“Breathe through the nose”…..
What matters is scale.. Considering that one of the four networks has done nothing but promote this concept for the past three weeks, the fact that they have done so, can only be measured in the result..
How many humans are so outraged that they show up?
We will see footage, no doubt, filmed by FOX news covering the demonstrations across the country.. We will get the impression that a mass protest was made against whatever it is they are protesting.. But, if we look closely, we will only see about 10 people on our screen behind the reporter… That will be our entire visual..
Somewhere across this nation, there will be a large crowd.. We will see that one crowd over and over again on national news as the reporting continues.. All the other localities where no one bothered to show? They will not be featured… They will not be mentioned..
Now I have seen people wear stupid hats… You have too. Walk through the mall , or down Market Street, or sit in front of a church on Sunday morning, and the common denominator among all three places, is that someone will think they are cool for wearing a stupid looking hat… Does this mean all America has lost their sense of good taste?
No, it means one individual has lost their sense of good taste.. And as Americans, we give them that right.
So the fact that some individuals show up at a tea bagging event, has as much import as if they went word a stupid hat with bananas, apples, and oranges attached to it… The only question that matters is how many people appear? Not what we see on television, but how many people appear? That is the only question that matters… How many people appear?
If the number amounts to half a large city, say 400,000, at least here in Delaware, the second smallest state, then, that 400,000 / 876,000 is still not a majority of citizens… In fact, in any two party election, at. 45.66% we would consider them a nice show, but still a loser just the same..
That means if less than 400,000 show up to all of Delaware’s tea baggin events on April 15, this whole extravaganza was an exercise in futility… So the number to watch is 400,000… Anything else means they can be ignored…
Lets assume that one fourth of that, or 100,000 show up… Although that would consist of the entire population of Wilmington plus a large portion of their satellite neighborhoods, that would amount to a pathetic showing of 11.41 %,,,, That level of poor support in a political race, would sign one up as finished, kaput.. Even at that level, one would risk having his name associated forever as a synonym of being totally wiped out…
But lets assume that 50,000 show up… That would be most of Wilmington… That level as a percentage would be the equivalent of just 5.7% of the population…. That level on a political scale, would be considered a disaster… An embarrassment…. A new definition of lunacy….
But what if 25,000 were to protest…roughly 80% of Newark.. That might look like a crowd on one’s television screen, but percentage wise it would be the equivalent of 2.85 percent of the population.. If we rounded up to 3, and considered a tug of war with against those protesting and those not so inclined, we would imagine for every three people on one side, 97 pulling against them on the the other…. Not much of a contest…
But what if 10,000 were to show..? That would amount to every man, women and child living in both Seaford and Laurel…… Every one! Were that mass of humanity to show up at all of these events, I am sure we would hear this was a great success… Even thought their political pull was a whopping 1.14% of Delaware… Whoopee.. 1.14% ” This is a massive ground-swelling political movement sweeping the country” … I’m sure is what we’ll hear… Fox News will lead the charge… in the attempt to paint a positive picture that 1.14% came out with tea bags….to listen to blowhard wantabee’s blab….
But what if 5000 were to show? That would be a little more than the entire town of New Castle… If that many people braved the weather… the protest amounts to 0.57th of one single percent…. Rounded up, that tug of war amounts to one person on one side, and 99 on the other…. A massive movement indeed…
But how about if 2000 people show up at all four events… We are looking at a percentage of only one fifth of one percent… Wow, the revolution is at hand!… “” Americans are fed up” we will hear for sure… Rounded down, that would be the equivalent of 100 people pulling the rope against no one on the other side…
Maybe 1000 will show… That makes a good crowd on ones television screen… Wow, the uninitiated may ponder… Looking at the population of Ocean View gathered in one place might make one think twice… But even that large group of people amounts to one tenth of one measly percent… It is still amounts to 100 people pulling on the rope with no one on the other side…
Perhaps 500, 250, 100, 50 may be inclined to show… It doesn’t matter… And here is how our press will slant it..
“Across the state of Delaware over 100 people expressed their outrage against the government’s….”
when in fact it should be accurately reported as this….
“Across the state approximately 0.01% of Delaware’s population showed up to express their outrage against the government’s…..”
There’s more than that number wearing stupid looking hats….
So when we hear how massive these protests are, scan the data for the actual number of those who showed…
Then suck it up and “breathe through the nose”…..

