Teabagger Delusions of Grandeur

from thinkprogress:



Speaking At 9/12 Rally, FreedomWorks Lies, Inflates Attendance By Over 2,000 Percent

Last Saturday, FreedomWorks, a corporate-funded right-wing advocacy group headed by former Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX), hosted an anti-Obama rally in Washington DC. The event was attended and paid for by various conservative organizations, from Parental Rights associations, to “birthers,” to the Rural Landowners, a militant faction that has referenced Waco and Ruby Ridge to call for violence against the government.

Standing proudly on-stage during the rally, FreedomWorks leader Matt Kibbe proclaimed that ABC News was reporting that 1 million to 1.5 million people were in attendance. However, ABC News quickly called Kibbe out for his lies:



Kibbe also lied and said that the crowd stretched back to the Lincoln Memorial, even though the crowd barely got past 3rd Street (the Lincoln Memorial is at 23 Street). Kibbe’s lies were echoed by much of the right-wing community. Michelle Malkin dutifully enlarged the number of attendees even more, claiming 2,000,000 people were there. As Nate Silver has noted, “That’s not a twofold or threefold exaggeation — it’s roughly a thirtyfold exaggeration.” Conservatives on twitter distributed a fake picture of the rally showing the entire mall filled with people: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/14/912-freedomworks-lie/


The problem? The picture is over ten years old, from another rally.

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Update: Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), who now competes with Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) as the most popular South Carolina politician of the tea party crowd, took to the stage to endorse Kibbe's celebratory attitude. Even though polls are now showing public opinion swinging towards increased public approval for the President's health reforms, DeMint proclaimed victory in defeating health reform. As Politico reported, DeMint announced to the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Waterloo!" ThinkProgress recorded DeMint's statements at the rally. Watch it: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/14/912-freedomworks-lie/

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Update: Here is video of Kibbe's bogus claim that the crowd stretches to the Lincoln Memorial. Watch it: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/14/912-freedomworks-lie/

:rofl:

double post

2 people in that DeMint vid are holding signs that say that. What does that even mean?

Obama's black, so he must be a pimp.

It means they're out of arguments.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6543128&mesg_id=6543128

was reported as saying he didn't know why Kibbe would say such a thing. Well, I do. They knew exactly what they were doing. They were lying flat out. They lie. Period. They will go to whatever lengths. Just like Rove. Cheney. Bush. DeLay.

So, today, we have numerous right wing blogs, the Daily Mail, the American Thinker, Hannity et al, all claiming there were 2 million people there and it's the biggest march on the Ntl Mall ever. And once the seed is planted, folks whose skills at discerning information on the 'internets' fall hook, line and sinker.

Just like Ron Suskind wrote about when he interviewed Bush's people, they create their own reality, and prop it up as truth.

And the battle continues.