link
We were there. Loved all the witty signs (go to comedycentral.com for tons of sent in pix). Spoke with people from Oregon, Michigan, Ohio, Texas....et al........Very calm and peaceful. The 'real' silent majority.
Just don't read the accounts of it from Fake News. Maybe they sent one of their reporters to the wrong city. There was more than one monitor. oy.
The permit expected 60,000, and it was televised, yet approx 215,000 or so made it there.
Wish I could change my signoff quote, which fits many situations:
'The more each side turns up the volume, the less we end up hearing.'
All I want to know is, did Cat Stevens ever get to finish the damn song?
Speaking of the signs and spin, I did see a rather effectively cutting vid by a group called 'Americans for Prosperity': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJQ3ibfWObE
All I know, is that in the 'Lost & Found' box, they found a headless bat;-)
For some odd reason, Comedy Central is not replaying the event?!? There are various bits on youtube and comedycentral.com, just haven't checked all of them out yet.
All I know is that the Peace Train/Crazy Train/Love Train bit....looking back, was quite fun, and showed good spirit on all parts.
Per the DC Metro Transit, on a normal weekend, they deal with 300-350,000 passengers. On Saturday, they had in excess of 800,000. Taking into account return trips, dividing 450 by 2, there were 225,000 + that were in the area that day that took the transit. Aerial photos put the attendance at 215,000.
Take into account that so many of us drove .................and then there were friends of ours who just gave up due to the lines, and watched it in bars or restaraunts....
Sounds about right. Took us two hours to drive one mile north afterwards. A bit more than the 87K Beckians that showed up in August.
It was a wonderful day.
Will tide us over the next two years.
I consume a lot of American political news, and I've been pretty amazed at the crowd count fights between the supporters of the two events. Beck, who seems in many ways genuinely crazy, swears he had a half million. LOL. It seems a less than useful argument really because there are a myriad of explanations for attendance and non attendance that have nothing to do with enthusiasm for one ideology over the other.
Yes, Stephen was there, and there were many 'fear' fans and rally signs;-)
The sanity 'spirit' was the driving force for the vast majority. That's why we went. Colbert's satire can be incredibly brilliant and hilarious (especially 'The WORD'), but often goes a tad too far (wish he'd can the act during his interviews and let the guests talk).
Crowd size: same independant company was used .......215K + as to the 87K+ for GB. Metro Transit numbers bear out these approximations. Then again, it depends on who you rely on for truthiness. I saw a blogger who had aerial photos of each event at the same angle from the same distance. GB's was packed, last weekend's was virtually barren.
The problem: both photos were facing the Lincoln Memorial. That's where GB's stage was. Stewart's stage was in front of The Capitol Building, 8-10 blocks away.
The following are not necessarily the best or funniest or most witty pix, but it will do link
Saw at least a dozen people/placards in our nearby area dressed as/referencing Charlie Chaplin and the 'real silent majority'. We thought those were the best 'statements' of the day, along with many young and old war veterans. My cousins and parents would have been proud of them.
'we're not red.......we're not blue.........we're Americans, goddamnit'
oh well.............two more years of the same nonaction. Now the balls are in the other court (or lack thereof).
Against all rumours to the contrary - I have NOT suffered from a nervous breakdown - and all reports of efforts to retsore my sanity are grossly exaggerated!
John S Stuart wrote:
Against all rumours to the contrary - I have NOT suffered from a nervous breakdown - and all reports of efforts to retsore my sanity are grossly exaggerated!
Thank goodness for this confirmation - we are still counting on you to share some more Queen material. :-)