Millions Protest Big Government in Washington D.C. Today – 9/12; Update: How Many Protesters?
Twitpic via Brooks Bayne
Of course, the New York Times downplays the number of protesters but the crowd is now estimated at 2 million.
The Wall Street Journal has a piece about the conservative protests.
And, the Tea Party Express Blog is here.
Live Video Coverage from Fox News is here.
A Video summary:
Update:
However big it was, it was bigger than expected. From the NYT: “Many came on their own and were not part of an organization or group. But the magnitude of the rally took the authorities by surprise, with throngs of people streaming from the White House to Capitol Hill for more than three hours.â€
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ROB ERT
Obama lies, damned right he lies! The majority of the idiots in politics in Washington lie. If you think for one second that they’re looking out for your best interest you are delusional! These people are agenda driven and it’s to fill their pockets with your money.
But, now money is no longer enough? They want total control now! They want your money, life, land, liberty, speech, privacy, children’s mind! They want it all. Total Power! These people where born into this world the same way I was! No emasculate conception here.
So, who or better yet what give them the right to control my life, tell me what to do, take my hard earned money and piss it away or give it to someone else who has chosen to sit on their ass all their life and make nothing of it?
Follow the money and you’ll find the corruption! ACORN, SEIU, APOLLO, Rangle, Gietner, Obama, the Fed, GE, Czars, military/industrial complex, on, and on, and on….
Make no mistake these people want complete control! It’s truly a mental disorder or at least, treason and criminal. Think about poor slobs in prison over a bag of pot and then think about what these people running our country have done to this once great nation and where they should be?
There was a time they would be standing before a firing squad! These criminals now control the system from top to bottom and unless we stand together in one common voice and cause to free our country from the power, money grubbing politicians, special interest, crooked lawyers, bankers, and etc. We will live under the ternary of their will from this day forward!
I, pray on my knees it’s not too late for us as a country to awaken and set this once God Blesses Country back on the track that our creator endowed fore fathers intended! These men and their ideas where brilliant and only a long term plan with corrupt people with evil intent planned an infectious to take over of the host the U.S.A. I feel this plan has been in play for years & years and goes as far as to foreign shores, other countries and their evil elite bankers and power brokers, and etc.
These warped people are now closer to winning their prize than ever before! They can smell the money & power, blood if you will. And we, we are now the exhausted animal near the end of the hunt, backed into the corner while they bring their sight down for the final shot, and it is now that we have our last chance at survival. Wait, for the blink, flinch, the squeeze of the trigger and jump before that bullet strikes and fight for your life because you have only as long as it takes for them to re-cock the gun!
It’s us or them folks, and I’d rather go out fighting for my God given rights freedoms than sit and be shot down like a scared rabbit! But, maybe thats just me? I pray not…..
Please, if not for Gods sake than for your children’s future act, act now. I feel this is our last chance, and if we fail now, it slavery from here on in for us all! I’ll live free of their ternary or die fighting it.
Marky266
My nephew is at this gig, (poor child, he’s been led astray) and he talked to a Park Ranger who compiles the crowd estimates–30,000 tops. Look at it this way, if one person occupies 4 square feet (2’x2′) then a crowd 3600 feet long by 36′ feet wide is 10,000 people. Nowhere have any street cams shown a crowd over a mile long. The pictures plainly show each person taking up more than four square feet, each respecting each others space. An aerial shot does not show the crowd going much beyond the Washington Memorial–a distance considerably less than 3600 fee though the Mall is wider, with a huge reflecting pool taking about 40% of the space between the Washington monument and the where the stage is. 2 million people? Absolutely no way. 30,000 is pushing it. My nephew says the Chicago Marathon has crowds bigger than this rally.
Flap
2 million may be high but 30,000 is way low.
Lots of folks protesting today in DC.
LADYREB
OMG! Where were all you idiots when W sat in his office ordering innocents killed? That’s okay with you but let a president try to fix a critical problem right here in America, do any of you have a better plan? (NO, I’m not black, if that’s what you’re thinking/not that it makes a difference). This isn’t a racial issue. We won’t fix this with protest, or wars or hatred.
Somewhere along the way, COMMON SENSE has to take over, decide that this isn’t a democratic or a republican issue but and American issue. We must UNITE to fix our problems because that’s where we get our strength. If we learned anything from 9/11 I would hope that was the lesson, our strength is in unity.
God Bless America, Land That I Love
Aneriz
@ 5
You can not began a post by attacking one president and defending the other and end it with a call for unity.
Get your loyalties straight before you start to rally.
