Michelle Bachmann and her puppeteers at Fox News have been consistently inflating crowd estimates for her Tea Party with Hitler rally last week. The rally was estimated by rational sources at about 10,000 people, or .00032% of the population of this country. This is not quite the furious mandate that the Fox folks wish it were. Yet, they are trying to say that the age of Obama is over. They're using the inflated tea party protest estimates and 2 governorship wins to declare 2009 a win for Republicans.
Neocon Charles Krauthammer gave his version of the end of O yesterday.
Sure, Election Day 2009 will scare moderate Democrats and make passage of Obamacare more difficult. Sure, it makes it easier for resurgent Republicans to raise money and recruit candidates for 2010. But the most important effect of Tuesday's elections is historical. It demolishes the great realignment myth of 2008.
and erects the greatest realignment myth of all time that Bob McDonnell's victory is a gamechanger. I bet 90% of Americans don't even know who Big Bob Mac is.
Bob Beckel called out Hannity on inflating the crowd size last week
Hannity: This is hardly a done deal. And I'm sure a lot of taxpayer money was used to brib, I'm sorry, used to buy, I'm sorry, used to entice Congressmen to vote for this bill.
Beckel: Gee you wasn't anything to get a point across their were you? First of all let me congratulate Nancy Pelosi who did a terrific job, despite being bludgeoned on this show every single night and among other things, the tea party people.
Hannity: You say that with contempt, dripping contempt
Beckel: Well first of all, I was down at that thing that you said 20,000 people, there were more people that day at the space museum that day than there was at Michelle Bachmann... let me say I'll be the first one to contribute to a Palin/Beckmann ticket, I think it'd be great for us.
Jon Stewart completely busted their act last night.
Hannity used footage from another rally to inflate his crowd size. That is shameless. These guys are really desperate. So, they've inflated the numbers, AGAIN. In April, Fox's Niel Cavuto was caught on tape bloating the crowd count.
The question one might ask how could they think it's a good idea to try and inflate the numbers from an embarassing rally most known for the horrific pictures comparing healthcare reform to Nazi extermination of 6 million+ Jews?
Crossposted an earlier version to The Progressive Electorate
Update: Top Comment Navy Vet Terp said "I wish Obama would order the Park Service"
to once again give crowd estimates of rallies on the Mall. They used to do this until Farakhan's Million Man March, when the Park Service estimated 600,000, Farakhan had a hissy fit and sued the National Park Service, and the NPS agreed not to give crowd estimates anymore.
They drew circles at certain spots on the mall, counted the people in the circle, and based their estimates on that. I'm sure they were off, but they were consistently off. Any overestimation or underestimation would have been by the same percentage for any rally.
I agree and thank you and all the vets for your service. Tweety just did his big number. 1. The number of WWI veterans left. Frank Buckles.
UPDATE 2: Here's a reminder of who Hannity's friends are from a rally this week in Birmingham, Alabama
in Kelly Ingram Park - right in the middle of the historic Civil Rights museum. Within feet of the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum and the 16th Street Baptist Church - where four little girls were killed on September 15, 1963. . In the middle of Kelly Ingram Park where Dr. Martin Luther King and Fred Shuttlesworth organized demonstrations for real freedom. Where Bull Connor turned the firehouses and dogs on children.
and a slideshow