by JC Leahy
I should have gone earlier if I had wanted to be near enough to actually see the speakers. As it was, I gave my car to the doorman at the Army Navy Club on Farragut Square, and walked to the Reflecting Pool, arriving at 9:30 AM The Rally commenced at 10:00AM. The folks near the podium had arrived at midnight! The crowd was considerably denser than at last year's 912 March. It was so dense that I couldn't move around to take photos. All I could do was hold my camera up high over my head.and use the Cannon G-2's unique pivoting LCD screen to compose pictures. This ocean of people facing the Lincoln Memorial surrounded the reflecting pool. It wasn't evident from news photos that the crowd actually extended all that way back to the Washington Monument, albeit less densly once past the World War II Memorial. What I didn't realize until the next day when I saw an aerial photograph, was that the crowd also covered the vast field behind the trees to the south of the reflecting pool. Yikes! This was definitely a larger crowd than last year's 912 March!! I saw no political signs or banners, which was interesting. Dr. Beck had asked attendees to leave the signs at home, and they did.
Glenn Beck started speaking at 10 AM, then introduced speakers, and then he spoke again later. He had several themes. First, he asserted that we could each be a heroe. Our larger-than-life heroes, even the heroic Founding Fathers, were once young people, uncertain of their future. "We do not want to transform America!" he proclaimed. "We want to restore America!" Dr. Beck exhorted each of us to pledge to himself/herslef to restore honor in America and to restore the promise of America. "Heroes are just people who stand up and do the right thing," the advised.
Dr. Beck outlined the interesting history of the Purple Heart medal. He said that George Washington issued the first Purple Heart medals during the Revolutionary War. The medals were issued to soldiers, not specifically for being wounded, but rather for doing the meritorious right thing. It was a "merit badge." This history of the Purple Heart related to Dr. Beck's themes of meritocracy and the common man doing the right thing. He then proceeded to award 3 medals; one for Faith, one for Hope, and one for Charity. Each of the recipients gave a speech.
Dr. Beck's other prominent theme was one of anti-racisim. He extolled us to come together as one nation without any regard at all for the color of our skin. The relatively tiny counter-rally conducted by Al Sharpton, in contrast, railed about Black people "rclaiming" Martin Luther King, Jr. and "the dream." One who sees the ironic contrast of these two messages must wonder how Liberals could be anything but embarassed.
A helicopter buzzed overhead. I assumed they were doing a crowd count. Besides the helicopter, a balloon floated nearby!
Sarah Palin also spoke. I was so far from the podium that I couldn't see her. Only by the network of large-screen monitors and speakers could the crowd see and hear the speakers.
CLICK HERE TO SEE AN AERIAL PHOTO OF THE CROWD - WHICH DOESN'T EVEN INCLUDE THE WASHINGTON-MONUMENT PORTION!!!
What was the crowd count? I live here in the Washington, DC area and have some experience attending events. Also, I am an experienced accountant. I say that the crowd was between 300,000 and 600,000. Look at it this way: The area immediately surrounding the Reflecting Pool holds 200,000 people. That entire area was packed like a subway car in a Tokyo rush hour. Additionally, the massive field to the south, parallel to the Reflecting Pool , was full -- check the above link to an aerial photo. Additionally, the World War II Memorial area was packed, and there was also a pretty good crowd on the Washington Monument grounds. My best guess would be 500,000. If you encounter an estimate greater than 600,000, be skeptical and get the details, An estimate 200,000 you can confidently dismiss, most likely as wanton political misinformation, otherwise know as propaganda.
What was the crowd count? I live here in the Washington, DC area and have some experience attending events. Also, I am an experienced accountant. I say that the crowd was between 300,000 and 600,000. Look at it this way: The area immediately surrounding the Reflecting Pool holds 200,000 people. That entire area was packed like a subway car in a Tokyo rush hour. Additionally, the massive field to the south, parallel to the Reflecting Pool , was full -- check the above link to an aerial photo. Additionally, the World War II Memorial area was packed, and there was also a pretty good crowd on the Washington Monument grounds. My best guess would be 500,000. If you encounter an estimate greater than 600,000, be skeptical and get the details, An estimate 200,000 you can confidently dismiss, most likely as wanton political misinformation, otherwise know as propaganda.
2 comments:
JC, thanks for sharing, really sorry that you didn't get there sooner. From your perspective (not having been able to attend myself) what was the ethnicity mix that is being flung through the maintstream as Beck's "Whitestock"?
Thanks, Marcia
Critics imply that these 500,000 Rally participants can have nothing credible to say because of the color of their skin. Civil rights activist Alveda King, niece of MLK, spoke at the Rally and exhorted us to focus on "honor and character...rather than the color of our skin." Sound familiar? Maybe that's what we should do.
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