Honestly, is there anything more amusing than watching conservative bloggers try their hand at media criticism?

For the latest round of chuckles, read William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection as he valiantly tries to knock down reporting that a “brigade” of tractors was featured at the pro-union rally in Madison, WI., over the weekend.

See, apparently the liberal mainstream media (i.e. New York Times) referred to the “brigade,” which Jacobson announced was highly misleading. Why? Because a “brigade” could only mean there were a thousand or more tractors on parade in Madison.

I'm not making this up:

A brigade of tractors? I realize The Times probably was using the term figuratively, but even so, since a brigade typically is 3,000-5,000 soldiers in number, certainly The Times was talking big numbers of tractors in Madison, right?

If not several thousand tractors, certainly the 1000 or more which were driven through Paris, France last spring in protest over food prices, right?

According to Jacobson, “brigade” has to mean “1000 or more” to be accurate. Except that Jacobson doesn't know what “brigade” means.

From Merriam-Webster:

a group of people organized for special activity

From the Free Dictionary:

A group of persons organized for a specific purpose

From Dictionary.net:

Any body of persons organized for acting or marching together under authority; as, a fire brigade.

Meanwhile, the larger point Jacobson was trying to make was that the pro-union protest in Wisconsin wasn't that big of a deal and that didn't reflect popular sentiment.

Fact: The Madison rally was bigger than any event the Tea Party has ever sponsored.