You Know Those Small Photos That Make It Look Like Moranpalooza 2010 Had A HUGE Attendance....?

[Turborama]

Check out how much grass you can see on a larger pic...



Courtesy of the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11121542



(edited to add the small version that's going around)

[roseBudd]

1. You didn't think freeper were going to stand?!!!!!!!!! The chairs need space!

[Beaverhausen]

2. Still, nothing that was said today is going to "change history" or whatever he said would happen

there were more people there than I anticipated but in the end all he did was preach to them about going back to god, which as we know has nothing to do with what America was founded on.

This whole thing is a dud, even though many suckers attended.

[Jade Fox]

25. The Civil Rights movement was backed up by action....

years and years of courageous, difficult, sometimes deadly action by brave, committed people.

This Beck thing is just a picnic with boring speakers attended by people who haven't got a clue how to change history, and even if they did they are way too passive and selfish and busy playing the victim.

[Beaverhausen]

27. exactly. I was listening and wondering, so what do you want these people to, glen?

it was a bunch of hogwash - like a big mormon recruiting meeting.

[daleanime]

3. Still more people then you want to see....

celebrating their own stupidity.:wtf:

[MrScorpio]

4. I'd love to see the reactions on these teabaggers

If they ever happen to come across any DC's black citizens while in town

[Frank Booth]

5. That's a very big crowd.

It's fun to laugh at these deluded people. But it's also starting to get awfully scary.

[Turborama]

7. Yes, but it's most probably in the thousands

Not the 10s of thousands the media are reporting or the 100s of thousands BecKKK is bleating about.

[TheMuse]

8. I agree

This seems to be turning from a political agenda to a theocratical one. Scary.

[Urban Prairie]

10. 50+ million people voted for McCain/Palin in '08

They didn't just "disappear" after Obama/Biden won, and this mostly Teabagger crowd doesn't represent even a significant percentage of those voters.

[Andy823]

13. Well...

There were two other right wing republican events going on this weekend, and many of them were bussed over there by the other groups to make it look bigger than it was. I think the only scary thing about it is that so many people are duped by Beck. He is pulling a con on them to get their money and to boost his own huge ego. Many who came here today left unhappy because nothing happened, no red meat, no hate, no anger, just a long boring event with a sermon at the end. I think Beck hyped it up way to much, and then I think he knew it would be on CSPAN so he tamed it dow to try and make those who may not know about the "real" Glen Beck, think he was simply a good christian who loves God and cares about his country! For those of us who know what he really is, he simply came off as a huge hypocrite by talking about "honesty", stopping the "hate", and "uniting" the country! This is the man who called the president a racist, who spews hate on a daily bases, and who has done his best to divide this country!

[Frank Booth]

23. You don't find it at all scary that a man who spews hate on a daily basis, who

is intentionally dividing the country, and who is trying to wipe out centuries of history by convincing white people that they are the victims of racism and must fight to save themselves has so many followers?

Fox News has managed to turn the extreme right wing fringe of America into the mainstream. 25 years ago Glenn Beck would have been in Bonner's Ferry.

[sabrina 1]

28. Yes, I find it scary. A clown like Beck in a civilized nation

should not be able to rally more than a few hundred people at most. We have a problem in this country and it's been growing like a cancer for decades. Ignorance and constant exposure to Fox and the Rightwing Noise Machine, the lack of a real media is helping to make what should be the fringes of society acceptable.

[Abq_Sarah]

30. No offense but...

I sure as hell don't want the media or political parties dictating which political opinions should be socially acceptable. Civilized nations generally practice some measure of tolerance. I see far too many people calling their political opponents ignorant, stupid, bigots, haters, etc... When nearly half the country doesn't agree with our party, it doesn't mean they're "fringe". It means either we are not reaching them because our leadership is ineffective or, perhaps, they just have a different view of how things should be.

[sabrina 1]

31. Excuse me, bu you haven't been paying attention. The media IS dictating

which political agenda should be socially acceptable.

