"I've looked at the aerial pictures and I see 50,000. Maybe 75,000."
easily 150K in my opinion, and probably over 200K. from the monument to 15th to pennsylvania ave back to 14th and returning back to the mall. that's well over half a mile with 50-60 people wide across the streets. and the back of the line was still filling in as the front dispersed in various directions across the mall. the crowd was very tightly packed as well.
i've been part of demonstrations and rallies going back to the 70s and this was among the more impressive both in terms of sheer numbers and the diversity of the participants. since the iraq & afghan invasions began there i have not seen a mass demonstration that was quite as demographically representative as this one - young, old, women, men, all ethnicities - any way you want to slice and dice it.
there's a lot of dismissive attitude toward these type of demos on this list (for whatever reasons). but when you can bring this kind of demographic together you've got to start thinking that a real seed is germinating. think of it this way. if there were 150K and each of those participating represents another 20 or so that agree in principle with at least the anger, frustration and questioning of authority - and yes, hope for progressive change - then that is starting to look like a serious political force.
for those that ignored or tuned out the speakers, they missed a few gems. there was one fellow from new orleans. he was obviously not at all cut from the same cloth as the sloganeers. he was coming directly from the communities impacted by katrina. his speech was plain, direct and seething. when he said that when they rebuild the devastated communities and replace them with condos, hotels and other housing, he and the other displaced residents would show up to demand these places be given to them. and he didn't mean they be polite about it. you might dismiss this as hyperbole but if i were a developer greedy for a piece of the rebuilding binge, i'd be more than a little concerned about the possibility that a lot of angry folks would eventually return in force and demand retribution.
in fact the timing of this demonstration and the impact of twin hurricanes could not have been more propitious. there was a very clear sense in this crowd that the two gulfs (iraq & mexico) were intimately related. among the folks i saw and talked with, katrina and its aftermath laid bare the motivations and allegiances of bush and his corporate kin. when grandmothers from montana start connecting the dots and see the raw economic reality behind national and international policy - and when they meet like minded folks at rallies like this to gain a level of comfort and confidence to discuss these issues - then there is truly something for the corporate elite and the ruling classes to be concerned with. even if a handful of cranks on this list dismiss the event out of hand.
by the way doug, you don't need a taxi in from national. the metro stops right there.