Billions and Billions protested the war on Saturday in DC
By Mark Kilmer Posted in War — Comments (15) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
When I watched CBS's Face the Nation yesterday morning, I heard host Bob Schieffer say [pdf]:
Yesterday in Washington was like a day from yesteryear in a war that, to many, seems long ago and far away, the war in Vietnam. Yesterday hundreds of thousands of people descended on the Capitol to protest the war in Iraq. Some of them are young, some were those who marched and protested Vietnam. [Emphasis mine]
I didn't follow the rally, so I thought nothing of it. Then I saw Brent Baker's piece at NewsBusters.org, where he pokes fun at Schieffer's statement.
[A]ll other major news outlets, including his own network's Saturday evening newscast, pegged the number of people who attended Saturday's anti-Iraq war protest rally in Washington, DC as in the “tens of thousands.”
I asked my wife, an authority on such things, and she said that she didn't know. She thought they said 30,000, but she admitted that she hadn't really paid attention.
These people want to "relive" the romantic version their minds of created of the protests of the Vietnam, sans, they promise, the spittle for the troops. It is a pathetic event, watching these lemmings. It makes you wish they did not want to drag us to the cliff.
"hundreds", anything over 1500 is "thousands" and anything over 15,000 is "tens of thousands". And over 50,000, well it could be 100,000 or as Schieffer has it, hundreds of thousands.
The fact is that there has never been a mass antiwar movement against this war, and demonstrations here have always been much smaller than in Europe. This was one of the smallest yet, probably 20,000.
By Sunday the WaPO hedged its bets by putting "Thousands protest.." in their headline and tens of thousands in the story.
The fact is that there has never been a mass antiwar movement against this war,
There were some very large demonstrations *before* start war. I remember in SF we couldn't leave Justin Herman Plaza before the some folks made it to City Hall. It was a slow crawl up Market street. In fact, it was so crowded Bart had alternate trains skipping the Embarcadero station. That's unheard of.
Regardless, that was 2003.
The question is now, will the crowds return to the streets? I think they will (and don't go off on me for that, I won't be joining them) but if you look at the polls, the majority has swung decisively against keeping the troops in Iraq.
Unless "the Surge" is immediately successful, we are in for a long summer of protests. Which isn't necessarily fair as things like the surge take time to have an affect, but I fear as far as the American public is concerned, Bush is out of time.
especially the Feb 2003 ones -- probably 9 million people at least, 3 million in Rome, 3/4 million in London, etc.
The SF demonstration you reference had a turnout of 100,000 according to organizers & their media shills, a photo analysis gave it as 65,000.
My point, not a large mass turnout as compared to Europe, given the size of our population.
Over at Powerline, one of the Forum commenters has an excellent first hand account of the staggeringly gargantuan hugantic colossal ginormous DC moonbat orgy protest.
http://www.plnewsforum.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/15753/
Well done and definately worth a read.
LGF has a summary of the PUPPETS on parade!
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=24188_Its_a_Puppet_Show!&only
by George Bush's War! Halp us Jon Cary, your are onley hop!
WOW, can I start to mobilize and organize people and march somewhere to get Cool Ranch chips to be the "National Chip"
Who gives a rats a** who marches ANYWHERE for ANY reason!!!
Ya running any form of government should be like watching the Macy's Day parade.
Now after the high school marching band, the gay marriage protesters, followed by the GLO-BALL warming crowd, and following them the Cindy Sheehan pink group etc. etc.
After the parade, fellow government officials, lets put together our scorecards and see what policies to put in place.
God bless America....oooops... now up next in the parade the ACLU a**h**es
In somewhere with as many blocks, streets, and buildings as DC, especially if you accidentially add in the numerous vendors, unrelated pamphlet-distributors, and usual DC tourists (and especially if you get lost a few times), a small number of protestors looks a whole lot bigger. I live right next to the capitol, and witnessed the anti-war protest in 2005 (led by Sheehan). I could've sworn there were enough people there that day to sink the District straight into the Potomac.
Protests are excellent political plays, but of course you can never claim you have significant support of the people without a poll of every human in the country. You can't even do that with a national election (unless you have a mandatory vote).
By the way, don't include the high school marching band with that crowd. Many of my friends were in one; they worked their hindquarters off and got nothing in return. Not even press coverage (unless you count me, the local recording enthusiast jumping at the opportunity to test my makeshift equipment.)
I agree the high school marching bands are the "entertainment", they shouldn't be tarnished for being in the parade of squealers and misfits.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
Fom the NY Slimes so you know it's true:
There were a few tense moments, however, including an encounter involving Joshua Sparling, 25, who was on crutches and who said he was a corporal with the 82nd Airborne Division and lost his right leg below the knee in Ramadi, Iraq. Mr. Sparling spoke at a smaller rally held earlier in the day at the United States Navy Memorial, and voiced his support for the administration’s policies in Iraq.
Later, as antiwar protesters passed where he and his group were standing, words were exchanged and one of the antiwar protestors spit at the ground near Mr. Sparling; he spit back.
Capitol police made the antiwar protestors walk farther away from the counterprotesters.
“These are not Americans as far as I’m concerned,” Mr. Sparling said
in one act capturing the left's support for our troops.
Yeah, Vietnam all over again.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
lucky if they had 30K and I am being kind, however there were also a lot of D.C. people just jogging around and walking around in the 52 degree weather also as well as a few hundred counter protesters. I am not surprised by Schieffer claiming more as he is what the MSM is liars and hoping against hope to prop up the anti-war movement. What they cannot get through their heads is there is a new movement afoot called the internet and people actually taking pictures of the so called "100's of thousands" it is so easy to dispel their lies. I hope you all check out some of the pictures I have set up a link to over at
http://allthingsconservative.typepad.com
Peace through superior fire power:)
If you live in a country where your right to protest against your government’s policy is protected by law, then you probably have more effective ways of trying to persuade a plurality of your fellow citizens to support your cause and to try to persuade your elected officials. If the protesters spent their time writing letters (as opposed to email), making phone calls, and trying to recruit leaders from the various other pressure groups that make up the Democratic constituency, then they would probably be a lot more effective.
Thank God, they’d rather indulge in venting their spleens on television even when it has the effect of alienating the very people they hope to reach.
Let's get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
They spit at and on one of our amputee veterans. And apparently, they threatened him both during and After the protest march...
"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal comfort... has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
--John Stuart Mill
they are trying to relive the youthful adventure, camaraderie, and sense of purpose they had attending protests (Vietnam, anti nuke, etc). Many even thought themselves courageous.. I guess for being inconvenienced by traffic snarls, porta-potties and such. Desperately boring lives - so limited in experience and lacking intellectual spectrum and depth.
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"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -- James Madison