Glenn Beck rally sparks debate over crowd size

Yahoo News ^ | 8-30-10 | Michael Calderone

[Justaham]

Glenn Beck kicked off Monday's radio show by thanking the many attendees at Saturday's "Restoring Honor" rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial — at least 500,000 by his count. Beck said he's "still waiting on the real number" and plans to look closely during his 5 p.m. Fox News show at photos of the large crowd assembled on the National Mall.

The rally — which took place on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the memorial — drew a good deal of controversy, with civil rights leaders holding a countermarch. But the event largely kept free of overt political references, as Beck (a longtime scourge of the Obama White House) had pledged it would. It stressed religious themes, together with celebrations of noncontroversial virtues such as charity and national service.

Even though Beck is still tabulating a crowd estimate, it can be expected to be significantly higher than the number CBS News reported over the weekend: 87,000.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

The left has nothing better to do than to debate crowd sizes.

[winged1]

According to Park Services info the Reflecting Pool area holds 250,000. The adjacent “overflow’ field holds 250,000. Combine that and add the uncountable masses underneath the trees for shade and those massed at the Washington monument and those gathered around the Lincoln memorial and you come up with just a tad more than 87,000 !

[FrankR]

It's the juvenile way of looking at the ralley.

It's the size of the message, not the crowd, that counts. But liberals are always getting confused and trying to kill the messenger, so what's new.

We've heard about the tousands and thousands sitting under the trees, but what about all those who could not attend, for one reason or another.

People who are out of work, can't afford to travel to Washington, pay food, room and board, and transportation...and look at the millions that the liberal congress and obama have added to the ranks of the unemployed.

Even a lot of people who still have jobs are hanging on to them for dear life,and did not want ask for time off to go to Washington.

Thank God for the people who were able to attend, but they should never forget the millions of us who watched and listened from afar, and are totally with them in belief and spirit...and, at the polls in November.

So let the LSM writhe and moan about crowd sizes, it doesn't mean a thing; the very fact that it has them and the left all riled up and questioning such trivial nonsense is proof of the impact it had on them.

If I could wave a majic wand and say, I want all the people in the USA who are Conservative and want our country back...RIGHT NOW... Washington, DC would not be able to hold them all.

BAck in my old radio days we had a saying, "If a thousand people call in, or write, you can bet 10,000 are listening."

Watching the libs go bananas over this rally is almost as much fun as watching dozens of clowns getting out of a volkswagen.

[ScottinVA]

I look at it this way, just as I did after the 9/12 rally. The libs grossly understated the crowd size last year too. While most accounts put the size over a million, the lefties insisted it was only in the “tens of thousands.” I say let the libs stay in denial about the crowd size. It seems to give them some measure of momentary comfort in their pathetic little irrelevant lives. The truth is on our side.

[Tandem]

We were there and a white, Bell Jet Ranger helicoptor, with blue markings (not News, medical or military - just normal general aviation numbering), made two full laps of the area at two different altitudes (estimate about 1000 & 2000 feet). There were 2 photographers sitting in the open door, filming the crowd. The two passes, at different altitudes, gave them a decent view of the crowd, including thousands under the trees (seeking some shade).

That was when Glenn made the comments about “somebody is interested enough to violate the air space”. Either Glenn’s team got permission or they took the chance - either way, I think it was Glenn’s team that took the pictures and will generate a credible estimate.

[LibLieSlayer]

Absolutely.

LLS

[DoughtyOne]

It sure was. I’m glad he didn’t succumb to a blubber fest though. Our young men get enough of that indoctrination in the media and at school. Let them see a man that can keep his composure once in a while too.

Thanks PaperDoll.

[Grammy]

As I said on an earlier thread... an Ohio State football game gets over 102 thousand in their stadium. I think there were more there than that.

[BushCountry]

MSM: I count 10 people that were in attendance (at least that is when I stopped counting).

[central_va]

The left has nothing better to do than to debate crowd sizes.

Crowd size isn't the only "thing" where size is an issue for domoRats.

[fuzzylogic]

Exactly, and at Michigan there’s over 110K ;)

[Rodamala]

I was disgusted having to watch that Saturday morning CNN newstwat rolling her eyes and such... pitiful excuse for coverage.

[NavyCanDo]

If our Liberal Media was around in 1863

Philadelphia Gazette November 20th 1863
Reported by: Christopher Jedediah Mathews

LINCON ADDRESS SPARKS DEBATE OVER CROWD SIZE

In his address at Gettysburg yesterday, Mr. Lincoln said, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here”, and Lincoln is dead-on right. The actual crowd size is highly disputed. It looked puny to me. And people were seen leaving in droves bored by the long speeches that preceded Lincoln. Lincoln’s address itself was not delivered well, it’s words poorly chosen. And without a microphone (because they haven’t been invented yet) the people in the back had a hard time hearing him.

On to more important news - In last night’s Emmy’s, “My American Cousin” lost out on an Emmy for Best New Comedy Play. Certainly this play will not survive another season, nor will Lincoln’s speech. Mark my Words.

[HarleyD]

If there were only 87,000 at Glenn Beck’s rally, then there were only 33,000 at MLK rally.

[Grammy]

LOL

GBBM

(Go Bucks, beat Michigan)