On his radio program the other day, while discussing the crowds at this weekend's 9/12 protests, Glenn Beck claimed that the LondonTelegraph "quote[d] a source from the Park Service, the National Park Service, saying that it is the largest march on Washington ever." This led to a good deal of confusion here, as the Telegraph article contains no such quote. Just another case of Beck making things up? Actually, the story behind this turns out to be much funnier than we could have anticipated.
Several conservative blogs have been quoting National Park Service spokesman "Dan Bana" as saying the 9/12 protest was "the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever." This appears to be a repurposing of this quote from David Barna (who, unlike Dan Bana, appears to be a real person):
David Barna, a Park Service spokesman, said the agency did not conduct its own count. Instead, it will use a Washington Post account that said 1.8 million people gathered on the US Capitol grounds, National Mall, and parade route.Very impressive! Unfortunately, as Little Green Footballs pointed out, that quote was actually about the inauguration:
"It is a record," Barna said. "We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever."
This is so pathetic I don't know whether to laugh or cry.Pam Geller quoted "Dan Bana" as saying this on Saturday. She cited Thomas Lifson at American "Thinker," who also calls him "Dan Bana." In keeping with his fellow conservatives, Lifson doesn't feel the need to provide a link for his outlandish crowd estimates:
Dozens - if not hundreds - of right wing blogs are running with this quote, portraying it as a statement about the tea party held last weekend: 'We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever.'
The quote is from January. The National Park Service spokesman was talking about Barack Obama's inauguration.
Despite mainstream media attempts to characterize turnout as in the thousands, a spokesman for the National Park Service, Dan Bana, is quoted as saying "It is a record.... We believe it is the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever."True, "Dan Bana" definitely "is quoted" as saying this. By whom? Well, Thomas Lifson.
Imaginary ABC News reports, unnamed universities, invented quotes, and for safe keeping, the journalistic equivalent of "I heard this one dude say."
From Pam Geller:
Here's the video over at CSPAN of millions on the mall. Incredible. Look at the pan of the crowd shot. The left fascists are debating the number to take the focus off what happened in Washington, D.C., this weekend. I'll go with the Parks department estimates, thankyouverymuch.Yes, she cited someone who "claims to have overheard DC police discussing the crowd numbers." Your conservative blogosphere, ladies and gentleman.
A 9-12 participant in DC claims to have overheard DC police discussing the crowd numbers. They put the numbers at over 2 million -- and those were only the people who could make it into the city. The local authorities as well as many participants claim that many many more could not even get into the city to the core of the protest.
h/t MediaMatters
15 comments:
Truth will never stop the right from propigating a good lie.
But what did Eric Bana say? Or Bania, the 2nd rate comedian from Seinfeld?
Truth said: "Truth will never stop the right from propigating a good lie."
I've seen it happen on the other side, too. Such as the famous Sleestak hoax., propagated by leftwing blogs used to applifying any lie abot Karl Rove that came their way.
Or the phony Bush AWOL story that finally shipwrecked Dan Rather's career.
Just when does the right decide to stop telling the same lie and move on to a new one Dmarks?
Yes, dmarks, we know all about you trading a tit for a tat...
Might just want to use something else as a source other than Fox News...
Let me know when the democrats pull something as remarkable as the Swift Boat Veterans, or the Willie Horton Trick...
I got a feeling that I can win big on betting that this ACORN story is going to end up biting Fox News in the ASS...which is why no one else is all that excited to jump on it...
Speaking of news dmarks how about killing the big guy in Al Qaeda in Somalia? Or were you glued by sheer joy over ACORN on Fox News?
Tao: "Might just want to use something else as a source other than Fox News..."
It's one of many, but it is a rather accurate source. If you are doubting it is true, just dig for bits and pieces of it on blogs.
"Let me know when the democrats pull something as remarkable as the Swift Boat Veterans, or the Willie Horton Trick..."
Willie Horton was actually a felon erroneously set free by Dukakis' badly-run "set the worst of the worst prisoners free" program. Even Al Gore criticized the program. No trick there. This was probably not long after he created the Internet. So it turns out that one of your tricks was created outright by the Democrats.
As for swift boats, checking Factcheck.org (a favorite of Shaw's when checking things), we get this summary: "At this point, 35 years later and half a world away, we see no way to resolve which of these versions of reality is closer to the truth." So there's a 50% chance that the liars on the Swift Boat matter are the Democrats... and thus it might be their "Trick" too.
