AP: Pro-War Rally Bombs in D.C.
Organizers Hoped for 20,000 Supporters...Got 400 Instead...
By Brad Friedman on 9/25/2005, 6:05pm PT  
Special BRAD BLOG / Velvet Revolution coverage
of the Sep 24-26 Rally in D.C.
Blogged by Brad

The Anti-U.S. Constitution, Pro-Corruption, Dead-Enders who still support the War in Iraq --despite the fact that it was founded on lies and deceitful misinformation given to the American People and Congress by its supporters in the Bush Administration --- are finding themselves in a quickly shrinking minority in America.

This weekend's Anti-War rally, which turned out at least 100,000 supporters by conservative estimates, and up to 600,000 by other estimates, dwarfed the Pro-War faction left to turn out for an embarrassingly sparsely attended Pro-War rally. The War Lovers sheduled their rally as a counter to counter those who support American Values and American Troops by calling for their proper protection in battle, their appropriately-funded medical care after they return, and for them to be returned home to America and their families as soon as possible.

AP's story on the Pro-Bush/Anti-Sheehan rally this morning revealed that the dwindling pro-war movement in America could barely muster up more than a few hundred folks to turn out in D.C. this weekend.

The story also points out that such folks are squarely in the American minority --- not that you'd know it from the way the Conservative Media, such as CNN, MSNBC and FOX "News" covered the events. "[O]nly 37 percent approved or leaned toward approval of how Bush has handled the situation in Iraq," the story points out. As well, those who "strongly disapprove" of the war, outweigh those who "strongly approve" by a vast 2 to 1 margin.

(None of which kept C-SPAN, of course, from giving the 400 Pro-War demonstrators the same amount of airtime they gave to the 100,000+ Anti-War demonstrators, further validating our oft-repeated journalistic critique that "Balance is Bullshit")

Here's what AP had to say...

Defenders of Iraq war counter-rally
Smaller-than-expected gathering follows anti-war protest

WASHINGTON (AP) --- Support for U.S. troops fighting abroad mixed with anger toward anti-war demonstrators at home as hundreds of people, far fewer than organizers had expected, rallied Sunday on the National Mall just a day after tens of thousands protested against the war in Iraq.
...
About 400 people gathered near a stage on an eastern segment of the mall, a large patchwork American flag serving as a backdrop.
...
Many demonstrators focused their ire at Cindy Sheehan...[who] was among the speakers at Saturday's rally near the Washington Monument on the western part of the mall, an event that attracted an estimated 100,000 people.
...
Organizers of Sunday's demonstration acknowledged that their rally would be much smaller than the anti-war protest but had hoped that as many as 20,000 people would turn out.

On Saturday, demonstrators opposed to the war in Iraq surged past the White House in the largest anti-war protest in the nation's capital since the U.S. invasion in March 2003. The rally stretched through the night, a marathon of music, speechmaking and dissent on the mall.

National polls have found steadily declining support for the war in Iraq, with a majority of Americans now believing the war was a mistake.

In an AP-Ipsos poll this month, only 37 percent approved or leaned toward approval of how Bush has handled the situation in Iraq; strong disapproval outweighed strong approval by 2-1, 46 percent to 22 percent.

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