By Becky Gillette – Numerous women, and one man, gathered at Basin Park Monday at noon at an event called “Women and Allies Strike Out in Protest.”
Members of the group held signs that said “Moms Against Misogyny,” “Keep Your Paws Off My Privates and My Paycheck” and “Let’s take it back – our country.” They were responding to concerns about attacks on women’s right as a result of the election of a president who has shown little respect for women and said women who have abortions should be punished.
Penny Sullivan said the event was part of a nationwide protest that included a ban on buying anything for 24 hours. “Women have huge buying power,” she said. “We are here to protest electing a misogynistic president with no respect for women. I’m here for my granddaughter, Marla Rose. I thought by the time I was a grandparent, this disrespect of women would be over. But it isn’t.”
“This is an important time to stand up for what we believe in,” ESDN Executive Director Jacqueline Wolven said. “It’s our job.”
Harry Meyer said he has a 19-year-old daughter, and is concerned about how she will be treated in an era where a candidate was elected despite boasting on video tape of grabbing women in personal anatomical areas and kissing them without consent. Donald Trump threatened to sue the women who came forward after reporting unwanted sexual advances from him.
Meyer said part of the solution is to revive the Democratic Party in Carroll County and the rest of the state.
For Cheryl Hoyt, her reason for participating was very simple. “It is so important for our daughters and granddaughters to know they have an equal place in the world.”
Sheila McFadden came out in part to feel solidarity with others who have the same concerns. “This was to validate my feelings that there are more of us than them,” McFadden said. “We just have to prove it.”
At present count, Hillary Clinton received 2.7 million more votes than Trump, but Trump is presumed the victor because of winning five battleground states by a margin of about one percent. With the winner in each state taking all that state’s electoral votes, it left the loser of the popular vote the winner of the election.
McFadden said the CIA’s conclusions that Russians interfered in the elections in Trump’s favor ought to be “the straw that broke the camel’s back. And now we have Twitter mercenaries,” she said. “A lot of Trump supporters are very angry and volatile. They are hostile to anyone opposed to Trump’s rule, and I have concerns about the potential for bloodshed. I’m afraid these Twitter mercenaries armed with misinformation will become literally armed and start shooting anyone who disagrees with them.”
Another participant in the rally voiced concerns about the rift in the social fabric exposed by the election. “I fear civil war in our country,” Tess Kanuck said. “I fear for everybody’s safety. I’m afraid of an ‘us versus them’ mentality leading to war. From time immortal, it was a Machiavellian maneuver to split people, to divide and conquer.”
She cautioned against making blanket judgments and blaming poor white people in rural areas who are credited with a lot of the votes for Trump. “It’s easy to demean working class people who voted for Trump, but they are us,” she said. “They are suffering from job losses and a poor economy. But the very people voting for him are the ones most likely to get the shaft as Trump has already reneged on key campaign platform promises. There will be no wall with Mexico. There will be no Wall Street fix. There will be no mass deportation because rich people need cheap labor. Those are the promises he has broken before even taking office.”
Kanuck said she wasn’t sure about how much the election could have been manipulated by Russian influence, but said the outcome of polarization and discord was one that would be welcomed by any enemy of the U.S.
“Unfortunately, this election has turned us into a polarized mess,” she said.