ABC News (see update below) and Michelle Malkin both estimate 2 million protesters turned out for the National March On Washington today, which was not only peaceful and orderly, but downright polite. Of course some of the signs were not too polite, but that is to be expected when people feel betrayed by their government. I was there and took well over 100 pictures. Some of these will be posted here and most of the rest can be found at FLICKR <---click there! All 138 photos have been added. There were so many great signs from wonderfully creative folks, that I'm sorry I couldn't include them all on one post here.
The purpose of the March On DC was not to say we are against health care reform. The vast majority are actually for it, just not socialized medicine. No, the theme of today's protest in which the people attending outnumbered Obama's inauguration turnout was a cry against run-away government spending. It was against arrogance, malfeasance, Marxism, despotism, and a sycophantic media kowtowing to "the one."
The liberal wing nuts with their war bongos and unwashed hordes could take a lesson from the 2 million who turned out today: no pushing and shoving, no garbage left in the streets, no death threats for stepping on some guy's sneakers, and no emotional chants lacking logic or reasoning. Everyone was wonderfully polite and courteous to each other and even to the one dissenting voice whose sign I would include if not for its obscene nature. No one punched them, scratched them, threw beer or soda upon them, or tripped them, even if they thought of doing so. We conservatives and patriots are an orderly bunch, even during an uprising.
Enjoy the pictures, and remember...if you click on them you can make them larger.
UPDATE: ABC news is now claiming they were misquoted and that the crowd was actually in the 10's of thousands. I was there. I have also been to the Rose Bowl (1984) that holds around 76,000. There were several Rose Bowls of people on The Mall yesterday. And 2 million seems like a rational number if you consider that many people left after a few hours while others were arriving late morning/early afternoon. My figure stands for the sum total for the day. They were elbow to elbow back to 8th St. I know that because when I left to find a men's room (lines to port-o-potties on site were too long) that's how far it stretched. The Daily Mail agrees with Michelle Malkin and myself.
See also American Power for his first-hand view of the tax protest in Los Angeles.
14 comments:
These photos are great! I hope you post some more!
Outstanding! I wish I could have been there for this one!
Fantastic outpouring, Matt, and another fantastic report (with great pictures.)
Can't wait to see how the MSM spins (or ignores) this one!
Great posting ... I'll get you linked up at my place later. Thanks for the heads up, and congratulations on your proud display of patriotism!
Thank you all! I had much fun doing this. The people were great.
EXCELLENT! Photos and signs are great.
I bet it was amazing to be there. I watched in on C-Span 2 live yesterday. I went to the NYC Tax Day Tea Party back in April and the feeling was tremendous, so I can imagine what DC must have been like.
A day to be proud.
Susan
Great Post!
I like the girl with the hot pink sign!
My generation will not be silent.
www.wififaith.com
I have done my own study based on devised methodology and calculation which you can find here:
http://deathbymedia.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/912-washington-dc-tea-party-rally-crowd-estimation/
It's backed by evidence (pictures and clips) and determining the boundaries of the protesters and calculation of final tally derived from the density of the crowd at each given block. My calculus puts the figures around 130k up to 160k.
I have pics up as well. Was there and it was a great event!!
COMMON CENTS
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com
ps. Link Exchange??
Yes Aria,
But were you there? Did you see the extent of the crowd? Did you look horizontally to see the ones blocked by the many trees near the capitol? Or were you simply using arial shots?
Although I did not personally do a head count, I did walk all over the place and had to climb through most of it. Good luck with your research.
Common Cents,
I have linked to you even though Blogger is telling me that your Blogger blog doesn't have an RS Feed. Go figure.
I was not there nor I would take anyone's anecdotal words on crowd estimation. Hence the reason I did my own study base on viewing thousands of photos and dozens of clips taken all throughout the rally. There was no aerial shot available -- only a few taken from the top of the Capitol steps which I utilized in establishing certain parameters. From you response, it becomes apparent that you have not bothered to review my post or else you wouldn't ask questions that can be answered by simply visiting the page. I suggest that you do.
In either case, if you can provide a better set of evidence such as photos or video clips in order to enhance the accuracy and ultimately contributing to the new findings, don't hesitate to share.
Sincerely,
P.S. I'm including several of your photos in my list. Good resolution.
Aria,
Thank you for complimenting the resolution of my pictures. I'll take any positive comments I can get.
However I have a few things to say about your last comment:
Your research is not taking into consideration the sequential order of the pictures taken, let alone the time they were taken, ie., before the March, the biggining, middle, or near the end. So using mine is probably not a good idea.
I am sure that at two points --- near the start and near the finish---there were as many people as you say. But not having been there and your using other people's pictures with no info suggests that you don't have much to work with. In fact determination seems to be your greatest asset, though hardly reliable in itself.
My pictures were taken mostly in areas I had space to step back and focus or zoom or even widen. Although I am not claustrophobic, I do not seek out thick crowds in which to squeeze, so most of my photos are in areas sparsely populated.
I wonder what CNN said when you called them up to tell them that their crowd estimation was much too low, or when you called ABC News on their revised estimation of 70,000. You did at least send them an email, right?
I have linked to Michelle Malkin and The Daily Mail, both of whom have evidence to back up their crowd estimations. They also have links to sites that have crowd estimations. I see no reason to waste any more time on this. But if it pleases you, spend more of your own.
"Your research is not taking into consideration the sequential order of the pictures taken, let alone the time they were taken, ie., before the March, the biggining, middle, or near the end."
I assume you have not read my study. I did not use the "marching"/mobile strategy to estimate the crowd as I found it very unreliable. Mine actually had nothing to do with the march but rather through calculus of boundary and density of the stationary units, a.k.a. people.
"My pictures were taken mostly in areas I had space to step back and focus or zoom or even widen. "
That's fine, hence the reason for utilizing hundreds of photos from different users to construct the best possible snapshot of the entire rally.
"I wonder what CNN said when you called them up to tell them that their crowd estimation was much too low, or when you called ABC News on their revised estimation of 70,000. You did at least send them an email, right?"
When was the last time any cable or network agency gave credence to an ordinary citizen? I haven't had TV for two years now and it's been a blessing so I can care less what they think. Beside, I'm not an scholar nor pretend to be one; I can assure you they won't come knocking on my door anytime soon.
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