating Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement.

Topics which incidentally were part of the program and embraced by the Beck audience.

Interestingly, there were no arrests, no confrontations and attendees were well behaved. Park Service personnel, expecting a large amount of trash as is usually the case for public turnouts of this magnitude, were surprised the Mall was left as clean at the end of the rally as it had been before.

So in contrast, what would a rally of 500,000 people representing historically left leaning organizations look like?

Would a smoldering battle zone emerge afterwards; something akin to the LA riots of past, with embattled police cordons, and roving mobs of disorderly, violent and looting protestors. Or, would they be as civil and as orderly as the Beck rally?

Well, there may be a chance to find out … On October 2nd the AFL CIO is calling upon its member chapters and affiliated organizations, to stage a counter political rally and march on Washington DC as a protest against Congress and the Administration regarding the economic recovery, peace and justice.

One group, Workers Emergency Recovery Campaign pleads, “We are asking you, our readers and supporters, to get your unions, state labor federations, regional central labor councils, civil rights organizations, antiwar coalitions, and community groups to endorse these demonstrations and to help build them, especially if you are located in the general vicinity of either event.”

Asserting further, the group’s co-conveners, Bill Leumer and Alan Benjamin wrote, “Politicians act in their own self-interest. But often their self-interest lies in responding positively to whichever sector of the population is exerting the most pressure on them….. Such demonstrations have succeeded in bringing down governments.”

Apparently an entirely different emphasis geared toward political confrontation than Beck’s spiritual one of hope, faith and charity!

Can the liberals muster the self discipline to the standard set by the Beck rally attendees? Well, we'll see soon enough.