A place for me to pour out my rants without clogging the inboxes of my friends and family. Also a place to give info on myself and Mary, our family news and events.
Patriotism in action
Published on September 14, 2009 By Rightwinger In Current Events

God Bless America, folks....God Bless America. September 12th, 2009; Washington, DC. What a wonderful day.

Our bus left Wheeling, WV at 4:20 AM, and arrived in DC around 10:30, I believe it was. So many patriots were there, already. Our group had a large WV state flag, carried to more easily facilitate our sticking together in the crowd, and we moved down the street to chants of "Let's go, Mountaineers!" which had a dual meaning; WVU, after all, was playing that day, too. The crowd was so large, but controlled.

As I noted on my FaceBook status, if anyone hears any number under a million people, just don't you believe it. Not at all.

My group set up about a quarter mile back on the National Mall from the Capitol Building, and people were shoulder-to-shoulder, and butthole-to-elbow; I've never seen such a mass of humanity in one place. And there were still people packed in, hundreds of yards behind us!

I walked up toward the Capitol Building---and it took me about 20 minutes or so to thread my way through the bodies--to try and locate some friends, but was unable to get through the crowd. Sorry, guys; maybe next time.

As our group was coming down Constitution toward the Capitol with the rest of the "angry mob", a guy standing on a flower planter, filming it all, told us there had to be "at least a million people".

"They've been coming down (the street) for over and hour, and already filled up the grounds at the Capitol," he said, and they're still coming down the street behind you." This was well before noon; indeed, long into the afternoon, we could look back and STILL see people straggling in, coming down Constitution, filling in on the Mall behind us.

For my part, I saw not one person being disorderly or rowdy; at least, not enough to be arrested, anyway. Of course, this isn't true of the opposition; there was a few people there who tried to agitate the rest of us; I, personally, saw a guy with a bullhorn and another in a black "9/11 was a NeoCon Setup" t-shirt, shouting obscenities at us "Nazis", but they failed. As I told a friend, the last words my wife said to me as I left the house were, “don’t get arrested”. I laughed and replied “conservatives don’t get arrested; liberals get arrested”.

I was urged along, however, during the march. Carried along by the crowd and my own enthusiasm, I did get separated from the group, and stopped for a moment, looking around for our flag. I didn't see it, and so stepped up onto the curb, for a better look.

A guy and a woman in bright yellow "Freedom Works" t-shirts approached me and informed that I had to stay "in the street", since we didn't have a permit to stand on the sidewalk. I replied "you gotta be kiddin' me!" I had to get off the sidewalk to avoid a fine. Luckily, I'd glanced up the street before I had to step back down into the gutter, and seen our flag, way up the street. I had to re-walk about another 200 yards.+LOL+ You know, our taxes pay for virtually everything that goes on in that city; if I wanna stand on the  sidewalk, I shouldn't need a freakin' permit.

Also, I wonder how much litter we left on the Mall? Obama’s environmentally-obsessed hordes left tons of litter behind, after his inauguration. I, personally, saw little to no trash on the ground, that day. Different kind of crowd, I guess.

I was pleasantly shocked at how very many young people I saw there; and, actually at the numbers of blacks, too. There is Hope, after all; people are coming to their senses.

The weather was perfect; moderately overcast, so no sun pounding down on you; temperature was just warm enough that you didn’t need a jacket, but not too warm, so you sweated like a piggy. There was a light, pleasant breeze which, I noted, kept the thousands of flags stirring admirably.

So many different signs; one of the best I saw, though, was a parody of the multi-colored Obama “Change” poster; it was a picture of Ronald Reagan, done up in the same fashion, but it said “Change Back”.+LOL+

I did, however, see one swastika; it was cleverly painted into a crossed-out Obama “O” symbol, and it said, “I don’t like Fascism, Mr. President”, so I guess it was okay. That's probably what Nancy Pineapple was referring to, anyway, when she said that. She just, typically, avoided telling us the rest.