LADYREB
To Aneriz; I didn’t attack Bush! I’m saying that if you’re going to protest against something to “help the American people” but let something as horrific as what happened by trying to get Sadam Hussain when it was bin Lauden who was responsible for the 9/11 attacks go, then we’re no better. W started a war with the wrong country for the wrong reason, he finished what his dad started. I support the president, whether I voted for him or not, and I stand behind what I said.
Unity is our strength, my loyalties are straight but I can see there is still a lot of misunderstandings out there.
Have a blessed day.
Aneriz
LADYREB,
How do you know that these people did not protest the war? How do you you know that Bush efforts did not deterred further attacks? There are many people with different plans to reform healthcare, including physicians, but the democrats in Congress have very little interest in listening to anything that doesn’t serve their agenda. The right leader doesn’t have to push his plan down our throats with threats, the right leader would take the time to come up with a plan that wins us by its merits.
Finally, please don’t equate a protest with a war or hatred. A peaceful protest is a privilege of democracy, it is the voice of the people. It is the first right that repressive regimes take away. (Like it just happened in Iran a month ago).
LADYREB
When did these so called Anti-war Protest happen and where? If the things that Bush did had deterred further attacks, I’m positive that we would have heard about that from the media. Anything positive that W could take credit for–he did.
Yes, I agree that there are many different plans for healthcare and we need to compromise. The problem is that when a person is talking, the person doing the talking is not listening to what the other side has to say. Nobody is going to listen to a protest, or a shouting match at a town hall meeting. The only HONEST way to know what the PEOPLE want is to put it to a vote. Your protest is NOT the voice of ALL the PEOPLE! If I am the only AMERICAN who disagrees with this protest (and I’m sure I’m not) then it is not the voice of the people.
Again, have a blessed day.
Fed Up
No, I didn’t get to go to the rally in DC, but I am one of the silent who are sick and fed up with big government spending and will make my voice heard when its time to vote. Now is the time for critical thinking on who will be worthy of my votes. No longer can government go on as usual. Both political parties need to realize that everyday hard workers (those who haven’t yet lost their jobs) are watching every move made on Capitol Hill. No longer can we tolerate pork pet projects, big or small, instituted by politicians. To hear “trillions” in debt… completely out of control. Because I need to build my own retirement income – the Medicare well is about tapped dry – and so I budget in my own household. With that being said, their “house” needs to be tidied up, too. When they stop massive spending, and cut out the smaller pet projects such as new corporate jets for congressional “leaders” I will listen to them. My votes will go to fiscally responsible political leaders. PS: Czars not vetted by all of our reprensentatives need to go, Gov pork cut from pending bills, and bills need to be read thoroughly by our representatives before intent on passage. If there’s too much legaleeze in a bill for a politician to read, dumb it down!
Aneriz
LADYREB,
You seem like a very nice lady, even though we don’t see eye to eye. So let me just make a clarification and leave it at that:
“The voice of the people” comes from the Latin “Vox Populi” and means the sentiment of the everyday person, being one, a few or a thousand. It does NOT mean that that all the people agree with what is being expressed. Go ahead, Google it.
You have a blessed day as well.
LADYREB
Aneriz,
I did Google it and I guess it’s all in the interpretation. But we will have to agree to disagree; and leave it at that. That is what America is all about, the FREEDOM TO CHOOSE.
GOD BLESS.
JULI C
LADYREB, this is not about the war or what the previous administration did. This is about freedom now and in the future.
Looks like you need to go back to school and learn a little history. After 9/11 I asked myself why does Bin Laden hate the US so much that he coud do this kind of hatefull thing. So instead of listening to others I did a little reseach on my own (the internet is a wonderful thing if you have a truth detector and know what creddibility is). I wanted to find out why he hated us so much he would want to destroy us and fly planes into several buildings and wanted to kill thousand of inocents. I knew it was much more that Islam that it was probably all about ego. I found out that Bin Lauden had gone to the Sauids when Sadam had invaded Kuwait and becuase he was a Great Warrior in Afganistan (because of US) he wanted to go after Sadam and they laughed at him and told him the US and the coalition were going to take care of it. So becuase we, the colition, did not remove Sadam at that time and thought he would back down eventualy made it so we had to sit in Saudi dessert and protect them (becuase we are dependent on their natural resorces because we are not allowed to tap into our own (my granddad was in the oil business in TX had an Uncle in Refinery in WY) from a mean and proven nasty neighbor who wanted to covet his neighbors possesions. That gave BL more reson to hate us so we needed to finish what was started so we could get out of Dodge and get rid of the reasons Bin Lauden hated us SADAM. (SO THEIR IS YOUR CONNECTION, HAPPY) It was all ego and that is all I can see in our present administration. They just don’t get it and IF they do Now they didn’t pass on to others what the real truth is they just let the poor fools look uninformed and ignorant. W did what needed to be done and didn’t pussy foot around after 9/11 like the previous admin did by making the mistake of them get away with it in the first place. 9/11 wasn’t the first time they attacked US, do some research. The trick is to know your enemy and I think we all know who it is right now both forien and domestic. We all need to be dilligent and keep the poloticians feet to the fire. Let’s not have egos get in the way we just want them to know who they work for WE THE PEOPLE. Schools out sorry for going on but it just makes me mad that some people can be so ignorant and unimformed and they go blabing on about something and just make themselves look small.
