In June, Media Matters' Joe Strupp interviewed Alexander Zaitchik, author of Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Nonsense (Wiley, 2010). As Strupp wrote at the time:

The book offers a great history of Beck's life and career, including his days as a Morning Zoo disc jockey, along with his current controversial stints on talk radio and Fox News.

Over at Huffington Post, Zaitchik is now up with an "adapted excerpt" from Common Nonsense that examines Beck's upcoming “Restoring Honor” rally “scheduled for August 28 on the National Mall” -- and yes, August 28 is the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King's “I Have a Dream speech” on the Mall.

The Beck biographer juxtaposes the upcoming rally with the “Rally for America” events Beck organized in 2003 well before he landed at Fox News at the onset of the Obama administration.

Check out more from the excerpt after the jump.

But as perverse as Beck's fantasies about being an heir to MLK may be, the most notable aspect of Beck's planned August rally is its lack of originality. To grasp the extent to which the August rally is straight out of Beck's playbook, all you need to do is review Beck's biggest success of 2003. That was the year Beck organized another event he described as being “all about the troops.” Then, as now, he asked his listeners to send in donations to pay for what was little more than a massive Glenn Beck, Inc. promotional extravaganza.

[...]

Although Beck is now advertising his rally with references to the legacy of Skousen's “animals,” and with paeans to “the troops,” the real focus of the event is the same as all his other events: Glenn Beck. If anyone doubts Beck's record of shamelessly orchestrating mega-events funded by appeals to patriotism to further his own fame, it's useful to revisit his 2003 “Rallies for America.”

[...]

Unlike USO performers in Iraq, Beck never sacrificed much personal comfort during the Rally for America tour. He frequently traveled between events in Clear Channel's corporate planes and limousines. Nor were his speeches wasted on the ostensible subject at hand (the troops); rather, they served as self-promotional speeches that leaned heavily on biography and could be recycled for his future one-man stage shows and books.

The final Rally for America was staged more than two months after the start of the Iraq War, on Saturday afternoon, May 24, in Huntington, West Virginia. The event served as a cap to weeks of extended radio buildup, Beck's specialty. His logo-emblazoned bus led a caravan from Dallas, Texas, to the stadium's parking lot; Beck arrived, waving from atop the bus, outlined against a clear blue sky, like some goofball Caesar.

[...]

Beck waited for the applause to die down before asking the veterans to stand up. He thanked them for their service, then thanked “the commander in chief,” who is “here in heart.” With this, the face of George W. Bush appeared on the Jumbotron behind Beck. “I am so grateful to God in heaven that George W. Bush is our president,” said Beck.

[...]

Beck proceeded to tell a series of stories from his life that had no bearing on the military that the rally was supposed to be honoring, the war he helped boost for, or the coffins already trickling into Dover Air Force Base. Instead, Beck talked about his grandparents, his daughter, and his most recent tour through “the Real America.” He also issued a disjointed diatribe against Jimmy Carter, who served six years in the Navy during a period of his life in which Beck was snorting cocaine off the dashboard of his DeLorean.

As Beck made his way backstage, a three-letter chant erupted. "U-S-A!" roared the crowd. "U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!"

It was the sound of the Glenn Beck Nation, Inc., in utero and in song. On August 28, it will have its reunion. As he did seven years ago, Beck will arrive by private plane, make his pitch, salute the troops, and leave the scene just a little more famous than he arrived. Barring a massive terror attack that day, he will be among the biggest stories in the country. Just as planned.

You can read Zaitchik's excerpt in its entirety here.