But….it’s official; as I was coming back from the restroom at the Indian Museum, I passed a young black guy drinking a Pepsi. He looked around, pursed his lips in distaste, shook his head and said “Aint nuthin’ but a mob, man; straight up! Nuthin’ but a mob….”

So, there you have it, that officially validated it….we’re a mob. Another black woman I passed asked if we didn’t have “anything better to do with our time”.

No, actually, there was no better way to spend that day, than standing up for what the Founders of this country created.

They announced from the stage that there were 450 buses in town for this thing; now, if you multiply that by 50 (or so) on the buses, that’s around 23,000, right there. How many drove in, flew in, etc. We saw a flag from a contingent from Hawaii; something tells me they didn’t take a bus.

At around 1:00 or so, someone said they heard on the radio that the National Park Service estimate at that time was 1.2 million in attendance. Sometime later, someone at ABC News slipped up and gave the count as 1.5 million. Later, however, I checked online from my phone, and saw that they'd dropped that number to between 60,000-70,000. That’s a big drop, huh? I bet somebody must’ve gotten called on the carpet for that one.

 ABC, as I said, "officially" called it at 60,000-70,000; NBC said "tens of thousands"; CBS said, simply, "thousands". Even FOX gave no actual number I could find in their online treatment. The New York Times, I heard, gave the number at 500. Yes; the Newspaper of Record called it at 5-0-0. No wonder nobody reads that fish-wrapper anymore.

The London Daily-Mail, however, said there were approximately 2 million in attendance; as one who was there, I can say that this number, from my standpoint, is much, much, closer. Much closer.

It's a shame when Americans have to count on the foreign press for the Truth. Welcome to America under Obamunism.....

I think we owe Obama a big thank you, however; his presidency has been the greatest boon to American conservatism since Reagan; especially the grassroots variety.

Thanks, Barack; we’ll thank you by making sure you get it easy after 2010, not having much to do, and then a nice, long vacation from 2013-on. Way to go, man!

What a wonderful day that was, millions standing their ground against unwanted, uneeded Change; celebrating the American Spirit and honest, decent patriotism.

I didn’t want it to end; I really didn't.


Comments (Page 1)
2 Pages1 2 
on Sep 14, 2009

Glad to hear it was a good day. I wanted to drive up for it, unfortunately I was on a plane most of the day.

on Sep 14, 2009

Do we know yet?  Any official numbers?

on Sep 14, 2009

I got one little detail there mixed up; I've since heard that there were around there were 5,000 buses; the 450 was the number of independent Tea Parties being held across the country that same day.

Yes, it was a great day; one of the best such experiences of my life. I was part of history in the making.

One DC cop was quoted as saying that they see demonstrations and protest rallies every day, but never anything like this. This was a record; they were told to expect around 50,000. That's why there were so few trash cans and Port-a-Jons. I guess, from what I've been told, we had DC virtually shut down. They had to keep closing streets, to accommodate the marchers.

Tova: I've seen the 2 million number has pretty much been accepted as the "official" count. I assume that's rounded up, but not too far, and not too much of a stretch, at all.

You know what I think, I think the media goes in early, and gets a count before things really get rolling; that way, they can say, honestly, that they got the story, and the numbers. However, they don't bother to go back during or afterward, to see the total. Because, of course, they don't want to.

 

on Sep 14, 2009

I've seen the 2 million number has pretty much been accepted as the "official" count.
Hardly.

ABC News reports 60,000 to 70,000 according to the Washington DC Fire department.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tea-party-protesters-march-washington/story?id=8557120

Fox News and CBS News, among others, carried the AP report that merely stated "tens of thousands".

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/12/tea-party-express-arrives-march-washington-protest-government-spending/

The only other source, other than right wing blogs, quoted by proponents of the event is from the Daily Mail which is a UK paper that reports "as many as one million".

