RSVP
Disputes over how many showed up yesterday to express anger about runaway government spending and efforts to expand government at the 9/12 rally in DC … ABC insists it was misquoted by organizers, it was 60,000 to 70,000, not 1 million to 1.5 million. Examiner.com with a variety of police and news sources, including the apparently misquoted ABC one, puts it from 1.2 million to 2 million. Malkin has a time-lapse vid that tends to support something well over the “tens of thousands” being favored by outlets such as AP, NPR and CNN.
If I were to judge by the most of the articles I’m reading, as a professional newsman, I’d say this clearly is … an indeterminate gathering of some fringe wackjobs with Nazi signs that can and should be safely ignored, except to the extent they should be monitored by Homeland Security. Notable cues include an insistence on downplaying numbers, stressing of the word “conservative” high up and the general arm’s length nature of the coverage, including a dearth of affirmational anecodal ledes drawing attention to suffering poster children and their noble sacrifices.
Anyway, back to ABC and the other media outlets, that attendance issue theoretically could be resolved by 1.2 million to 2 million postcards. Heck, even a few tens of thousands telling them they were full of it might do the trick. I recommend affirmational anecdotal ledes, maybe with some sympathy-inducing massive crowd-related suffering or sacrifice.
Instapundit has all kinds of art and links from the day.
Gateway, reports 12,000 in Quincy, Ill. (including shots of Breibart, Reynolds and GWP’s Hoft himself working the crowd, all looking strangely non-disturbing and weirdly normal, except maybe that guy dressed up like the notorious fascist Abraham Lincoln. Where’s the Hitler moustaches, dudes?)
Hey, wait a minute, If they could get 12,000 in Quincy, Ill. …
The Moderate Voice: They said it was tens of thousands, so it must be so. Gandelmann adds that as someone who has on occasion been media-proximate, he can attest it is extremely difficult to accuratey gauge the size of mobs that stretch farther than you can see … OK, that’s not exactly how he put it. I’d add it’s even harder when the crowd gives you a sense of discomfiture. (Gandelmann, I’ll add, is an e-pal who takes snark in good form. Better man than me.)
HotAir is running an open thread and also looks at the crowd. The quotes of the day are pretty relevant, too.
Riehl rubs shoulders in the crowd.
Surber gives the Washington Post an attaboy for hometown coverage, including an above-the-fold make-up-your-own-mind crowd shot that had the added benefit of shoving Obama below the fold.
Outside The Beltway underscores some coverage ironies.
Powerline on the dueling narratives.
Firedoglake, always fun: “The Babble Phlegm of the Wingnut Republic: OR, What’s Half a Million or So, Give or Take?” I like that, “Babble Phlegm.” Note to self: File away for future backatcha plagiarism.
… hey, what the heck is a Firedoglake, anyway? Sounds damp, itchy.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:15 am Comments (7) on Sunday, September 13, 2009
7 Responses to “RSVP”
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September 13th, 2009 at 11:21 am
[...] II: Jules Crittenden has an extensive roundup that contains a lot of reaction from some conservative sites. He also offers his own commentary on [...]
September 13th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
… hey, what the heck is a Firedoglake, anyway?
I don’t know, but it sounds a lot like the kind of stuff that got Michael Vick thrown into the slammer.
Maybe it’s time to get PETA involved for a little red on red action.
September 13th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
If Obama and Congress continue to try and ignore what happened in DC yesterday, then they are truly blind, deaf, and indifferent to the concerns of the people. Do we really want a government like that running the country?
September 13th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Fabulous, Jules!
It was great to watch on C-SPAN.
RebeccaH, the Democrats in Congress were so aware of this that someone made an estimate that 2 million would show up. While it’s possible this was done to undermine credibility of the event, clearly Democrats were worried about it.
Regardless of what number is used, it was a huge turnout.
If I am not mistaken, there was an outcry on the left that the footage could not be real, so abhorrent was the idea that there would be such dissent.
I think that the best part is that they didn’t leave a mess behind.
:) I wonder why that is?
September 13th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
“… hey, what the heck is a Firedoglake, anyway? Sounds damp, itchy.”
Whatever a Firedoglake is, it probably needs more phlegm hurled at it.
September 13th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
FireDogLake: what you desire when your PuppyPuddle only Smokes.
Cheers
September 25th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
[...] tea party bomb disruption – again, more violence from the left, at the same time that millions on the right(or at least 850,000, but probably more, in D.C., and more elsewhere) are able to peacefully [...]