As for the picture itself, I have to say that I have no clue who the people in this shot are. They have absolutely no connection to the group I rode with. On the bright side, this picture does give an accurate impression of the sheer masses of people on the national mall that day.
If you look in the picture you'll find a red banner hanging on a pole, much in the style of pre-modern warfare--and for exactly the same reason. In the middle ages, you needed the standard in order to find your own people in the crowd.
Some things don't change very much.
Some things change quite a bit, however. I doubt that warriors in the middle ages listened to commentary about the battle on their walkmans. People at the "Stand in the Gap" rally could. I'm also guessing that Jumbotrons played a much smaller role in your average battle than they did in this particular event.
Supposedly the Promise Keeper organization set up 12 Jumbotrons on the national mall. On the screens of these truly massive television sets, you could see the stage (it looked a lot like the stage at the Chicago event), the speakers, the choir... And also public service announcements of all kinds and in both Spanish and English.
I took a lot of notes.
I did not see any protesters, but I heard about them later. According to the Washington Post, a group of women took off their shirts and walked into the crowd. The police didn't bother them for that reason, but eventually arrested a couple on other charges.
I sometimes think that I live in a very strange
world.