Attendance to the rally for Glenn Beck at the Washington Lincoln Memorial through the weekend are disputed. Beck claims that around 500,000 of his loyal supporters arrived to pay homage. Up to a million was the declaration by certain Republican political figures. Whether or not an event is deemed significant in the media often is dependent upon how many individuals show up. Believers within the cause could be counted on to inflate the number. Critics are predictably skeptical of the totals. But it’s unlikely the ballpark figures thrown out by both sides accurately represent the angry white mob Beck summoned forth to sully the legacy of Martin Luther King at the time and place of his legendary “I have a dream speech” 47 years ago.
Subjective interpretations of Glenn Beck rally attending
Glenn Beck rally attendance was predictably overestimated by Beck and right wing talking heads such as Joe Scarborough of MSNBC. Both said the group totaled at least 500,000 people. Their assertions are typical said the Christian Science Monitor. The Monitor said that numbers are influenced by the estimator’s self interest. Rally organizers always say crowds were huge and bigger than expected. Those who aren’t in favor of the cause could be counted on to dismiss their assertions. There is always controversy. In October 1995, the National Park Service officially estimated that about 400,000 people attended the “Million Man March”. Disputing the numbers, the event’s organizers threw their lawyers on the park service, which has since gotten out of the business of counting crowds.
Airborne images belie Beck’s hyperbole
The crowd at Glenn Beck’s rally was large enough to compromise the subway service in Washington. Foregoing mere guesswork, Columbia Broadcasting System Media secured the services of AirPhotosLive.com, a company specializing in aerial reconnaissance. Photos were shot from above. The crowd spread from the Lincoln Memorial around the Reflecting Pool and over to the Washington Monument . Based on the images, AirPhotosLive gave an estimate of 87,000 people in the guests. The company gave its estimate a 9,000-person margin of error, so anywhere from 78,000 to 96,000 people were there.
National politics not enough space for simple fact or
The morning after, Beck was saying between 300,000 and 500,000 showed up. Republican congresswoman Michelle Bachman was quoted in various news outlets as saying “we’re not going to let any person get away with saying there were less than a million here today — because we were witnesses”. Nevertheless, Southern Fried Science inserted some common sense. Its argument is fairly simple. Because Beckophiles fail to acknowledge truth or reason within the first place, how numerous individuals turned up at the rally is not essential. To illustrate, he referred to a Pew Research Center poll. It determined that the statement “President Obama is a Muslim” is considered true by 18 percent of Americans. His conclusion: Politics is no place for individuals who care if what they’re saying (or listening to) is actually true.
Additional reading
Christian Science Monitor
csmonitor.com
CBS
cbsnews.com
Southern Fried Science
southernfriedscience.com
