The sick joke here is that the Workers' World Party (WPP), the Communist backer of ANSWER, openly supported, endorsed, and cheered on the Soviet military invasion of Hungary in 1956. Yet they claim to be "anti-war"...
Every organization that wants to conduct a demonstration in Washington (or most other places) must file for a permit, which is never denied due to the politics of the organization. The permits in D.C. include a required upper estimate of the number of attendees. This is an important number because it affects the requirements for spot-a-pots, levels of police protection, bus parking, etc.
ANSWER's permit for its last rally in D.C. stated its own upper limit of attendees at 30,000. As someone who stood in the cold opposite the Marines Barracks at 8th and I Street, S.E., and watched them sashay by, I can guarantee that they had no more than 20,000 at that point. (Also, by spotting certain unique signs and VERY unique individuals, some of the protestors circled the block and came by twice, apparently in an effort to appear to be more than they were.
Congressman Billybob
Click for latest column for UPI, "Those in Peril on the Sea" (Not yet on UPI wire, or FR.)
As the politician formerly known as Al Gore has said, my book, "to Restore Trust in America"
The sick joke here is that the Workers' World Party (WPP), the Communist backer of ANSWER, openly supported, endorsed, and cheered on the Soviet military invasion of Hungary in 1956. Yet they claim to be "anti-war"...