AP/Yahoo story on Crawford today doesn't add up

[Skip Intro]

How many is several?

snip:
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Several thousand people descended on President Bush's adopted hometown Saturday, most in a cross-country caravan for a pro-Bush rally and others to support an anti-war demonstration led by grieving mother Cindy Sheehan.

Bush supporters gathered for an event marking the culmination of the "You don't speak for me, Cindy!" tour, which started last week in California. The crowd of about 1,500 chanted, "Cindy, go home!"
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How many is several thousand, minus 1500?

evidently, only several hundred......

snip
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Meanwhile, busloads of war protesters gathered several miles away at "Camp Casey," named for Sheehan's 24-year-old son who died in
Iraq last year. Several hundred people attended a bell-ringing ceremony honored soldiers serving in Iraq.
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050827/ap_on_re_us/peace_mom

[still_one]

1. Write to AP, and tell them they are wrong

I have done it before, and received less than satisfactory answers

[BlueJac]

2. MSM....nothing but distorted truth.

[jsamuel]

3. Yeah, it is BULLSHIT!!!!! !!!! !!!! !!!!

[Iris]

4. So glad you started this thread b/c I was wondering the same thing. n/t

[Webster Green]

5. That's ridiculous...the caravan wasn't shit!

In Crawford, they turned out a good number of locals, and folks from the surrounding area, but reports from locations where the caravan stopped on their journey said it was a few vehicles max.

They would get small groups of locals to come out and do mouth-breathing exercises with them for awhile, and then be on their way. They are trying to make it seem like they gathered supporters all along the way, and then flooded into Crawford.

Bullshit!!

[SoCalDem]

19. Hmmm no aerial shots? I know there is a no-fly zone,

but you would think that the crawford crawdad would want to send upo "his people" to show the masses of humanity "on his side".. a guy in a chopper with a digital or polaroid camera would do the trick..:hmmmmmmmm

[Webster Green]

26. Yeah, I would like to see a picture of a huge throng of freepers...

Seems like someone would have got a good shot from an angle that shows the size of the crowd.

I was listening to the live coverage on brad blog radio, and I got the impression that they had a pretty good size crowd for a very short time. I doubt it was any where near as large as the Camp Casey crowd though.

[kbm8795]

6. AP has a growing right wing slant, IMO

and they don't seem to really care when they misreport anything.

[intheflow]

8. AP growing a right-wing slant?

AP was one of the groups that commissioned the Mitofsky exit polling, had complete access to the raw data, and has refused to release it. The AP isn't growing towards the right, it's already there.

http://www.exit-poll.net/

[FreedomAngel82]

37. We shouldn't let them not release that

We as a progressive community should spread this around and encourage people to tell them to give it up. The press works for the people and not for an administration. What if we put enough pressure on them? What type of information do they have? I'm interested more in this. First I've heard of it.

[intheflow]

39. The press works for the people?

No, unfortunately, the press works for their stockholders. Even the press that supposed to work for the people--PBS--is being run by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. And once you get a corporation involved, it's no longer a free press for and by the people.

Sorry to be so cynical, but I'm feeling particularly pessimistic this morning.

[intheflow]

7. Nominated. This is serious media watchdog stuff. n/t

[me b zola]

9. Must have been some BBQ @ the pig farm

cnn.com did the same thing.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

38. I saw those reports on cnn...

The reporter stood on the road between the two groups, with the Bushbots behind him, and said their were a 'couple of thousand' there to 'support the president' then he said 'later Cindy Shehan and a few hundred held a memorial service for the servicemen who have lost their lives in Iraq'

AND THEY PLAYED IT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER.

I knew it was bullshit. They never once took a whole shot of camp Casey. Very telling, to us... but the sheep won't notice the bias.
:mad:

[RSchewe]

10. The read I got out of what I read and heard on the radio was...

4000 Pro-Bush
1000 Cindy Sheehan supporters

Are there any pictures to support this? All I have seen are misleading tight shots. I saw a picture of a huge crowd under that tent at Camp Casey II and a crowd only a fraction of that size under a tent at the Pro-Bush rally.