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1213056/Up-million-march-US-Capitol-protest-Obamas-spending-tea-party-demonstration.html

However what is funny is the Daily Mail report posts the following picture which is clearly copyrighted by the Associated Press.

Even more amusing is the caption under the photograph which reads "Tens of thousands of people converged on Capitol Hill on Saturday to protest against government spending", but understandably proponents of the event don't bother to include the caption and instead merely ask folks that have an untrained eye in regards to crowd estimation along with a bias to accept the largest number possible, "does that look like tens of thousands to you?". In fact to me it does look like a good sized crowd of 50,000 or so.

The bottom line is summarized in the CBS article D.C. Tea Party Size Turns Into Misquote City which essentially says people will believe whatever it is they want to believe.

However I would imagine that the Washington DC Fire Department has probably had a *lot* of experience estimating crowd sizes and any rational person that wishes to base their beliefs on evidence as opposed to hyperbole would accept the 60,000 to 70,000 numbers as realistic.

on Sep 14, 2009

Why the hell do people have nothing more to say than to quibble about how many people showed up?!  Guess they want to steer clear of the fact that it was orderly and not crazed.  It was a bunch of normal, American citizens and not a bunch of gun wielding nazis.  It included families from all over the country.  No, better not talk about those things.

on Sep 14, 2009

it's called blowing smoke. 

 

on Sep 14, 2009

In fact to me it does look like a good sized crowd of 50,000 or so.

If that encompassed the whole crowd, sure.  But it doesn't.  There were lots more folks behind that camera position than in front of it, at least at one point during the day.

Using USA Today's geographic estimator, the one used to peg BO's inauguration attendance, a count of 250,000 would be very conservative.  And the event was a 'moving' one, with people coming and going over several hours, where BO's inauguration was more static and more easily estimated.  I think the attendance was more than that, but the number is unimportant - it was a lot.  More than the minimizers say, less than the Daily Mail's 2 million (where they got that number, who knows).

And don't forget - that was just in DC.  There were dozens if not hundreds of smaller rallies all around the country.

on Sep 14, 2009

Why the hell do people have nothing more to say than to quibble about how many people showed up?! Guess they want to steer clear of the fact that it was orderly and not crazed. It was a bunch of normal, American citizens and not a bunch of gun wielding nazis. It included families from all over the country. No, better not talk about those things.

JU you hit the nail on the head. IMO as long as it was large enough so that the MSM can't ignore or trivialize the voices of average Americans, of all walks of life, otherwise I can care less about the numbers.

on Sep 14, 2009

For those to whom it matters & FWIW, just heard that the DCFD put it at about 75,000.

on Sep 15, 2009

JillUser
Why the hell do people have nothing more to say than to quibble about how many people showed up?!  Guess they want to steer clear of the fact that it was orderly and not crazed.  It was a bunch of normal, American citizens and not a bunch of gun wielding nazis.  It included families from all over the country.  No, better not talk about those things.
--Daiwa

Mumbles also ignores the fact that I addressed that very issue in the main article. Qubbling over details and arguing the finer points is what liberals do best. It helps them ignore uncomfortable truths. Like the fact that a record of nearly 2 MILLIONS of people turned out to say "no" to the big, intrusive government he supports.

I read that a DC cop was interviewed, and he said they see protests and demontsrations nearly every day, but this was a record. They were told to expect about 50,000; that's why there were so few Porta Jons and trash cans. Yet, we somehow left tons upon tons less mess and trash, than did Obama's econuts in Janurary.

Mumblefratz

I've seen the 2 million number has pretty much been accepted as the "official" count.Hardly.


ABC News reports 60,000 to 70,000 according to the Washington DC Fire department.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tea-party-protesters-march-washington/story?id=8557120

Fox News and CBS News, among others, carried the AP report that merely stated "tens of thousands".

