There was a pro-Second Amendment rally at the Thompson Center on July 11, 2008, and bloggers know about it.
There were quite a few people, up to 500, by some counts, photos and some reporting on the events that occurred, by an independent website or two.
Some pundits questioned whether the Chicago Tribune would cover the rally.
But, to no one’s surprise, the Chicago Tribune skipped the story, regardless of the significance of the recent Supreme Court decision, with a search returning a warmed over story of professional activist Fr. Pfleger instead of the news. Perhaps the Tribune did not have room in the paper for the story, as they are running a series of windy PR pieces painting Sen. Obama is a centrist demanding individual responsiblity, despite all evidence in his voting record to the contrary.
Kudo’s to ABC-7 and Chicago Public Radio for covering this event.
ccw4me says:
To better understand the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution it is helpful to consider how almost every reasonable person would interpret this amendment if it did not involve something which is considered controversial or politically incorrect by some and idolized by others. Arms in the possession of ordinary citizens meet both criteria. Let's, for the sake of argument, suppose that the Second Amendment dealt with books, not arms or weapons, and read like this: "A well educated electorate, being necessary to the maintenance of a free State, the right of the people to own and read books, shall not be infringed." Does anyone really believe that liberals would claim that only people who were eligible to vote should be allowed to buy and read books? Or that a person should have to have voted in the last election before the government would permit him or her to buy a book? Would the importation of books be banned if they did not meet an "educational purpose" test? Would some States limit citizens to buying "one book a month"? Would inflammatory "assault books" be banned in California?
BambiB says:
The "Joseph Goebbels" school of journalism is obsolete. It's precisely because media outlets like the Tribune filter news to suit their political agenda that they are becoming less and less relevant.
Fortunately, the market has a way of dealing with the problem of propaganda agencies posing as news sources. People stop paying for them and they go out of business.
These days, the internet is a better source of information than most newspapers, and even the most cursory search beats a propaganda engine like the Tribune.
For a recent article detailing the decline of the Tribune...
John Powers says:
They could have given school kids a day off to join the protest to get the numbers up, I suppose.
JBP
Mark Buckley says:
The trib didn't post a story because they didn't have the room. The space was being used to cover all the violence that is being committed with guns that are banned!
Wendy weinbaum says:
As a Jewess in the US, I call upon Congress to immediately pass legislation making any NRA membership card a NATIONAL Concealed carry permit! Let's take back the streets!
Don Gwinn says:
I do believe 500 is low and 200 is a dishonest number, but I counted the seats at the end of the day. We had about 105 seats for the audience, not 150. We checked out 120 from the Thompson Center, used 10 for the speakers, and 5 went to the NRA information table.
Actually, we checked out 120 and returned 122. I still haven't figured that one out.
Don Gwinn says:
One more thing: the Tribune DID have a reporter on the scene, and she did collect a lot of information, quotes and interviews. She confided to our event organizer that the crowd "wasn't what she expected."
I'm guessing either she or her editor decided that if there were no fights, swastikas, burning crosses or confederate flags, it wasn't worth covering.
Matt says:
For everyone reporting that this event was attended by around 500 people, please keep in mind that there were 150 people filling all of the seats. The rest of the Thompson Center Plaza was standing room only, and was full to the back of the sculpture for the majority of speakers. Look at the pictures, particularly ones that show the whole crowd, and tell me there are only 500 faces in that crowd.