Unless you think Fox is as it claims, 'fair and balanced' and the media told the truth about the War in Iraq or has covered the crimes and the lies of the Bush administration as diligently as they ran with the lies about ACORN and then went silent when the lies were exposed by the authorities.

And unless you think we get actual news anywhere on the media.

I don't recall asking for intolerance of anyone's views. I am asking for the media to report news, facts.

Why do you think half this country cannot see the corruption of the Republican Party? The rest of the world sees it, but then just about any news medium in most other countries is better about reporting facts than the U.S. media.

The ARE being reached, by Fox and the Republican noise machine, by propaganda and jingoism. And sorry, but bigotry is not an acceptable political opinion. No one is calling their political opponents ignorant, stupid, bigots, haters etc. They are calling those who ARE bigots and ignorant and haters exactly what they are. Unless you think rousing up anti-Muslim hatred is a socially, politically acceptable viewpoint in a civilized society.

You go right ahead and defend the inane issues our media chooses to cover. I would prefer to see real news, not some clown like Beck taking over the airwaves. I'd like to some time allotted to what is going on in this country on issues that directly affect the American people. And some time spent on educating people on facts so when they do make decisions, they are not based on rightwing rhetoric and hate speech.

[girl gone mad]

37. It isn't just FOX News.

It's also all of the "centrist" DLC types who keep yanking us further to the right.

[LostinVA]

20. Every single non-Freeper source is saying "tens of thousands"

There are more RWs than that living a Metro ride or a short drive away from the Mall.

[MajorChode]

42. Relatively speaking, it's not that large

Also consider that it was very widely promoted by some very deep pockets, and all they can muster is somewhere in the 80K-90K range? It's pretty pathetic if you think about it. I doubt if even the public transportation system in DC was all that busy.

I've been in some crowds that were in the 400K-500K range and from what I've seen in pictures and on TV, this crowd does not even come close to comparing.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Obviously there wasn't enough grass.

Whichever kind of grass you're talking about.

[Gin]

11. give the devil his due....it was a large crowd

he gave his sermon on the mount to a live audience and will get lots of money

mission accomplished...

[onehandle]

9. After years of being laughed at for small crowds, they've learned to spread out.

Huge swaths of them have ten feet between them and their neighbor.

They could have fit them all along the reflecting pool, if they were honest.

[AsahinaKimi]

12. Seriously??

I have seen more people at a 49ers game.

http://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/St+Louis+Rams+v+San+Francisco+49ers+ub1w5la3qzsl.jpg



Candlestick/Monster Park:
*70,000 seating capacity
This doesn't include the tailgaters.

[BrklynLiberal]

14. THIS is what a million marchers look like. April 1994 Washington DC

packed solid, shoulder to shoulder...

[SoCalNative]

15. Even the small pic

shows they're not packed in there.

FReepers must be blind as well as dumb.

[liberal N proud]

16. Stand wide, it make it look like a bigger crowd.

[Imajika]

17. What is the point of trying to talk down their crowd?

It was a very large crowd. Probably 50-100k, maybe more.

We are speaking to the choir here. I could see, for politically tactical reasons, talking down the crowd size to media outlets. But here? What is the point?

You know they got a big crowd, I know they got a big crowd, and most people on here know it too.

We do ourselves no favors trying to diminish or pretend they are not a gathering, and increasingly dangerous foe. It is far better to concede they can draw large numbers and take appropriate steps to counter them.

Sticking our head in the sand is not a very good approach to the battle that is coming. They were also smart to pretend to be inclusive, prominently display minorities, etc. Many people here were expecting a bunch hate filled craziness - but for the most part they concealed that part of their movement and tried to put a friendly face on the Tea Party in general.

People need to get real here.

[Turborama]

35. It's a pet peeve

This isn't about "talking down" or "diminishing", it's about photographic evidence.

