I took the Metro from Virginia into DC this morning. I had no idea what to expect. The State-controlled media had been predicting "tens of thousands" of protesters. Feeling the growing momentum of the people, I told my family I thought there would be 2 million, but I don't think I was confident in my prediction. I started gaining hope when I saw signs on the cars in the Metro parking lot - and lots of out-of-state plates.
Ironic stickers on an Obama-approved hybrid car.
Alex and Laura Scogin and their three children from Centreville, VA - originally from Texas. This was their first time attending a protest march. In fact, everyone I asked said ut was their first or second time - the second if they had attended a Tea Party in April.
The Dunn Loring Metro station was crowded for a Saturday morning. As we realized we were bound for the same place the ice broke.
When the train whizzed in, we gasped and laughed in amazement. Though we were the second stop on the Virginia side, it was already packed to standing room only. We squished in like sardines. Many people had not ridden Metro before as they were not from this part of Virginia. The train had many delays as they were doing maintenance on the track, so it took twice as long - an hour - to get into DC. Everyone was in good spirits and swapping news.
We piled off the train and funneled onto the escalator.
This is a very polite and accommodating crowd of people.
The T-shirt in front of me on the escalator.
Headed for the exit.
This person was giving out the best hand-out of the day - a plastic Obama Card, created by the RNC. See the next photo.
Such a misconception - fed by the media - that conservatives are all angry white men or dorks or stupid people. Which is the raison d'etre for this photojournal. And this March wasn't about just one issue - it was about ALL the issues we've seen Obama going his own tyrannical way with no regard for tradition or the will of the people.
I arrived to find the March had started early - because there were too many people to contain at the starting point. They were already streaming up Pennsylvania Avenue.
Pelosi called us Astroturf - meaning fake grassroots. And the state-controlled media likes to perpetuate that myth. Ironically, it's the Obama supporters - ACORN workers and union thugs - paid, bused in and given mass-produced signs - who are the real Astroturf.
Seeing families with kids brought back memories of my own protest days in the 60s, with Samantha in a Gerry carrier on my back. I wanted her to share the experience. I was a radical leftist then. So seeing these good conservative parents getting their kids involved did my heart good!
This was the only sign I saw of an organization bringing in a group. Though there were hundreds of chartered buses from around the country, people paid their own way. And made their own signs.
I dashed up a side street to get ahead of the march and take more pictures. This was not the only sign like this I saw during the day.
There is something so majestic about marching in Washington with the architectural background. This was a very different crowd than those I had been with during my radical activist days. Determined to be heard, but cheerful and friendly.
I took a lot of pictures because pictures tell the story of who was at the March - something the state-run media does not want anyone to know. Using the same Alinsky playbook as Obama & Co, they want to "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." So you and I are no longer individuals with hopes and dreams and deeply held convictions, but instead just "an angry mob."
The pictures tell the story of people who are not Astroturf, nor an angry mob.
Echoes of the old feminist slogan promoting abortion: "Hands off my womb"
The parade passed by the Newseum - a fairly new museum devoted to the media. I haven't been there yet. But the engraving on the front facade seemed especially apropos as the marchers streamed by.
Periodically a chant would sweep the crowd: "Freedom isn't free!" and "Where's the press?" The state-controlled media were conspicuously absent.
Some well-wishers on the roof of the Newseum - I assume they were visitors, not employees - had signaled their support and the crowd is waving back. It was a very happy time. In contrast to media reports of anger, it was really classic Good Vibrations.
Happy for the support from Newseum visitors waving from the roof.
This woman was yelling up to people on the roof of the Newseum: "We want a free press! We don't want socialism! We want freedom!"
This woman was selling a selection of Tea Party buttons. I asked her if she believed in what we were there for and she said proudly that she did. Love this picture with the flowers and Capitol in the background. It's so easy to take pictures in DC, surrounded by magnificence,
The only Obama supporters I saw all day.
Three generations of protesters.
Arriving at the outskirts of the crowd congregating on the south lawn of the Capitol.
The crowd surrounded the large pool.
You gotta love a true grassroots movement like this. Every sign is a personal expression of the individual's frustration, creativity, humor and wit. I saw thousands of unique signs.
This was so cool for me. I remember in the 60s and 70s we counterculture/hippies/radicals scaled columns and perched on statues. Now to see senior citizens doing it was really something
The Gadsden flag - "Don't Tread on Me" - was widely carried or worn on Tshirts. Red and yellow dominated the day.
A touch of whimsy..
I was pretty far from the speakers. It was quite crowded at this point. But I didn't come for the speakers as much as for the people.
Love the shirt.
Another teabag fashion statement
This was 25' long scroll with signatures all the way to the end.
Republicans come in all kinds. Note to the Left: stop with the stereotypes.
When I took this picture, he said - you need to see the one on my back. Check it out next.
The back.
Still time for romance.
These guys had come up from South Carolina, one driving and the other three sleeping in the back of the truck. The mother in me was very worried. Brought a folding table to set up a poker game to while away the time.
Reporting for Voice of America.
From Fredericksburg , VA - #2 due in two months.
Local over-taxation issue. The toll road that somehow never paid for itself and instead ceaselessly raises tolls.
Abraham and Theresa Mudrick from Oregon. Flew all the way here to be part of this event. This man knows his stuff and I wouldn't be surprised to find him running for office soon.
