I wasn’t sure how to phrase this question. Many liberal news sites and I think quite a few mainstream middle-ground ones are suggesting or stating that the parade was a flub.
Was it? I don’t know what was expected, but I assume they were hoping for huge crowds. All I ever see are some wide shots that might have been from before the parade fully started.
What is the Straight Dope on the attendance at the parade?
Again, I don’t have a number in mind; I really just want to know if it is fake news that it was thinly attended. Thanks.
In Silicon Valley the troops were out in force. They lined the main drag along the San Francisco peninsula, El Camino Real. I had plenty of errands to run and I saw crowds and cars and honking horns and flags all over the place. Here is one picture I took, at a Sherwin Williams paint store I went to.
USA Parade. Is that what it was called? I don’t know how many attendees were expected. I know Trump’s people are claiming attendance of 250,000 which seems just a bit exaggerated, or untrue.
According to the AP, expected attendance was 200,000 people. There hasn’t been any official counts yet but, assuming they set up the route for 200,000 people, the route appeared to be pretty sparsely populated with some big gaps and areas of scattered visitors.
It was a hot, muggy day with earlier rain and the threat of thunderstorms that day in the forecast. Also DC is very liberal so many local people likely passed on it. But, to answer the basic question, the expected estimates (and thus crowd management preparations) seemed to be considerably larger than the number of people who actually showed up.
I have no idea. I just tried to describe it. It was claimed to be for the Army’s anniversary, but there are no parades for Navy, Marines, or Air Force anniversaries planned.
I’m not so concerned about attendance (since I know the the “official” count will be BS) as I am about the conditions of the road after the event. For years since Trump has proposed this parade its been widely stated that the roads couldn’t handle the load. Now that the tanks have rolled will the mayor of DC send a bill for road repair?
At one point a young girl walked by wearing a Mennonite bonnet.
?? They’re pacifists. It was a military parade.
Plus which – one Old Order Mennonite child out on their own, in that sort of situation? I suspect the kid just got the bonnet somewhere; maybe thinking they were doing some sort of historic re-enactment.
Presidential Naval reviews are an old tradition. The photo below shows Calvin Coolidge taking one from the presidential yacht. (It took a long time for the sail-past, and he had to sit. The photo was criticized for showing him undignified)
Similarly, although the army’s marching went smoothly, the larger public event seemed less than well-planned. The garbage cans, few and far between, were overflowing. There weren’t enough exits. The only food source for thousands of people was a handful of food trucks with lines of 40 or 50 people waiting at each. Because the parade closed down blocks and blocks and there was a dearth of signs with clear directions, it was also extraordinarily difficult to find one’s way in or out.
Honestly the vast majority of concerts, events and conventions all sound exactly like that. I’ve been to events that are in their 20th year and they still have all those problems.