As for ACORN, I am surprised they are still running around after being caught red handed with voter fraud last year.
I haven't watched Fox News for a few days. Not sure what you mean about "joy".
Oh dmarks, I watch Fox News on a regular basis...objective and fair are words I would most apt to use with the BBC (my favorite news source) and or NPR...
During any given week, I probably catch more NPR than Fox News.
Actually, dmarks, the furlough program that allowed Willie Horton to be released for a weekend was established by REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR FRANK SARGENT. Mr. Dukakis continued Republican Governor Frank Sargent's program when he became governor.
Willie Horton was set free via a Republican Governor's law.
"When they first heard that George Bush was planning to go after Dukakis on the crime issue, the Dukakis campaign was incredulous. The crime rate in Massachusetts had gone down markedly during Dukakis's governorship, and they believed that the Republicans' strategy would have little effect on their candidate's chances. They severely underestimated the abilities of Republican strategist Lee Atwater, who created in the minds of the public such a strong association between Dukakis and a convicted murder named Willie Horton that the crime issue became the single biggest factor in Dukakis's loss of the election. Under Dukakis's predecessor Massachusetts prisons had begun giving weekend furloughs to prison inmates with records of good behavior. Most states had similar programs (including California during Reagan's governorship), as did the federal prisons, and Dukakis allowed the Massachusetts prisoner furloughs to continue. Unfortunately a black man named Willie Horton, who had been convicted of first-degree murder, was given a weekend furlough and escaped to Maryland, where he raped a white woman and stabbed her fiancé. Dukakis immediately made first-degree murderers ineligible for the program, but the Republicans already had all the ammunition they needed.
Source
Nothing's changed.
The GOP smear machine besmirched a good man, when it was a Republican's program that allowed Willie Horton to have his furlough.
Al Gore - check
Invented the Internet - check
I'll fill in when you go on vacation dmarks.
Shaw: Nice way to spin it, but it didn't work.
Dukakis was in favor of this policy. In fact, as governor, he vetoed an attempt to get rid of it. He said that to do so "Cut the heart out of inmate rehabilitation.”. He stood strong in favor of the policy. So it was his policy, after it was that of a Republican. He put his own stamp of approval on it, resisted efforts to get rid of it, and spoke out about why it was necessary to release the worst of the worst convicted criminals from prison like this.
He was quite reluctant to stop the program, and was happy to let it continue after several incidents of released violent inmates assaulting people. It took a lot to get him to curtail this bad program. And by removing only first-degree murderers from it, he still left a lot of the "worst of the worst": other type of killers, rapists, etc.
"The GOP smear machine besmirched a good man"
We haven't been discussing a good man, really. Dukakis besmirched himself with his bad policy, which he only altered a little bit after resistance to it became too much.
Arthur: As long as you realize that Gore really did claim to have invented it. As long as there are those who rewrite history and try to erase Gore's words, it will be fun to point the bumbling proclamations of that famously clueless boob.
Yeah, Glenn Beck is a tool. I couldn't agree more. And we're not the only ones that think that: glennbeckisatool.info
dmarks,
You can believe what you like and YOU can spin the facts, which you did. Frank Sargent instituted the furlough program, and in the main, it was working. Gov. Dukakis kept a program going that Sargent instituted and that Ronald Reagan had going in California as well.
Do you know for a fact if any furloughed inmate committed an atrocious crime in California when he or she was furloughed. Chances are a few did, and so, by your logic, Mr. Reagan was not a good man.
I lived in Massachusetts while Mr. Dukakis was governor. I know for a fact that he is a good and decent man. And I resent your passing judgment on him and implying he was evil because of the furlough program--a continuation of a Republican governor's program.
Shall we call Mr. Bush a bad guy because of what happened at Abu Ghraib? He was, afterall, the CiC, and he would have had to know what his generals and his generals' commanders were allowing to happen in that chamber of horrors.
I know no such thing dmarks. Al Gore never claimed to have 'invented' the internet.
You tend to be very sloppy when it suits your agenda dmarks.
Arthur: He did. I am being rather accurate. "Create" and "Invent" are linked as meaning the same thing in a thesaurus. And Gore neither created or invented it. You can't get around that fact.
Unfortunately, you are very sloppy when you deny that Gore claimed to have invented it.
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