The reason I started this thread was to expose the lie of how bigger than it really was the media are making it out to be. I haven't watched it and don't want to know anything about what went on in it but I hate it when anti war/G20/Global Warming protests are diminished and reich wing rallies get exaggerated and blown out of proportion, it's a pet peeve.


"They were also smart to pretend to be inclusive, prominently display minorities, etc. Many people here were expecting a bunch hate filled craziness - but for the most part they concealed that part of their movement and tried to put a friendly face on the Tea Party in general."

Yes, from what I hear, it seems like this was the main purpose of the event, actually. To try and "whitewash" (metaphorically and, apparently, literally) any negative impressions that they have created of themselves since they started prominently and happily exposing their "hate filled craziness" for the world to see.

[bikebloke]

18. With the number of morbidally obese tottering there...

I'm sure some are counted as two or three.

I thought of going down there to infiltrate the morons with a camera for a video project idea. They're just not worth clearing a memory card for.

[old mark]

19. NYT a short while ago said," Organizers claimed over 500,000 attended"

Beck's rally today.
I have seen "Thousands", "Tens of thousands" but now it's up to a half million according to "organizers".
By Monday, everybody in the US except 500 professional liberals will have attended.

Beck stated that this event was,"This generation's Woodstock"...and that in times to come everyone will be asking, "Were you there?"

This man has enough ego for a small Eurpoean nation.
And no shame.


mark

[LostinVA]

21. The NYT themselves said "tens of thousands"

[old mark]

29. Quite a difference - guess which figure will be on Fox....nt

[LAGC]

22. There sure is an awful lot of white in that crowd.

Looking at some of the close-up shots, hardly a non-white person in the bunch.

[The_Commonist]

24. That looks to me to be 79,428 people.

Give or take a half dozen or so...

[Angry Dragon]

26. Perhaps the question that should be asked

How much will beck make on this rally??

How much was palin paid to come speak??

[Quantess]

32. I want to see photos of the attendees closer up.

I want to see for myself how thoroughly white the crowd is.

[activa8tr]

34. I doubt you need pictures to see that.

You know in your heart that 99% of those there were white and angry low information voters.

[activa8tr]

33. CBS evening news just put a number on it: 87,000 !

Also interviewed one person who said they "wanted their freedom back"..."the freedom we have always enjoyed".

I guess they think Obama took those freedoms to elect only white Presidents away.

The only freedom I know they lost in 2008.

[Turborama]

36. CBS: Glenn Beck Rally Attracts Estimated 87,000 (Faux banner on Geraldo was saying 500,000)

I'll try and find a video of Geraldo's show later and do a screenshot of it)

August 28, 2010 6:32 PM

Posted by Alex Sundby

An estimated 87,000 people attended a rally organized by talk-radio host and Fox News commentator Glenn Beck Saturday in Washington, according to a crowd estimate commissioned by CBS News.

The company AirPhotosLive.com based the attendance on aerial pictures it took over the rally, which stretched from in front of the Lincoln Memorial along the Reflecting Pool to the Washington Monument. Beck and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spoke at the rally.

Beck, who predicted that at least 100,000 people would show up, opened his comments with a joke: "I have just gotten word from the media that there is over 1,000 people here today."

AirPhotosLive.com gave its estimate a margin of error of 9,000, meaning between 78,000 and 96,000 people attended the rally. The photos used to make the estimate were taken at noon Saturday, which is when the company estimated was the rally's high point.

Full article: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20014993-503544.html

"Beck told the audience that the accounting from his vantage point showed more than 500,000 people."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-28/-turn-back-to-god-beck-tells-tea-party-activists-at-rally-in-washington.html


Adding these for a bit of perspective...

[activa8tr]

39. Thanks for that, A good visual math lesson 87,000 compares to 500,000 HOW?

With clear understandable pictures!!!!

