Epic Seventy Thousand Is Not Two Million Fail

Many of the Wingers claiming two million people showed up at yesterday's "We love this country, now get the hell out" rally in Washington D.C. were working off a quote from ABC News that said the number was 1 million to 1.5 million, later it magically became two million. Freedomworks president Matt Kibbe announced as much to the crowd.

Only one problem. ABC News never said that.

At no time did ABC News, or its affiliates, report a number anywhere near as large. ABCNews.com reported an approximate figure of 60,000 to 70,000 protesters, attributed to the Washington, D.C., fire department. In its reports, ABC News Radio described the crowd as "tens of thousands."

Brendan Steinhauser, spokesman for FreedomWorks, said he did not know why Kibbe cited ABC News as a source.

As a result of Kibbe's erroneous attribution, several bloggers and commenters repeated the misinformation.

They did indeed, from Malkvinvania to Pajamas Media to A.J. Strata to the UK's Daily Mail.

They of course are having none of the reality of 60k to 70k. It was two million, and anyone who says it wasn't at least a solid seven digit number is clearly working for the Obama media machine, right guys?

Still, those who did show up were folks like this:

No one on the tea party express seems concerned with the vocal fringe of the crowds that come with offensive signs -- besides Nazi imagery, a poster of Obama as an African witch doctor has become popular -- or the numerous conspiracy theories that float around most tea parties.

In Battle Creek, Michigan, a woman in her 60s says, "I really don't want to be a guinea pig for the experiment they have with the population control." In Canton, Ohio, a woman argues with an Obama supporter: "He's going after our kids to try to indoctrinate them into a national defense army."

The Tea Party Express tour has been free of violence, but occasional outbursts of vitriolic hatred toward the president combined with some menacing outward appearances often overshadow the more moderate tea partyers.

In Louisville, Kentucky, two young men in camouflage fatigues roamed the crowd trying to recruit new members for their militia called the Ohio Valley Freedom Fighters. They bear signs reading "AK-47s: today's pitchfork" and "Quit worrying. Start your militia training today."

In Jackson, Michigan, a young man didn't need a sign. He was carrying the real thing: A loaded AK-47 assault rifle and two loaded handguns.

"I don't want a revolution. I don't want a civil war," he said. "But it is a possibility. It's there as an option, as a last resort."

From the stage, Deborah Johns and Mark Williams never interact with most of these characters. Russo shrugs it off, saying that the early stages of every political movement have people like this.

To Wierzbicki these troubling elements are just part of the price of a grassroots movement. He is convinced they will not derail the movement.

"The message will be moderated by the time it gets to 2010," he says.

The message will be moderated. Sure it will. An angry teabagger mob built expressly around the irrational "vitriolic hatred of the president" will moderate its message in time for the 2010 elections.

That's the most laughable thing I've ever heard. Anyone else here believe the message is moderation? Anyone else here believe that the GOP and the astroturf organizers are going to tell these rabid wolverines "Hey, chill out?"

Anyone else believe that should the teabaggers be told this, that they will turn that anger on the Republicans for not having the guts to "do what has to be done?" We have people talking about open, armed revolution here, folks. These guys are deadly f'ckin serious.

This whole thing is EPIC FAIL...one of the largest EPIC FAILS I think I've ever seen.