It is time to stand up as one again and stop buying into the lies and get out our truth detectors and open our eyes and wake up to what is going on around us. Let us not judge a man by the color of his skin but by his charater. I do not like O’s charachter and who he has surrounded himself with and My truth detector is has been going wild latley. I think Joe Wilson just said what Millions were saying at their TV screen, those brave enough to listen to what he was trying to say or a try a the bully pulpet. I could not listen as I have a rule if they say anything about the last admin I turn them off cause I want to know what they have to say not what someone else said or their interpretation of what was said. I like to decide myself because I am an independent thinker and not a party BS line follower and I think that is what the march was all about. Mr Ego will think it was about him and his Health Care Plan. Only God knows that we need to do some fixing and do some torte reform. But that is nearly imposible with a Lawer in Chief puppet in charge. We all need to stick togeather and that is what they were doing plain and simple common sense. The key word is “COMMON”.
JULI C
LADYREB, this is not about the war or what the previous administration did. This is about freedom now and in the future.
Looks like you need to go back to school and learn a little history. After 9/11 I asked myself, why dose Bin Laden hate the US so much that he could do this kind of hateful thing. So instead of listening to others I did a little research on my own (the internet is a wonderful thing if you have a truth detector and know what credibility is). I wanted to find out why he hated us so much he would want to destroy us and fly planes into several buildings and wanted to kill thousands of innocents. I knew it was much more that Islam that it was probably all about ego. I found out that Bin Laden had gone to the Saudis when Sadam had invaded Kuwait and because he was a Great Warrior in Afghanistan (because of US) he wanted to go after Sadam and they laughed at him and told him the US and the coalition were going to take care of it. So because we, the coalition, did not remove Sadam at that time and thought he would back down eventually made it so we had to sit in Saudi dessert and protect them (because we are dependent on their natural resources because we are not allowed to tap into our own (my granddad was in the oil business in TX had an Uncle in Refinery in WY) from a mean and proven nasty neighbor who wanted to covet his neighbors possessions. That gave BL more reason to hate us so we needed to finish what was started so we could get out of Dodge and get rid of the reasons Bin Laden hated us SADAM. (SO THEIR IS YOUR CONNECTION, HAPPY) It was all egos and that is all I can see in our present administration. They just don’t get it and IF they do now they didn’t pass on to others what the real truth is. They just let the poor fools look uninformed and ignorant. W did what needed to be done and didn’t pussy foot around after 9/11 like the previous admin did by making the mistake of them get away with it in the first place. 9/11 wasn’t the first time they attacked US, do some research. The trick is to know your enemy and I think we all know who it is right now both foreign and domestic. We all need to be diligent and keep the politicians feet to the fire. Let’s not have egos get in the way we just want them to know who they work for WE THE PEOPLE. Schools out sorry for going on but it just makes me mad that some people can be so ignorant and uninformed and they go blabbing on about something and just make themselves look small.
It is time to stand up as one again and stop buying into the lies and get out our truth detectors and open our eyes and wake up to what is going on around us. Let us not judge a man by the color of his skin but by his character. I do not like O’s character and who he has surrounded himself with and my truth detector is has been going wild lately. I think Joe Wilson just said what Millions were saying at their TV screen, those brave enough to listen to what he was trying to say or a try a the bully pulpit. I could not listen as I have a rule if they say anything about the last admin I turn them off cause I want to know what they have to say not what someone else said or their interpretation of what was said. I like to decide myself because I am an independent thinker and not a party BS line follower and I think that is what the march was all about. Mr. Ego will think it was about him and his Health Care Plan. Only God knows that we need to do some fixing and do some tort reform. But that is nearly impossible with a Lawyer in Chief puppet in charge. We all need to stick together and that is what they were doing plain and simple common sense. The key word is “COMMONâ€.
Here is a new one with the spelling corrected opps I will cut and past in the future so I can use spell check my bad.
LADYREB
OMG? What is this, I’m the only 1 that’s not entitled to have an opinion? First of all, Juli C if you want me to go back to school for history class, you should consider a little spelling for yourself!
