WaPo refers to 'tens of thousands.' The NYT refers to a 'sea of protesters' but later calls them 'tens of thousands'. The NYT also notes that the magnitude of the rally took authorities 'by surprise'.
What says Old Patriot after he looks at the photos?
Demonstrators waved U.S. flags and held signs reading "Go Green Recycle Congress" and "I'm Not Your ATM".
Many protesters said they paid their own way to the event - an ethic they believe should be applied to the government. They say unchecked spending on things like a government-run health insurance option could increase inflation and lead to economic ruin.
Terri Hall, 45, of Florida, said she felt compelled to become political for the first time this year because she was upset by government spending.
I received an email from a neighbor with the same sentiment -- in which he announced a tea party to be held in our little community. I got the impression he went from a standing start to organizing the thing. I don't think the Democrats are going to much like what real grass-roots community organizing accomplishes.
"Our government has lost sight of the powers they were granted," she said. She added that the deficit spending was out of control, and said she thought it was putting the country at risk.
Anna Hayes, 58, a nurse from Fairfax County, stood on the Mall in 1981 for Reagan's inauguration. "The same people were celebrating freedom," she said. "The president was fighting for the people then. I remember those years very well and fondly."
Invoking Reagan, explicitly denying Obama's on the side of the people .... this is getting interesting.
Saying she was worried about "Obamacare," Hayes explained: "This is the first rally I've been to that demonstrates against something, the first in my life. I just couldn't stay home anymore."
Like countless others at the rally, Joan Wright, 78, of Ocean Pines, Md., sounded angry. "I'm not taking this crap anymore," said Wright, who came by bus to Washington with 150 like-minded residents of Maryland's Eastern Shore. "I don't like the health-care [plan]. I don't like the czars. And I don't like the elitists telling us what we should do or eat."
