As the head of the Security Team for FreedomWorks at the 9/12 March, all I can say is I am proud of each and every American who took the time to come to DC and make a statement. (Except for the LaRouche idiots. I could have done without them.)
Plans are already underway to duplicate the remarkable success next year.
Operation Clean Sweep 2010 is in production.
"Buckle up, Buttercup." ;)
In all fairness to the Daily Mail, the Park Service has released its final tally of the attendance in DC on 9/12/09.
2.1 million
Some of the comments posted are priceless, and some are just plain ugly.
A million march to US Capitol to protest against 'Obama the socialist'
By David Gardner
Last updated at 6:59 AM on 14th September 2009
Comments (279)
As many as one million people flooded into Washington for a massive rally organised by conservatives claiming that President Obama is driving America towards socialism.
The size of the crowd - by far the biggest protest since the president took office in January - shocked the White House.
Demonstrators massed outside Capitol Hill after marching down Pennsylvania Avenue waving placards and chanting 'Enough, enough'.
The focus of much of the anger was the president's so-called 'Obamacare' plan to overhaul the U.S. health system.
Demonstrators waved U.S. flags and held signs reading 'Go Green Recycle Congress' and 'I'm Not Your ATM'. 'The protest on Saturday came as Mr Obama took his campaign for health reforms on the road, making his argument to a rally of 15,000 supporters in Minneapolis.
Saying he was determined to push through a bill making health insurance more affordable, Mr Obama said: 'I intend to be president for a while and once this bill passes, I own it.'
From NewsMax:
I guess "People for the American Way" aren't really all that gung-ho on grassroots activism.
PSHAW!!!!!
A liberal advocacy group founded by TV producer Norman Lear has launched an attack on conservative talker Glenn Beck, saying his influence on the GOP is "shameful."
In an e-mail sent to supporters, People for the American Way's President Michael B. Keegan referred to last weekend's protests in Washington against President Barack Obama and the Democrats and rebutted the claim that as many as 2 million people took part.
"Officials estimated the crowd to be about 60,000," Keating wrote. "Significant, yes, but not indicative that these people are anything more than a vocal minority
representing the views of only a small portion of Americans.
"A PFAW staffer who showed up to check out the scene talked to many participants, and when she asked why they showed up, an overwhelming number gave the same answer: 'Glenn Beck sent me.'"
Keating continued: "It is shameful that the GOP would give someone like Glenn Beck that sort of power. The Rush Limbaughs and Glenn Becks of the world have been pulling the strings of the Republican Party for too long."
Dear Friend,
The 9-12 March on Washington has concluded and by any measure it was nothing short of an historic success for the limited government movement.
The debate over how many people were actually there is now raging from one extreme to another. Some media reports have gone as high as 2 million, while liberal pundits like David Schuster have thrown out insulting low estimates under 50,000. I believe the truth is that our crowd actually approached 1 million, but you can judge for yourself as coverage of the March will air on CSPAN again tonight at 8 pm EST. No matter the actual number, the 9-12 March on Washington was far and away the largest gathering of limited government conservative activists in history and I want to thank you for helping to make it so.
Whether you were there or not, your support was key – your contribution, attendance at a local taxpayer protest in your own community, or your presence in DC is being felt today by the politicians here in the Nation’s Capital. Some may not admit it publicly, but I promise you that even the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barrack Obama himself now know the power that our side represents.
We are all exhausted, but it’s imperative that we keep telling the stories, and sharing the images, and connecting the people from all 50 states who spoke with one voice to petition their government. After all, we all worked so hard to send the message to our elected officials: “Silent No More.” To help document this monumental event, over the next few weeks, FreedomWorks will be putting together an online archive of the 9/12 March on Washington. However, if this project is going to be successful, we need your help!Here is how you can help:
Tell us your story. If you were at the March, watched it from home, or participated in one of the hundreds of other local taxpayer rallies that took place all over the country, we want to hear from you! Simply email your story to 912dc.org@gmail.com, and don’t forget to include your name (we’ll only publish your first name), age, and location! We will also be sure to get a hard copy hand-delivered to your Senators and Congressman.
Send us your pictures and video. Did you take photos or video at the DC March or your local event? If so, we’d like to post them on our archive. To do this, all you need to do is upload your photos to Flickr.com, and videos to YouTube.com, then include the tag “912dc” before saving them. If you have too many photos, or your video is too large, you can mail a CD or DVD to: FreedomWorks, 601 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, North Building, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20004.
We need your help to get ready for the coming battles. The health care debate continues to rage and we expect the Left to continue their push for cap and trade and other items on the big government wish-list through the end of this year. We are working to build an infrastructure capable of conducting targeted research and issuing rapid-response calls to action that will make the difference in these fights.
In addition, our political battle plan for 2010 is already starting to come together. To give you a sneak preview, this includes another major event in Washington, D.C. and playing in the most high-profile Congressional mid-term races. All of this of course will take significant resources, but that’s what it is going to take to give limited government activists like you the necessary tools to affect change. Click here to support FreedomWorks with your generous contribution.
I think back to 1994. Then, true limited government conservatives saw the dawn of a new era where fiscal conservatives rose to power on the shoulders of the Contract with America and “threw the bums out.” While conservatives in Congress ultimately lost their way and thus the support of the voters, I believe that thanks to the grassroots uprising we are seeing now that lawmakers are getting the message and that 2010 could look a lot like 1994, if we keep it up.
So while I again congratulate you on the success of 9-12, I remind you that the battle goes on. We can take our government back, but as abolitionist Wendell Phillips famously said, “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
FreedomWorks,
Dick Armey
Washington Examiner Political Digest
Byron York - Inside the 9/12 protest
Hours before Saturday's protest began, it was clear that the crowd of people opposing Obama's big-government policies would be larger than many anticipated. There are no official estimates of how many attended, but there's no doubt that the turnout, from the crush on Pennsylvania Avenue to the crowd at the West Front of the Capitol, was big -- perhaps in the 100,000 range.
No one was more surprised at the show of force than some of the marchers themselves. "We did it!" cried one elated woman as she approached Pennsylvania Avenue. "Look at all these people!"
You certainly did.
We all know the VLWM is suffering from a serious numerical dyslexic-disorder. They just can't seem to get their numbers straight, for some reason.
Lets get this out of the way now.
Most media outlets are using the term "10's of thousands" to describe the 9/12 March attendance in Washington DC.
I was there from 0700 until 1500 and I can assure you, (and I have Park Police estimates to back it up), there were 1.3 million Americans at the 9/12 March in Washington DC.
ONE POINT THREE MILLION voting Americans who quite possibly represent another 100 voting Americans who could not attend.
Are you listening now?
Can you hear THEM NOW?!?!
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW??!!!
InstaPundit has a photo taken by MKH, (what a class act and a smokin' hot baby-doll) who actually paid $18 to access the vantage point from the top of the Newseum. This is the end of Pennsylvania Ave from about 3rd Street to the West Lawn. The Newseum is at 555 Pennsylvania Ave, between 5th and 6th. The March extends west to 14th Street. Do the math. It took 3.5 hours to move the crowd from 14th to 3rd Streets, and the marchers filled Pennsylvania Ave from curb to curb for almost 3 hours.
Tankerbabe and I met up with Uncle Jimbo and Lilyea.
Uncle Jimbo was speechless; a condition he rarely, if ever, suffers from, although I did hear several "WOW!!!'s" and at least three "I can't effing believe this!!'s"
He did manage to recover sufficiently to film some folks.