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/12/tea-party-express-arrives-march-washington-protest-government-spending/

The only other source, other than right wing blogs, quoted by proponents of the event is from the Daily Mail which is a UK paper that reports "as many as one million".

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1213056/Up-million-march-US-Capitol-protest-Obamas-spending-tea-party-demonstration.html

However what is funny is the Daily Mail report posts the following picture which is clearly copyrighted by the Associated Press.


Even more amusing is the caption under the photograph which reads "Tens of thousands of people converged on Capitol Hill on Saturday to protest against government spending", but understandably proponents of the event don't bother to include the caption and instead merely ask folks that have an untrained eye in regards to crowd estimation along with a bias to accept the largest number possible, "does that look like tens of thousands to you?". In fact to me it does look like a good sized crowd of 50,000 or so.

The bottom line is summarized in the CBS article D.C. Tea Party Size Turns Into Misquote City which essentially says people will believe whatever it is they want to believe.

However I would imagine that the Washington DC Fire Department has probably had a *lot* of experience estimating crowd sizes and any rational person that wishes to base their beliefs on evidence as opposed to hyperbole would accept the 60,000 to 70,000 numbers as realistic.
---Mumbles'

Mumbles, Mumbles, Mumbles.......as I was there and you were not, I can say, in all and complete honesty, that you're simply gouging out your own eyes.

As Daiwa pointed out, that's one picture, with simply that many people in the frame at that given moment. It looks like it might have been taken not far from my position, and there were people extending far, far, behind and around us.

The entire mall was filled, from the Capitol, virtually to the Washinton Monument. I have pictures taken from atop a small post, in all directions....trust me, 1.5 million is a conservative (pun intended) estimate.

If you follow this link and scroll down to "video", on the right, some of my pics are there, set to music.

I'm "Castle", there.

http://eagleoutlaws.ning.com/

 (RW takes Mumbles' hands gently in his own, and gazes with sympathy into his beady , weasly little eyes....) "I know it's hard for you to take, Mumbly-peg," he said softly, "but the truth is the truth.........I'm so sorry for you."  

And THAT'S the truth, too.

(Mumbles yanks his hands away, and pulls out his eyeballs, screaming 'NO! NO! NONONONONONO!!!!!!")

You know, though....it doesn't matter what Mumbles and every other--desperately--self-deluding--hysterically--truth-denying liberal thinks.

Our "President", Senators and Congressmen can point to the mainstream media lies all they want. They know the truth; that millions showed up to oppose them. And they know that for every one person who was there, in statistical probability, hundreds, even thousands, could not attend, but wanted to.

 And ultimately, in the long, dark watches of the night, these are the things that are going to matter.....

 

on Sep 15, 2009

self-deluding

on Sep 15, 2009

Reply #6 was actually me not Daiwa. 

 

I don't care how close an exact count they get.  If you look at the pictures and don't think "that's a lot of Americans", you're an idiot. 

I didn't hear about an "riot" behavior.  I didn't hear about any vandalism or gun wielding.  So why can't people be respectful of a peaceful show of concern by a large number of tax paying American citizens?

on Sep 15, 2009

gun wielding
See the following video that points out a number of signs where people specifically mention that they did not bring their guns *this time*. The threat seemed pretty obvious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1HFzw8lF7k&feature=channel_page

on Sep 15, 2009

I don't care how close an exact count they get
No one cares about an *exact* count. We aren't arguing about whether it was 50K, 100K or even 200K. *That* would be quibbling. However the difference between 50K and 2 million *is not* quibbling.

Somewhere RW mentioned 5,000 busses. I've googled everywhere and found no such reference but even if I grant 5,000 busses then each would need to contain 400 people. Those are some busses. You'd really need closer to 20,000 busses for 2 million people. And where were they all parked?

You folks are claiming that you quadrupled the population of Washington DC without a shred of credible evidence.

I'll readily admit that an attendence of 100K represents a very good turnout, but to a claim of 2 million I must respond like Joe Wilson.

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