Did I miss something?

I guess Fox News will report:

"Some people say... There were many more Pro-Bush people in Crawford as compared to Cindy Sheehan's supporters."

[Junkdrawer]

12. Let's compare:

Pro Cindy:



Pro Bush:



Perhaps if you're not carrying several HUGH!!!111 flags, you don't count. :shrug:

[RSchewe]

13. You used the Moran-ian spelling of HUGE I think

I guess no one from the AP, Reuters, or the Lonestar Iconoclast went to Camp Casey II.

[Junkdrawer]

14. When in Moran-ia, do as the Moran-ians I always say....

;)

[RSchewe]

16. Hahahaha, good one n/t

[renaissanceguy]

28. Dignified vs. hillbillie. n/t

[stillcool]

11. Angela K. Brown....

is the author of the above and several other pieces of trash to come out of the AP of late. She needs to be DU'ed in the worst(best) way...

[PittLib]

25. I knew someone had to get it if I scrolled down far enough ...

yep, Angela K. Brown. I wonder if that is a pseudonym ... or she isn't particularly bright.

[matt819]

15. To say nothing of their staying power

The warmongers will be gone long before Cindy and her supporters. For them it's purely for show - wearing their flags and their emblems and getting their 15 seconds of notoriety. cindy will be there in Crawford and then in Washington, and she is joined by thousands - not once or twice, but this will be over the long run.

[Junkdrawer]

17. Photo-op... n/t

[Gregorian]

21. Bingo. Herein lies the truth.

And that's why every single thing that has happened in the country since bush stole office will be reversed at some point in time.

Plus their tent sucks! Haha. If only it weren't so sad, I could actually laugh.

[jsamuel]

18. nominated

[snot]

20. I was in Crawford--where were these thousands of pro-Bushers hiding? nt

[Festivito]

22. Detroit abc ch7 made it look like Camp Casey had few people.

and that the pro-Bush rally was well attended.

A long view of the big tent across the field of crosses made it look empty.

A town view of a parade with horses and a float (or, so it looked) made it look like there were supporting onlookers.

It's what we have to expect. They still won't state the question she really is asking.

[herbbrown]

23. That's because Diana Lewis' kid is the devil in disguise

Her smile is right out of Wal-mart. They're disgusting liers, join me and watch no local news in Detroit until they quit slanting the news, I quit the free press last week and I feel 10 years younger.

[Junkdrawer]

24. Clearly the word went out: "Stop the Sheehan bleeding"...

I'm in the "they've got something big planned, possibly in September" camp. If they didn't, I personally feel the attack on Cindy would have been even more vicious.

But that being said, Bush is bleeding from every pore, so today was the day they made an attempt to stop the bleeding. How? Lies, silly. Lots and lots of bold face lies. Staged propaganda that would have made Leni Riefenstahl blush.

[Festivito]

30. The report I saw indicates that they will try arresting people later.

The report was touted as being about tensions develop in Crawford.

A Bush supporter was arrested.

THEN, they said that they would arrest people who ... and I can't remember how they phrased it. People who would cross a line I half-recall, not just those who would do something over the line.

I do recall thinking that they were tilling the ground in order that listeners would find arrests happening later as understandable.

They would love to discredit the protesters. I think they'll be checking their marketing departments to see if the tilling took.

My bet is still on our nation's soldier's mother.

However, Bush has nothing to lose since he cannot be re-elected. The GOP could profit from distancing itself from Bush the anti-mother president and save their Congressional butts.

Should be interesting.

[K8-EEE]

27. CHECK OUT THE CNN WORDING!! As If From KKKarl...

If you read the story on the CNN website they refer to the pro-BushCo crowd as "about 1,000" and the pro-Cindy side as "more than 1,000."

WTF IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN? I suspect it means 800 Bush-Bots and 9,000 smart people who are on to Bush?

