Tens of thousands of people march the White House..Reported by Fox news as Millions

[Excelsior]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8252939.stm











For the folks who believe Saturday's Washington Mall protest is a harbinger of political change, crowd size obviously matters. Unfortunately, they couldn't get their numbers straight.

Earlier in the day, Senator Jim DeMint, (R-SC) said the New York Times was reporting that only about 500 people had showed up at the Mall. (Go to the 1:17 mark to hear his spiel.) On cue, the crowd lustily booed at the mention of this most elite of East Coast elite media institutions.

Where DeMint read that story remains a mystery. Seconds after hearing his claim, I clicked over to the Times piece by Jeff Zeleny which noted in the headline that "thousands" had turned out for the rally. Here was his lede:

"A sea of protesters filled the west lawn of the Capitol and spilled onto the National Mall on Saturday in the largest rally against President Obama since he took office, a culmination of a summer-long season of protests that began with opposition to a health care overhaul and grew into a broader dissatisfaction with government." Sure sounds like more than 500.

But DeMint's exaggeration was just a warm-up. Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, the conservative organization behind the event, told the protesters that ABC News was reporting that 1 million to 1.5 million people had showed up. At the same time, the U.K.'s Daily Mail put out an estimate of up to 2 million people attending the day's festivities.

At that point, the floodgates of enthusiasm washed through the blogosphere. Predictable cheerleader Michelle Malkin wrote that she heard the turnout was estimated at 2 million. (She wasn't at the event but that didn't stop her from hitting the "publish" button.) By Saturday night, however, ABC printed a story denying it had ever reported the 1 to 1.5 million number. (Malkin later published an acknowledgment that FreedomWorks was in error.

[7thangel]

it as funny watching teabaggers online searching for the so-called abc est. and then still lie about it when it was exposed as pure lie-telling

[MisterTorgo]

Ugh. Just ugh. I had to squeeze onto the train to work yesterday morning that contained this anus:

It disgusted me so much to see all this crap and hear it (one woman with a Southern accent behind me to the right said about Obama "We're gonna git that boy outta there!"), but all I could do was turn up my MP3 player and become stone, moving not an inch to let anyone else squeeze in past me. I've never been in a fight in my life, but I wished that someone had pushed me yesterday.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

People are fucking idiots. I mean really... is it that type of thing to have to lie and make something bigger to try and lure support ? The funniest line was a Republican politican on CNN or something and he goes.... "Here in the United States we have the best healthcare in the entire world."

The newsman interviewing him asked if he was sure about that. Since many are un-insured and they can't afford basic healthcare and the costs are insane. He still stuck to his mantra... "Best healthcare in the world !"

[Asmith]

As an outsider I'm not going to pretend to understand the intricacies or institutionalised fondness for an obviously faulty healthcare system. But I get the feeling that these demonstrations aren't about the issues but are motivated instead by racism...

[Chris Nowlin]

Originally Posted by Asmith

As an outsider I'm not going to pretend to understand the intricacies or institutionalised fondness for an obviously faulty healthcare system. But I get the feeling that these demonstrations aren't about the issues but are motivated instead by racism...

I can't decide if that's true or not.

All I can deduce is that most of these people have no idea what they're upset about, due to an inability to form coherent thoughts let alone an internally consistent set of values.

I'd be willing to bet there's more than one person in the crowd who would answer yes to all of the following:
-Are you against health care reform?
-Are you pro-life?
-Are you against government spending?
-Do you support Bush's decision to invade Iraq?

[Loren]

Not to say that Fox *didn't* report the protest attendance as "millions," but nothing in your post or your linked news article even mentions Fox.

If you're going to throw an accusation at Fox in the thread title, I think it'd be a good idea to back that accusation up with something. After all, your own post mentions that someone apparently falsely accused ABC of reporting "millions" as well.

[Nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by Asmith

As an outsider I'm not going to pretend to understand the intricacies or institutionalised fondness for an obviously faulty healthcare system. But I get the feeling that these demonstrations aren't about the issues but are motivated instead by racism...

Yeah, it's all about racism! And here are some anecdotes to prove it!

[Excelsior]

Originally Posted by Nightcrawler

Yeah, it's all about racism! And here are some anecdotes to prove it!

i dont know about racist. but its pretty dumb to attend a tea party dressed as a native.

Originally Posted by Loren

Not to say that Fox *didn't* report the protest attendance as "millions," but nothing in your post or your linked news article even mentions Fox.

If you're going to throw an accusation at Fox in the thread title, I think it'd be a good idea to back that accusation up with something. After all, your own post mentions that someone apparently falsely accused ABC of reporting "millions" as well.

Why should I, Fox news doesnt link sources.

[Chris Nowlin]

Originally Posted by Nightcrawler

Yeah, it's all about racism! And here are some anecdotes to prove it!

I can only assume you're using sarcasm and hyperbole to mock Asmith's post.

But he's barely even making an assertion with phrasing like "I get the feeling" let alone anything resembling the unsubstantiated heavy-handed binary assertion you seem to be accusing him of making.

[Nightcrawler]

Originally Posted by Chris Nowlin

I can only assume you're using sarcasm and hyperbole to mock Asmith's post.

But he's barely even making an assertion with phrasing like "I get the feeling" let alone anything resembling the unsubstantiated heavy-handed binary assertion you seem to be accusing him of making.

Not Asmith is particular, just the general sentiment and typical procedure of the board's leftists.

[Excelsior]

What do any of these signs have to do with Health Care reform or unfair Taxation??

[Asmith]

Originally Posted by Chris Nowlin

I can't decide if that's true or not.

All I can deduce is that most of these people have no idea what they're upset about, due to an inability to form coherent thoughts let alone an internally consistent set of values.

So maybe not so much a fear of black men as a fear of intelligent men...?

Originally Posted by Nightcrawler

Yeah, it's all about racism! And here are some anecdotes to prove it!

Well I certainly didn't put the idea that it was race motivated as emphatically as you have done so there... and I'm only making my assumptions from the signs these people carry and the comments they make to camera... most of which seem to always lead back to some sort of nebulous point about the US President's skin colouring...

[Chris Nowlin]

Originally Posted by Nightcrawler

Not Asmith is particular, just the general sentiment and typical procedure of the board's leftists.

Well, I certainly don't ever want to come across as one to stand in the way or sarcasm or mockery, but phrases like "the board's leftists" sound like a strawman argument waiting to happen.

[Chris Nowlin]

Originally Posted by Excelsior

What's the right word for the lady with the confederate flag? Classy? No, that's not it.