Of Crowds and Context: Iraq and Vietnam

OK, let’s give the antiwar protesters in Washington yesterday a HUGE benefit of the doubt:

If you do the math, starting with the 0.6-mile diameter of the sidewalk around The Ellipse, assume that ALL the people in the in the picture would fit into about 70% of The Ellipse, and assume that each person takes up 5.7 square feet (2nd-last paragraph), you’ll get a crowd that is very close to the 100,000 claimed (fourth paragraph). Of course, all of this assumes that everyone inside and outside The Ellipse was an antiwar prostester, but again, give them the benefit of the doubt.

Sounds impressive–but how about some context?

Here’s the context: Compare Saturday’s “nationwide” protest to Moratorium Day on October 15, 1969 (bolds are mine):

1969: Millions march in US Vietnam Moratorium

Americans have taken part in peace initiatives across the United States to protest against the continuing war in Vietnam.

The Peace Moratorium is believed to have been the largest demonstration in US history with an estimated two million people involved.

In towns and cities throughout the US, students, working men and women, school children, the young and the old, took part in religious services, school seminars, street rallies and meetings.

Supporters of the Vietnam Moratorium wore black armbands to signify their dissent and paid tribute to American personnel killed in the war since 1961.

The focal point was the capital, Washington DC, where more than 40 different activities were planned and about 250,000 demonstrators gathered to make their voices heard.

So, let’s see:

• The US population is about 45% higher now than in 1969.
• It’s cheaper to fly to the protest site of choice. It’s also quicker though a bit more expensive to drive.
• Communication of “major” events such as these, especially among true believers, is infinitely easier.
• With all of that, Washington’s 2005 anti-Iraq War crowd was 60% smaller than Moratorium Day. In the rest of the nation, 2005 antiwar rallies were barely visible, as “Thousands of people attended smaller rallies in cities on the West Coast, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Franciso and Seattle” (compared to over 1.5 million in other cities nationwide in 1969).

Yeah, Iraq is just like Vietnam (see fourth quote at link).
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UPDATE: EU Rota came out of retirement (alas, it’s probably temporary hey hey, it looks to be for real) to have fun at the protest yesterday.