What a blown opportunity! Glenn Beck gathered thousands of people at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday to urge a restoration of American honor — but not once did he mention the most egregious assault on America’s honor: militarism.

It would have been a perfect time to call for dismantling the American empire, ending the bloody occupations and covert wars in Muslim lands, and terminating the gross violations of the rights of Americans and foreigners alike. Under the guise of the “war on terror” those things have stained this country’s reputation — perhaps beyond repair. Yet judging by the speeches at Beck’s rally, you would never know they were happening. He and his fans must think those things don’t dishonor America.

Beck says the country must return to its values, but he seems not to realize that the U.S. government has committed the greatest imaginable betrayal of American values as professed in the Declaration of Independence: Born in rebellion against an empire, America now is the empire against which others rebel.