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Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, noting that organizers had hoped to draw 100,000 people, said, "I think they probably hit that."

I guess the official method of estimating crowds is whatever the organizers expected, that's how many were there.

The D.C. police stopped giving official numbers of crowds 10 years ago after Louis Farrakhan threatened to sue the city and National Park Service for under-counting the Million Man March. Frankly, since there were several other events going on in D.C. at the time, including the Freeper counter-rally and the National Book Fair, how could you tell who was attending which without expending too many staff-hours on a pointless gesture?

We must be grateful, in a back-handed way, for Rita and Katrina, which took the national attention off ANSWER and the Shehadis.

I wish I could have been there; however, family commitments (my mother is 75, and we threw her a surprise party) kept me away. Today I have Coast Guard Auxiliary duty downtown, so all I'll do is make sure the terrorists don't steal the Key Bridge.

That's exactly what I thought when I read Ramsey's comments. He was probably thinking, their estimate is not that great a number to begin with so I'll give it to them.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Since my husband and I were there, I can say with certainty that the anti-American group got counted more than once. It took awhile but those of us there to support the troops began to recognize some faces as they went around multiple times. It seems they circled the block because I counted one man in an outstanding shirt with memorably hippie hair 4 times as he passed. Others acknowledged they were "back again". It really helps their numbers apparently to recycle with their same hateful message.

Those in support of our troops were clear in message, clean and well groomed. Not only is bathing not a "family value" to the Left, the anti-American group left NO real, clear, unified message other than they hate their county and President. Disheveled people with signs about everything from anarchy, support of Communism, Bush bashing to some who may honestly have thought they were there to demonstrate to bring the troops home. One poor, misguided woman carried a sign saying that Bush had an exit plan for Vietnam but none for Iraq--guess she thinks the Vietnam War is still ongoing.

All in all I was ashamed of them and had to struggle to remember that their freedom to protest is one of the rights that our military fights to defend.