Reason Writers Around Town: Matt Welch in the New York Post on the 9/12 Protests
Over at America's greatest tabloid, Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch writes about the gulf between the 9/12 protest and how it's already being portrayed, and argues that regardless of crowd-number debates, the president has a very real problem on his hands with the anti-big-government backlash. Sample:
How do you marginalize a significant protest against a politician or policy you sup port? Lowball the numbers, then dismiss participants as deranged and possibly dangerous kooks. In the case of Saturday's massive 9/12 protest in Washington, done and done.
"Small protest," popular lefty blogger Josh Marshall reported from his armchair, as an overflow crowd (at least 100,000, by my rough, unscientific estimate) filled the 1.5 miles between the south White House and the US Capitol, spilling out all over the National Mall and even down the street to Union Station.
The Center for American Progress, whose president headed up the new administration's transition team, warned that the rally was marred by signs that "were often racist, radical portrayals of Obama." Among the dozen or so pieces of evidence? A placard claiming, "Ayn Rand is right," and one of President Obama with the caption, "When his lips move . . . he's lying."
If calling the commander-in-chief a liar is the new racism, then Americans have been boiling in hate since long before we, uh, overwhelmingly elected a black president.