When I saw your comment, I thought people in this thread might like to see the analysis I did last Sunday night on a thread called A Tale of Two Protests
Your comment is spot on, and I did this analysis because what I saw in Washington DC on September 12, 2009 illustrated a vast difference in liberal versus conservative protest content, values, and execution.
To me, one of the most amazing aspects of this protest by conservatives was the character in a manner in which individuals expressed themselves.
It was nearly impossible to find two signs that were exactly the same. There were many signs that expressed the same themes, same concepts, same bits of art, and sometimes even the same phrases. But with the exception of 20 or 30 signs that DC chapter handed out, and some identically printed signs from other organizations, it was impossible to stand there and pick out two identical signs anywhere.
The other aspect of this that amazed me even more was the unbelievable variety, creativity, wit, and emotion. Viewing this parade of signs, the parallels of conservatism and individualism were completely and totally expressed in the creation and display of these statements.
Conservatism and individualism are inseparable from each other. And the more I thought about it, the stark contrast with liberalism and its endemic groupthink became strikingly clear.
I recalled the gathering of Eagles counterdemonstration to the march on the Pentagon by liberal antiwar groups on March 17, 2007. And then I remembered that as an observer watching their parade of signs go by, one of the overriding impressions is that there was a bland, boring uniformity to both their message and the expression of that message.
So, when I got home after driving back to Massachusetts from Washington DC, the first thing I had to do was look up some of those old pictures. I was a little handicapped by only having low resolution images, so it was difficult for me to find an image that I could clearly see the signs that they were carrying. I found one image, and I did a quick, unscientific examination of the image. The results were exactly as my memory had preserved it.
I did a side-by-side examination by finding an appropriate photo from this past Saturday, and evaluating it in the same fashion. I did not cherry pick the image, except to try and ensure that it showed a similarly large group with their signs facing in the same direction and readable. I've posted these images below for comparison.
