Glenn Beck's '9-12' logo based on communist and socialist designs

Ever since Glenn Beck took to the Fox television airwaves recently to offer a bizarre reading of the art commissioned 70 years ago for New York's Rockefeller Center, I've been puzzled by the graphic design element of his 9-12 Project. The logo (pictured) for his affiliated groups' rally in Washington, D.C., this weekend derives from century-old communist, socialist and other left-wing designs.

Those were the motifs he railed against in his Rockefeller rant.

For the logo, three raised and clenched red fists are superimposed over the U.S. Capitol. Obviously the bloody fist represents the tea-baggers' themes of unity and resistance.

But do Beck; the corporate-sponsored astro-turf group, FreedomWorks, headed by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas); the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights; the private-property group, the National Assn. of Rural Landowners; and the rest of the march sponsors know the symbol's origins?

Unity and resistance are what the fist represented in 1917, when it was first employed by the Industrial Workers of the World, a union organization founded by socialists. And in the 1940s, when it stood  for various nations' communist party organizations.

That's also what it meant when it was revived in the 1960s, appearing as a symbol for the SDS, as well as anti-war and feminist movements. It was the basis for the black-power salute given by John Carlos and Tommie Smith at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. And today, it's the symbol for the Progressive Labor Party (pictured), a political outfit whose website says it "fights to smash capitalism."

Turnout for the 9-12 Project's Saturday march on Washington was a bust; 30,000 protesters signed up in advance (MSNBC reporter David Shuster tweeted that D.C. park police called that figure "generous"). But even if three times that many actually showed up, the number would fall far short of the hundreds of thousands (and even millions) claimed to be planning to attend. Even in that reduced crowd, however, surely someone recognized how odd the right-wing gathering's left-wing logo was.

Maybe Beck will explain. Sort of.

-- Christopher Knight

Credits: 912dc.org; Progressive Labor Party

Comments

[Steven]

Nice try LA times. You should know where all of the communist symbols originate and what they stand for. Trying to Smear Glenn Back as a communist is laughable, especially for a crummy, soon to be bankrupt rag like the Times.

[Steven]

Face it, Glenn Beck is the star of cable news and all the liberals will do anything to smear him. Would Van Jones have been tossed out of office if it weren't for Beck.
Maybe if the mainstream media did their job instead of being the mouthpiece for Obama, we would all understand what scumbags are in power.

[Mike Jones]

Seriously....? Don's speak anymore. OMG... so a fist was used in the logo!!! Conspiracy! woah... please.. how idiotic.

[Carlos]

I'm no fan of Glenn Beck; he is occasionally correct but grandstands and rudely interrupts his guests constantly. That being said, so what? The Swastika was a positive religious symbol long before the Nazis caused it to represent evil.
Here they're taking icons that used to mean intrusive control by the state and loss of people's freedoms, and turning it into symbols of initiative and freedom.
With our own hands we will take this country back!
So suck on that Mr. Knight.
And to all of you libturds with your badmouthing the protesters: If you'd learned something in high school history class, this is what is supposed to happen when elected representatives fail in their job to represent us.
It's called a constitutional republic, our form of government.
You should try it some time.

[Soren K.]

Every successful movement co-opts its opponent's symbols, slogans, graphics and even its "slurs." The terms "Protestant," "Methodist," "Black," "Gay," "Yankee," etc. were all once used by their opponents as insults. So I suspect Beck not only knew of the symbol's origins, but intentionally chose it for the fun of seeing its liberal champions howl in dismay!

[mudlingalong]

Glenn Beck is a train wreck. A more complete explanation available here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spKr46-KPC0

[wilder5121]

The official Washington DC Fire Department estimate says only 60,000 showed up at that anti-American Insurance Industry rally today.

That's less than 1/50th of ONE-PERCENT of Americans.

Looks like the so-called "sleeping giant" turns out to be a "comatose midget".

[Andre]

This is just lame. Journalism is dead, and you are proof.

[Heather in Maine]

That's not the 9-12 logo. The 9-12 logo is cream colored and has a snake.

[Kentucky folk]

When the 2010 election comes along, the libs will find out how many will vote them out.

[Xero]

Rob says: "ANYTHING or any logo that will help get the socialist pretender president out of power is a good logo."

He further states, "Hell, I'll become a socialist, if it will remove the socialist pretender president out of power! Because I am a no-principles moran, and I am a-scared of him, because he doesn't look like all the other presidents."

[keith]

Rob = Redneck Ornery Bigot
---Gobama

[Vicki]

Democrats control the House and Senate and the White House. If health care reform is really so important to them why don't they just shut the hell up and pass it?? Oh yeah - because if it is a terrible disaster (which it is likely to be and I think they know it) they won't have a scapegoat outside the Party to blame it all on.

[TIM BOIES]

Maybe tha LOS ANGELES TIMES
should change its name....
THE OBAMA TIMES

[Commieraghater]

A bust? Really? Were you there Christopher Knight or anyone from LA Times, because I was? There were WELL over 800,000 people there. In fact it has been reported between 1.2 and 2 million FED UP Americans attended. Let me also tell you the MAJORITY of attendees were INDIVIDUALS who were NOT affiliated with any group other than being a patriotic American. Keep trying to spin the truth, all you're doing is showing your true agenda, Obama lover! The real American people are fed up with the Administration and their minions, the biased press.

A bust? That's actually funny. Morons.

[Autorotate]

Weak article. It's not a wonder why the LA Times is in the tank.

[NATAS (father of Barack)]

Chris, it's obvious that you have drunk many pitchers of obaminade. What else would we expect to come out but the same old sorry dribble. May the usurper in our White House destroy everything you hold true. Hopefully you will lose your job, all your tresures, and be visited with boils and then you will see that usurper will as usual kick you to the curb like his pastor of 20 years. I wonder if Van Jones feels like a curb dog.

[emily]

Where is the truth in journalism, there was over a million, possibly as many as two million people and this is the story you come up with? Pathetic! Who's the racist, the million man march made sooo many headlines and there was only 800,000 people there? This was a huge movement and the press treats it like a joke, the color of Obama's skin has nothing to do with his policies. It's his polocies that I hate!

[DougH]

Ignorance still reins supreme among Repubs. Their shameful attempt to govern was followed by big loses and now an attempt to herd the ignorant and in some cases, bigotted remnant to scare up the appearance of a movement.

I'm a business owner who pays for my employees' health insurance and I'll tell all these morons, the system is broken. Help come up with a solution or keep your mouth shut.

[Jon]

We had a little fun with the Tea Baggers March logo here - http://www.pensitoreview.com/2009/09/12/leader-of-912-march-sponsor-is-a-christ-deying-atheist/