By David Moats
Editor’s note: David Moats, of Salisbury, is editorial page editor emeritus of the Rutland Herald, where he won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for his editorials on Vermont’s civil union law.
The festive atmosphere on the town green in Brandon during the “Hands Off” protest on April 5 did not mask the seriousness of the moment. About 500 people gathered in Brandon that day, placards in hand, to join tens of thousands around the state and nation to oppose the destruction and cruelty set in motion by President Trump.
“Grandpa, What Did You Do to Stop Trump?” said one sign. “Make America Ours Again,” said another.
The signs showed a combination of humor and outrage — humor for the sake of sanity, outrage because of the damage done and still to come.
Vermont is home to two of the most eloquent and persistent defenders of the nation and globe — Sen. Bernie Sanders and environmentalist Bill McKibben. In a recent article, McKibben described the catastrophic cost, globally, that will ensue from Trump’s destruction of U.S. climate programs — destruction that has already occurred.
Because of Trump’s actions, the effort to hold the increase of global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius has been wrecked; according to a report cited by McKibben, we can now expect an increase of 3 degrees, with disastrous consequences around the globe (except for air conditioning manufacturers, who are expecting a bonanza).
The ironies are stark. Even as progress to contain climate change is undermined, the Trump administration is moving to destroy the Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose job it is to help people in the wake of floods, hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes, all of which are worsening because of climate change.
There is satisfaction in wielding a clever placard: “Deport Elon and Melania,” “Make Lying Wrong Again.” And there is a boost to morale in gathering with friends and neighbors to take a stand against the destruction of government. But it is dawning on more and more people that if there is to be a meaningful wave of opposition, demonstrations like those on April 5 are only meaningful if they are like the water molecules swept up by a large, intensifying, massive wave.
Some of the placard-carrying demonstrators in Brandon had taken heart from the recent speech on the Senate floor by Sen. Cory Booker: “It’s Not Left or Right. It’s Right or Wrong,” their placards said. Those were Booker’s words, repeated during the course of his 25-plus-hour speech. “This Is a Moral Moment,” said another placard in Brandon.
Booker is one leader who has stepped up. Sanders has already given momentum to the wave of opposition with his campaign against the oligarchy. Joined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, he has drawn tens of thousands of supporters to rallies in the West and Midwest.
Each of these events — a Sanders rally attended by 30,000 or 500 people on the green in Brandon — could engender a sense of futility if seen as a singular moment. But taken together as a continuing, persisting, unstoppable wave, they become something of historical importance.
That’s why institutions threatened by Trump must act in concert to resist. These include colleges and universities, law firms, industries that are being undermined, farmers frozen by tariffs out of markets for their crops. What is the point of all this destruction? Disaster capitalism is what occurs when oligarchs step in to seize ownership of businesses — or farmland — after disaster undermines them. Thus, what may be in the offing may not be just a new oligarchy, but a new feudalism.
The general good humor in Brandon allowed for the presence without incident of some stalwart Trump supporters. A small group stood at the curb looking out at Route 7, a pro-Trump banner in hand. Several times a large pickup truck roared by, blasting its horn, and displaying pro-Trump flags. So what? That was the attitude of onlookers. The Trump movement may well implode sooner than we think because of the hardship it causes, even as the disasters it has set in motion engulf the world.
One placard suggested a notion that puts the Trump agenda into perspective. “Trump is Putin’s puppet,” it said. If it is not literally true, it poses a question: If Vladimir Putin wanted to undermine and weaken America, what would he do? He would do everything Trump is doing. That includes destroying American leadership in science, foreign affairs and business. And he would undermine democratic institutions such as free and fair elections.
On that latter point, it is noteworthy that Trump has fired the leader of the NSA, the spy agency that monitors cyberattacks on America, including Russian interference in our elections. Is he inviting Putin to interfere? And if he isn’t explicitly a Russian agent, he is nevertheless pursuing those Russian aims with an alarming degree of success. One can speculate as to why — probably because of his affinity for dictators who respect only self-interested power.
Yet there was power on the green in Brandon and in Montpelier and Brattleboro and elsewhere. The wave seems to be growing, helped by the likes of Sanders and McKibben, but also by the thousands of Vermonters who went out on a dank day with humor and seriousness. That wave must continue to grow.