[jbnow]

29. They have been doing this for some time

and talking about dwindling supporters for Cindy and the huge number of patriotic bush supporters. I have voiced concern myself.
The media also talks about how Cindy is so managed and manipulated by left wing groups, making it sound like a staged show, while not mentioning the staging of the bush group. Oh no, those are just loyal Americans outraged by that bad Cindy picking on lil' george.

I had been getting a little hopeful at signs that the media was starting to do their job, such as CNN's show on events leading up to Iraq, coverage on rovegate, initial reports on Cindy and even some editorials. I guess they are trying to make up for showing life now by again misleading for bush.

[WiseButAngrySara]

31. CNN pulled the same crapola! Here's my complaint to them:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4476289

Everything that I've heard today has slanted the numbers of protestors in favor of the anti-Sheehan, Pro-Bush group, and has never mentioned the fact that these groups are, in part, funded by the RNC. Below is my letter of error/complaint, with a direct link to that complaint form.

http://www.cnn.com/virtual/editions/europe/2000/roof/ch...

CNN Error Report

Ed Lavendera has at best, distorted the truth, and at worst, is a blatant liar. He reports that the numbers are roughly equivalent at Camp Casey and the so-called pro-Bush Pro-War team. The first time that I watched this event covered today, the only photos and chants in the backgound were Pro-War, and it gave an illusion of what is actually occuring there at Camp Casy. Check out the internet yourselves! You are supposed to be covering the news, which is the truth; you are not licensed to make it up as you go along! Lavendera has failed to mention AND CNN HAS REPEATEDLY FAILED TO MENTION THAT THIS PRO BUSH GROUP IS FUNDED BY THE RNC! Yet, the Cindy Sheehan Group is constantly linked with Moveon.org. and M. Moore, two groups that are repeatedly blasted by the so-called LIBERAL press of CNN. You are truly revolting. That you should represent your news organization as bearers of the truth has NEVER been more revolting to me, although I gave you a second chance after the non-election of 2004. You are Pro-War; Pro-Bush and Pro-DEATH! Your failure to adequately disclose, discuss and address the lies of this current neo-con administration that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocents, and has only profited Halliburton and other big companies in the Military Industrial Complex, makes you guilty of sins of omission and sins of lying and hypocricy. I will NEVER watch you again, and I promise you that many friends and family members will not either.

[Maestro]

32. Ed Lavandera, IIRC, worked for the local Dallas ABC affiliate

which is owned by Belo Corp, an extremely right wing media empire. Belo also owns the repuke rag, Dallas Morning News. I don't know his politics but he has been employed by wingnut companies for a while now.

[WiseButAngrySara]

33. He was with a Houston News Channel several years ago, and was

involved in a few really controversial high-profile cases, but none involved politics that I can recall. Today he was SO obviously slanted, that I'm not at all surprised that he's working with a right wing media empire.

[Iris]

34. Here's the latest Sunday morning re-write by same AP author

"Meanwhile, busloads of war protesters gathered several miles away at "Camp Casey," named for Sheehan's 24-year-old son who died in Iraq last year, for a Saturday bell-ringing ceremony to honor soldiers serving in Iraq. Organizers estimated the crowd at more than 2,000, but it appeared smaller."


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050828/ap_on_re_us/peace_mom

[Mad_Dem_X]

35. More bullshit from the MSM n/t

[FreedomAngel82]

36. I find it very interesting

how they don't give a specific number. Usually they do, don't they? When it concerns Bush. But here all they tell is "several thousand". What exactly is that? That's what I'm wondering too. What a load of crap. The Bush administration is really desperate now. I've never seen them spin around so fast.

[Chi]

40. Just spent an hour going thru posts at FreeperLand....

The photo with the best angle of their crowd shows about several hundred (tops 500) people.
The 'Live' thread has over 3100 posts with many of them saying they were there....where are all the pictures of 'thousands' on their side?

How many Freepers can you fit in a 40' by 40' tent?
Answer...couple of thousand...if you slice em thin (EvIlGrIn).
(Yes...that WAS a joke)