[caraher]

43. I hear that a lot

I've yet to hear one of these people who could say exactly what freedoms they purportedly lost (unlike when Ashcroft was lecturing us about the "phantoms" of lost freedoms while fronting an administration that would go on to suspend habeas corpus...)

Unless you count the "freedom" you just mentioned...

[GoCubsGo]

45. So...Bill-O was right.

IIRC, he said the event wouldn't draw more than 100,000. And, like a broken clock twice a day, he was correct.

[activa8tr]

46. Bill0 is often not right as often as a stopped clock. I'm sure you will

agree. He's a paid alarmist and propagandist of just a slightly different shade than Beck.

[IDemo]

38. I'll offer another guestimation

The dimensions of the Reflecting Pool are 2,029 x 167 ft, or 338,843 square feet. The area covered by people in the photo appears to equal about 3 Reflection Pools, or 1,016,529 sq. ft. If you apply the Jacobs method for estimating crowd sizes, there will be about 10 square feet per person for a 'loose' crowd (at arm's length from each other), or 4.5 square feet per person for a more tightly packed crowd, and 2.5 sq. ft. for a "mosh pit" density crowd.

Filling in the grassy areas with those in the peripheral areas, you'd have a fairly dense crowd, but still not packed (even if they're packing). I'm going to arbitrarily use 9 as the divisor in Jacob's formula, which yields a crowd size of 112,948 (rounding up that pesky two-thirds person).

Edit -- Subtracting the tree-filled areas, you have about two reflector pools worth of crowd. Gotta revise that downward to account for the trees, which presumably aren't occupied. New number: 75,298 baggers.

[activa8tr]

40. WOW, pretty impressive math ! I'm better at math than Fox ..

but not as bright, creative and analytical as you are!

Very good way of doing it.

[guitar man]

44. Sweet

Nice math! :)

so I guess my "at a glance shoot from the hip" estimate yesterday wasn't too far off :D

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9033206&mesg_id=9035009

[Turborama]

47. Kick for the best analysis I've seen so far

Sorry I didn't say it earlier, but thanks a lot for taking the time to work it out. :fistbump:

[Sheepshank]

41. Local Chaffetz ass wipe

Flew his staff into DC on the tax payers dime for a "conference" that coincided with Bekkk's event. He bussed them over to the rally. No note if he ussed them onthe tax payer dime. AND he did donate from his REP funds to the organization that organized the Bekkk event when the organizers came to SLC. Bet this homophbic prick was sweating at the chance to promote a fellow mo-mo bretheren.

[izzybeans]

48. something to compare it to.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/U1392049-8.html&usg=__SG0jPYbyy7A-vjhTIxvLbk9EGwE=&h=480&w=321&sz=83&hl=en&start=0&sig2=bxXb0LWQM_arTJC4R8wwpg&zoom=0&tbnid=TZGgGpPtHlJhJM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=82&ei=AwJ8TM3pCYuCsQP4m4GEBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwashington%2Bmonument%2Breflecting%2Bpool%2Bprotest%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DmQ%26rlz%3D1R1RNFA_en___US345%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D547%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=129&vpy=237&dur=1188&hovh=129&hovw=86&tx=86&ty=99&oei=0wF8TOnYO4aglAeE1_HrCw&esq=14&page=1&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0

Or the actual day America "restored its honor" - http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/21/2470543.htm&usg=__fgmPMm-Gl75AXdDz9JW-Yc03O4A=&h=560&w=840&sz=188&hl=en&start=26&sig2=FfqHPu_LX-aRyrfHXf1cXA&zoom=1&tbnid=fsm8ypEAQ3oReM:&tbnh=118&tbnw=144&ei=RQJ8TKT5OoSosAOt0ImDBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dobama%2Binauguration%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1R1RNFA_en___US345%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D547%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C684&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=495&vpy=257&dur=733&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=144&ty=129&oei=PgJ8TKKfNoSdlgfcwKDsCw&esq=4&page=3&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:26&biw=1024&bih=547