Yea, we (the GOOD OLE USA) trained Saddam Hussein! It’s a little known FACT that we also helped train bin Laden! How many Americans know that? NOW THERE’S SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF! Problem is you won’t find any of that in your HISTORY book that you want me to study, because it’s not in there. It’s not ALL ego, get real. It’s about POWER, EVIL, and EGO. BTW, it was Daddy Bush that let them get away with it in the first place, W had to clean up Daddy’s mess (Saddam). Clinton tried to bring down bin Laden before 9/11 because of things he was doing in “other countries”. The Bush administration KNEW that there were TERRORIST ATTACKS being threatened and did nothing about it. We all know what happened because of that OOPS…..
The important thing right now is to come to an agreement on Healthcare, something that we all can live with. It needs to be done, quickly. That’s the simple truth, we’ve been trying for this for decades. Let’s stop talking and fighting about it and do it. There has to be a way to find what works for everyone. If nothing else, let the American people vote on it, let us decide what WE want.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Hell No
Did any of you vote for Obama in the first place?
PJ
Yes, obviously a lot of us did, otherwise he wouldn’t be the President. I am proud to say that I am 1 of those who did. I would not change my vote today, knowing what I know. You have to give the man a chance, you’re all acting as if he’s Hitler or Saddam. He didn’t get us into this mess, remember that. It was already waiting on him before he took the oath. How many times did Bush say he was going to let the “incoming administration” take care of that? I remember at least a dozen, when asked about things that he didn’t want to deal with. After the election, suddenly it wasn’t his problem anymore– it was up to the incoming administration. How many “other” things did he leave undone? Be fair and give the man a chance to make some changes, to fix some of the problems before you condem him and try to impeach him!
Jonathan
Um, you should change your post. There were 60-70,000, tops. Michelle Malkin has already admitted that her 2 million figure was a made-up number.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/09/size-matters-so-do-lies.html
Flap
Guess you don’t read the updated headline, post or the comments.
60-70 K is too low a figure.
Some estimates now I heard mentioned on tv this morning are between 250-750K.
But, really who cares?
http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2009/09/912-do-the-numbers-matter-at-this-point.html
Jonathan
60-70,000 came from the D.C. Fire Department
“tens of thousands” came from Fox News
Air traffic was no different than usual, hotel reservations were up about 10%, no major issues were reported on the freeways coming in and out of D.C.
If 2 million people were there, which is triple D.C.’s usual population, how did they get there and where did they stay? Did they teleport?
Flap
@18 You don’t believe in reading the follow-ups, do you?
And, if you believe everything by Nate Silver, I have a bridge to sell you.
Update:
Here is an update round-up link which pretty much sums up the issue or non-issue of attendance estimates: http://www.julescrittenden.com/2009/09/13/rsvp/
Virginia Hewett
To the gentleman who said how did they get there and where did they stay…that is rather interesting if you wish to know. I know personally of many people who came by train to the main station and many had to walk to the march site. Did they stay in town….no, they took the return train ride. Riding all night to get there from Florida and riding all night to return. In addition, there were 4500 buses that had permits to park in town that came from as far away as Washington state. I remember speaking to a man from a small town in Ohio of 80,000, which sent 6 buses to the protest. Many additional buses had no permit and dozens of buses were prevented by the police from entering the city because of traffic concerns. I spoke to someone who got off and took a cab in. I met people who had never been on a plane before that flew in as I did and I spoke to some from Orlando whose whole plane was nearly filled with protesters. The ridership on the subway was over 250,000 greater than normal. I rode in at 8 am to beat the traffic and was stunned to stand shoulder to shoulder in the subway. One person I spoke to said his train had to stop because they needed to balance the load in order to continue. My hotel had 3 buses from Georgia staying there. I was there. I met so many who said I just decided to get in my car with a few friends and come. That is how we all got there…in cars, buses, trains, planes, even bicycles. It was a glorious event. When freedom plaza overflowed and blocked Pennsylvania avenue and the surrounding streets and sidewalks…the police said I don’t care if the march is to start at 11…you must leave now…there are too many. That was between 930 and 10 am.
As to crowd estimates…well if you look at the chart the park officials prepared for the inauguration…the area directly in front on the capital and its pool, by their estimates holds a quarter of a million. We filled that and all of Pennsylvania avenue nearly to the capital and side streets and sidewalks and as much of the mall as we were allowed to use. Another group had booked by not used part of it to try to thwart us…not very much into free speech I guess. We had some that stretched beyond the Washington Monument…and because of the layout it is hard to estimate. However, I would suggest if the area by the capitol holds 250K plus…then it was at least 750K…and it is hard to say how much more. But, when we left…we took the trash home or to the nearest trash can. In addition, we were peaceful and not one was arrested. That is because we are angry but not a “mob”. There is a difference.