Obama's Million Ghost March

reply to post by DataWraith


DataWraith??? Photoshopped....??? REALLY?

Did you happen to watch the LIVE TV coverage, from all the Networks, live....oh, I suppose you're going to say it was a massive CGI work-up!!

For DBates....IF you'd done some more research you'd have learned that in the PAST the National Park Service used aerial photos of crowds on the Mall, and divided the Mall surface into a grid, then multiplied the count from one grid by the number of sections. This worked well until recently...funny thing is, it IS only an estimation, since people seem to have these inconvenient things called 'legs', making them rather ambulatory. ALSO, due to the security SNAFUs, many people were still several blocks away by Noon....AND you must consider the people who lined up along Pennsylvania Avenue, up to fifteen and twenty people deep, shoulder-to-shoulder, for just over a mile.

I have two friends who arrived at 12th Street and Penn, at 0430 that morning. They were just about the first ones, and stayed there until the Obamas passed by. They could not leave their up-front vantage, there were no toilets, nor food.

Then, also, perhaps you should Google 'the purple tunnel of doom'....it's about all of the people in the 3rd Street tunnel, who had purple tickets to the special areas on the Capital lawn, and never got in because of the security mess. Doubt people in tunnels will be photgraphed from above....

EDIT because I thought I should add --- unlike OTHER gatherings in the DC area, on Inauguration Day there was a long list of prohibited items, such as strollers, coolers, folding chairs and backpacks....this list is readily available, I would imagine still. SO, as compared to previous events, THIS one was unprecedented.

[edit on 1/24/0909 by weedwhacker]

Why not just count the # of tickets sold?

Seems like that would be a decent # to go with ..

reply to post by d11_m_na_c05


Does it honestly matter how many people were there? The media just said that millions were there probably as a lie, or, an exaggeration... either way does it matter? There were a huge amount of people there. Anyways, my guess is that the million count came from the people that were denied entrance.

[edit on 24-1-2009 by Frankidealist35]

reply to post by d11_m_na_c05


NO!!! There were no tickets 'sold'!!! THEY were all FREE!!!!

These were handed out by Congressmen and women, as well as Senators, to their various constituents!!! These were NOT sold....except counterfiets by criminals who hoped to scam the process!

Weird thing is, even though in 1993 I did not live here in DC, I come out for the William Jefferson Clinton Inauguration, and we had great access to the lawn in front of the Capitol....the VERY AREA that, this year, was cordoned off and required a ticket to get into! BECAUSE of the incredible expected demand....

So, if you wish to compare 1993 to 2009, and SEE the incredible change in the amount of the crowds, then you need to take a step back, and realize how important BOTH Inaugurations were, in their eras....getting rid of Bush 41, for Clinton 42....was a big event. THIS time, we got rid of Bush 43 for Obama 44....and it was priceless!

Just in case any of you want to take a gander.

High res photo (13.7 MB)

reply to post by dbates


Well I took a gander....beautiful High-res photo, BTW!

However, what is your point?

Ya see, I actually LIVE here in DC. That very, very pretty photo shows ice on the Potomac River....um, today, Tuesday the 27th January is our FIRST snow fall of this Winter!! AND, in NO WAY has it been cold enough yet, long enough yet, for ice to form on the River!

Nice picture, anyway....NOW, try to take THAT picture, give it a grid, and imagine over a million people, shoulder-to-shoulder on the Mall. Oh! And, don't forget to look at the Washington Post, online, that TODAY shows a picture of the disappointed people who waited on line, in the 3rd Street tunnel, with their Purple tickets, only to be turned away!!!

EDIT...I left myself wide-open for criticsm, my mentioning ONLY the Mall. Don't forget, hundreds of thousands of people weren't ONLY on the Mall, but they lined Pennsylvania Avenue, and were blocks deep....the ones that got there late, anyway.

You see, there was NO WAY to see BOTH the Inauguration AND run over to see the Parade too. It was either/or.

My choice? Sit in a warm house and watch it on TV. Better camera angles than I could have got...but, some wish to be there, the 'touchy/feely' approach, I guess. I did it in 1993, and it was NOWHERE NEAR the insanity that THIS Inauguration generated.



[edit on 1/27/0909 by weedwhacker]

Originally posted by lernmore

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
And most importantly, who cares how many people were there?

I do!

It's too late to edit a previous post and now I can't account for at least 200,000 window lickers.

We don't care how many people were there.

We care about this being another example of the hype from all the obamaphiles in the MSM that is being spoon fed to people to point where they start to believe it all (like hunka seems to already).

reply to post by centurion1211


centurion (and Moderator DBates)....why not look up the statistics of the Washington Metro, on Inauguration Day. (hint....it was January 20, 2009)

Don't know, can't understand your refusal to realize just how large this was....ummmm....did I mention yet....I LIVE HERE!!!

Saw it, personally.

I subscribe to the local paper...OK, the Washington Post. The 'other' paper, the 'Times', is owned by the 'Rev. Moon'....so, THAT has no credibility whatsoever!

SO, consider your sources, that's all I'm sayin'

reply to post by weedwhacker



Read my post again (for content).

Repeating for you. I said we don't care how large the crowd was, it's the MSM obamaphile hype that is getting really old ...

reply to post by centurion1211


ya, centuion.

PLEASE continue to obey the Civility and Decorum rhetoric!

Listen, THIS thread is about whether or not the crowd during the Inauguaration was exaggerated. I mean, this is really what the point of this thread is, correct??

When the Minority Senate Leader John Boehner wishes to go on the television machine and LIE THROUGH HIS TEETH and just play 'politics as usual'....it is disgusting to see how the Republicans continue to show their true 'colors'....and, it seems to tend towards the 'red' side of the Spectrum.

EDIT....during my typing, a breaking news story unfolded, and it influenced my writing.

It was President Obama doing a news conference. Seemed impromtu, but caught me off-gaurd.


[edit on 1/27/0909 by weedwhacker]

Originally posted by weedwhacker
reply to post by centurion1211

 

ya, centuion.

PLEASE continue to obey the Civility and Decorum rhetoric!

Please tell or show me how I'm not following the T&C ... Are you?

My response was to those obamaphiles here that were attempting to shoot the messengers here - now that is a T&C violation.

And saying that the MSM media hype for obama is being demonstrated in the wildly exaggerated numbers is right on topic.

Carry on ...

reply to post by centurion1211


NOPE! I NEVER intended any of my posts to be directed at you! Sorry if you took it wrongly.

I'm just looking at a big green thing at the top of my screen....it's big and green, possibly something that the owners of the website wish to be there....here are the words...."Civility & Decorum Are Expected"

That is it! I did not wish to instigate an argument, in fact, I'd like to keep the discussion civil.