It seems that a Mr. Pinko has obtained an exclusive from the Photographer Michael A. Beck and FreedomWorks.org. Click on image above to see."This is a RARE photo of the 9/12 Rally taken in extreme High Resolution from atop the Capitol Building. Mr. Beck was personally escorted to this rare vantage point by a congressman who will remain anonymous. This panoramic view offers the viewer documentation of the epic scale of this peaceful demonstration of democracy in action."
How proud does it make me, a freedom and democracy lover who has always encouraged people to speak, to assemble and fight for our Constitutional rights. Protect them and use them, peacefully and civilly. This, to me, is the ultimate example of how it's done. Good job marchers! I am so proud of you all and of our country.
Now, on to the arrest reports from this event which some call a protest and others call a march:
[crickets]
Oh, that's right there is NONE. No arrests from a million+ people.
Even more proud is that they left it as they found it:
As opposed to...
6 comments:
It's frustrating that the fire department is unable to provide real estimates of crowd size because those numbers become politicized. I'd like to know how many were there - a really good estimate. Everything I keep reading points to some controversy. For instance, http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/sep/14/tea-party-photo-shows-large-crowd-different-event/.
"Malkin, like some of her conservative cohorts, retracted the number she had attributed to ABC when the network chastised FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe, whose organization arranged the event, for inaccurately telling the crowd that the news organization had reported the crowd at 1 million to 1.5 million people."
Looking at that photo you don't think there were more than a million people? People have posted video, time lapse photography, news clips, schematics that show how to estimate crowd size on the mall, comparisons with the O-inauguration...and still, people insist that the rally was poorly, sparsely, or otherwise not well attended.
Here are TONS of photos and links
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/09/12/celebrating-the-912-rallies/
About a million people attended.
No it wasn't 60,000. No it likely wasn't 2M that the Daily Mail had estimated (though the crowd size was approaching the O-inauguration numbers, and they left it cleaner too.) THE POINT IS: the people spoke. The came from across the country, represented ALL political ideologies, and had a myriad of issues they wanted heard. It was a massive moment for American Democracy, and if liberals only will believe the numbers from proof from some liberal who stood there and counted every one, (and even THEN they would probably say the person had been paid off) then democracy has died in their heart! The people came to DC to speak and make a statement and they did so peacefully and civilly and that is a great thing. They came in droves, in hordes, massively covering the People's grounds and they looked their government in the eye and said "Listen."
Frankly, I feel sorry for liberals OR conservatives who focus excessively on the numbers and who deny the reality and the beauty of what occurred. Who cannot put ideology aside long enough to at least say, "I don't believe what they believe, but good on us Americans for having the freedom to gather, march, protest! Good for them for being so committed to an idea that they spend $$ and time in this economy to make a statement!" Whose hearts and minds are so closed that the liberty to march and the right to assemble is less important than denying those Americans their moment in the democratic sun.
I was not a Christian when PromiseKeepers marched, I actually thought it was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. But I ADMIRED their motivation, their energy and their commitment to their ideals. And it is the same with 9/12. I was hoping for 'congratulations', I would settle for 'look at that' but I never thought that the left would be so vigorous in denying the actual reality of it happening.
That is all I have to say about this subject any more. Moving on.
I hope you know no offense was intended. I did provide other links that weren't from what I would call liberal/left-wing sources in another blog comment but that was not posted, which is totally cool with me. I find it interesting that you respond with a link to Michelle Malkin, who can hardly be called impartial. Also, on her site there is an update that states the following:
"Conservative activists, who organized a march on the U.S. Capitol today in protest of the Obama administration’s health care agenda and government spending, erroneously attributed reports on the size of the crowds to ABC News.
Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, the group that organized the event, said on stage at the rally that ABC News was reporting that 1 million to 1.5 million people were in attendance.
At no time did ABC News, or its affiliates, report a number anywhere near as large. ABCNews.com reported an approximate figure of 60,000 to 70,000 protesters, attributed to the Washington, D.C., fire department. In its reports, ABC News Radio described the crowd as “tens of thousands.”
Brendan Steinhauser, spokesman for FreedomWorks, said he did not know why Kibbe cited ABC News as a source.
As a result of Kibbe’s erroneous attribution, several bloggers and commenters repeated the misinformation."
But you're right. Ultimately it isn't how many showed up but rather that folks showed up at all. We still live in a place where this is possible and that is ultimately the coolest thing. If you don't like something, you can organize a protest and march on the capital. That is patriotic and I salute those who attended even if I don't feel the same way about things that they do.
no problem Christie. I had read immediately before your comment that the Christian Science Monitor wrote a story that the entire photo was faked, which, I contacted the photographer and it is not. I was REALLY IRRITATED. It is sad that so many go to such lengths to deny their fellow Americans' moment of civic duty and pride that they would outright lie.
That "polifact" article is a travesty of journalism. There isn't a quote there from the photographer himself, is there? He was not contacted. It is a one-sided indulgent snake oil piece. The Congressman who escorted Michael A. Beck, the photographer who took the shot on 9/12, was Rep. Price. ANd there were other witnesses too. But the polifact "article" made no effort to produce anything except a one-sided story that told a lie. In effect, what the polifact article did was defame Mr. M. Beck and his efforts.
No Malkin isn't unbiased but her links cover a variety of venues and the shots on her site of course, don't lie.
There were over a million people there. It was a great moment. What is more sad is the left's inability to deal with the reality of such a massive event that they would defame an AP photographer and his work. But is is what the more rabid people on the left do (not you but others I have worked with at the higher, state and senatorial, levels)
PS the FD isn't unable to supply numbers. They are unwilling.
the photo Mr M. Beck shot was the one I have on the blog and he actually took it and is not fake. I have fact checked this.
The photo that Polifact and CS Monitor are talking about is NOT the one on this blog. They said it might not not be of the 9/12 rally but it is not the photo Mr Beck took and is not the one on this blog.
OK, I cleared that up. Sorry for my earlier irritation Christie. I get frustrated too, trying to sort out truth from lies verification from rumor. I tseems ther eisn't any truth any more, something we all can agree on. But Jesus said that the time of the end would be filled with deception and lies and down would be up and up would be down. It is very disconcerting to be living in a topsy-turvy time.
:)
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