7 comments
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April 13, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Bob Leonard
re: the tea parties are coming….
There is a Tea Pary on the 18th in Philly at Independence Hall.
Check at apr18.blogspot.com for details, we have some great speakers – and some can’t make the parties on the 15th.
Dom Giordano – Talk Show Host, WPHT-AM
Don Adams – writer, teacher, public affairs consultant
Christine Flowers – Attorney and Columnist, Philadelphia Daily News
Michael Johns – Conservative leader and writer, former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst
Steve Lonegan – New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate
Scott Rutter – Decorated veteran and Townhall.com columnist
Scott Wheeler – Executive Director,The National Republican Trust PAC (GOPtrust.com), columnist at Newsmax.com.
Philly’s own Joey Vento – Owner of Geno’s Steaks.
April 13, 2009 at 7:08 pm
kavips
Bob, I think you missed the point…
If I were a celebrity or a candidate aspiring to office, this is the one event I would plan to miss…
No one in their right mind wants to be identified as a loser….. Being part of one of these events gives your opponent fodder to throw back in your face for the duration of the campaign.. Being part of one of these events makes you look like a candidate who is blinded by his lust for fame, so much so, that they can’t make rational choices… Being part of one of these events makes a candidate appear to be willing to associate with radical splinter groups, special interests, or militias…
Being part of one of these, is the political kiss of death….
Of course, unless you can get over 400,000 to show up……
April 14, 2009 at 10:48 am
Duffy
By your logic Delawareans broadly supported the war in Iraq as their pathetic march garnered a mere 250. Some number of them weren’t even from Delaware further undermining their cause. In fact, the only quotes in the article were from non-DE people.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-03-15-anti-war-march_x.htm
Every oak tree is a nut that stood it’s ground.
April 14, 2009 at 10:57 am
Duffy
One more thing:
“But what if 25,000 were to protest…roughly 80% of Newark.. That might look like a crowd on one’s television screen, but percentage wise it would be the equivalent of 2.85 percent of the population.. If we rounded up to 3, and considered a tug of war with against those protesting and those not so inclined, we would imagine for every three people on one side, 97 pulling against them on the the other…. Not much of a contest…”
DNJ estimated that 20,000 showed up to see Obama. I guess that means that Delawareans didn’t support him either. Remind me again whether or not he took our state during the election.
YHBT, YHL HAND.
April 14, 2009 at 6:56 pm
kavips
Duffy Fact Check:
By my logic Delaware was more or less acquiescent towards the war as evidenced by the mere 250 who you alleged even bothered to show up… That is a good indicator that the anti war movement is not a major player… (which it isn’t)…
Second… The oak tree comes not from a nut… but an ACORN….. ACORN is standing its ground rather well, thank you.
Third…. The Obama rally was also sprinkled with out of state-ers.. The number of Delawareans was under that amount.. It was also one of the largest rallies up to that point of the entire campaign….
Yes he carried the state.. but that was in the General election against a candidate who was defeated as soon as John Kerry conceded back in 2004… Bush lost the race for Republicans everywhere… But if you factor all those still on the Democratic ballot, and those who were leaning Republican, the three percent of Delaware who showed up… don’t mean much… No protest means anything unless it can garner 45% of the population or generate numbers against which even military force is ineffective in restraining… such as occurred as the Soviet Union lost its hold over Eastern Europe or as Ukraine was able to garnish during its orange (ING) phase…
I still stand by those figure I originally touted above… The tea baggin is a bust if less than 400,000 show up….
You are entitled to think otherwise of course, but we all know, it wouldn’t be the first time your were wrong…
LOL….LOL…..LOL
signed: Benny Lava
April 16, 2009 at 8:48 am
Duffy
“Second… The oak tree comes not from a nut… but an ACORN….. ACORN is standing its ground rather well, thank you”
Ha! Nice one!
Progress comes most often from small groups of very committed minorities not from larger movements.
You have set the bar so high for success wrt marches that there will never be one in Delaware that is effective by your measure. Can you think of anything (literally anything) that would put 400,000 Delawareans on the streets? I can’t.
“You are entitled to think otherwise of course, but we all know, it wouldn’t be the first time your were wrong… ”
I thought I was wrong once but I was mistaken.
April 16, 2009 at 1:13 pm
kavips
Lol….
If all of society were to accept the fact that only marches of 400,000 were relevant, then we would have far fewer of them and be the better for it..
That is my point…