If I paid dues to any of the organizations involved in yesterday's 'One Nation Working Together' rally, I'd be demanding a refund or at least a transportation/lodging/clothing/food voucher of equal value to what the attendees received. Chartered busses, lodging, t-shirts, boxed lunches, even pre-printed signs all provided by participating unions to those willing to spend a small part of a beautiful autumn day at the National Mall. And what did the unions get in return for their sizeable investment? Humiliated.

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As with all progressive rallies, the purpose of the event was muddled. Was it supposed to fire up the Democrats' base? Draw attention to the unemployment crisis? Protest war? Promote communism? There were signs, leaflets and speakers for all these causes and more melding into a cacophony of contradictory complaints and demands.

MSNBC host Ed Schultz kicked things off by telling the crowd, "This march is about the power to the people. It is about the people standing up to the corporations. Are you ready to fight back?" Huh? A television personality employed by one of the largest corporations on earth is calling for people to stand up to the corporations? After some general railing against Republicans, Mr. Schultz vowed to "take back our country." Take it back from whom? The liberal Democrats who already control both houses of Congress and the White House? And if he could take it back, to whom would he give it? Other liberal Democrats?

Another 'One Nation' speaker was President Obama's former Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Van Jones. Mr. Jones, who resigned in disgrace after calling Congressional Republicans "assholes" and was exposed as a 9/11 truther who supported the idea that the Bush Administration "may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen", ironically lectured the crowd about how progressives must stand with Democrats saying, "They don't need hateful rhetoric. They need real solutions."

The event was supposed to last from noon until 4:00pm, but by 2:45 while NAACP president Benjamin Jealous (who along with 1199 SEIU president George Gresham originally proposed the rally) was taking his turn at the podium, the union members were streaming for their busses. (source)

Mr. Jealous had hoped 'One Nation Working Together' would be larger than Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally last month. "We believe that our satellite photos will stack up nicely to his satellite photos," he told the New York Times just days ago. (source) They didn't.

It's doubtful that the post-rally buzz will come close to that of Mr. Beck's either. With no cohesive message, hypocritical speakers and the obviously bought and paid for activism; 'One Nation Working Together' was an underwhelming bust.