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By Lynn LaFleur
I was driving home from town Saturday speaking to my dad on the phone and an overwhelming feeling of wanting to cry rushed over me. I had to stop talking or it was just going to flow. My stomach was in my throat and I literally couldn’t breathe. What was this all of a sudden? Where did it come from?
I realized I had to do some soul searching to figure out the trigger. Could it be the one hour of constant badgering? Was it the first hand experience of realizing where our country is at? Or was it the two young boys we met on the sidewalk?
I made a decision to attend the “No Kings” rally in town advertised by our Senator, Bernie Sanders. I’m not a fan of Bernie’s. Was this a celebration of defeating the king 249 years ago? A celebration of our hard fought war for freedom on Flag Day? That’s what “No Kings” is, right? After all, we have three branches of government in place to prevent a King from ruling our country. No, this was an anti-Trump rally.
So, here I am at the rally. Thank goodness, I’m not attending alone. I put on my Trump sweatshirt in celebration of his birthday, my camouflage hat celebrating the army and got out my large flag in honor of Flag Day.
We came because we were curious. I wanted to be there. This is my town, and I felt I had to protect it. I thought there would be maybe 25-30 people there. We live in a small town, after all. Boy, was I naive, ignorant, or just plain stupid? I left there thinking ‘all three.’
This was an experience I never wish to have again. I left emotionally drained and actually held back tears to what I determined was caused by what was a very traumatic experience. Let me tell you about my one hour standing on the side of the road in the town I live and love.
There had to be maybe 200 hundred people (Bernie claims 500) on either side of the road in front of Stowe town hall. I didn’t recognize anyone with the exception of our Selectboard member who chaired this event. What bothered me the most wasn’t the taunting, antagonistic, people who got in our space – literally inches from our beings, harassing us and trying to incite us into some form of physical altercation.
No, what bothered me the most were the signs and the calls for action to take out – yes, murder, kill, however you want to word it – a sitting president. 86-47. There were no less than four separate parties carrying these signs.
We had that event in our country once in my lifetime already. It’s unfathomable to me that people actually want this to happen again. Have they really thought this through?
Here is our Senator, holding these events, and promoting the idea of a tragic event such as murder. This is very disturbing, folks. We had an elected official on the steps of our town hall also condoning these ideas. The fact that these elected officials don’t tone it down or condemn the promotion of killing their opponents scares the heck out of me.
What’s interesting and what I have known for eight years now is that both sides of the school of thought think the other side is ill-informed, stupid, brainwashed, and reading/listening to the wrong sources of information. The fact is, there’s probably too much information at our fingertips.
But I digress. The fact that there’s two schools of thought is a good thing. This is when we’re supposed to meet at the table and actually talk. But that’s no longer happening. It’s gotten violent. We’re watching it play out across the country.
The two young men that decided to antagonize us and stand inches away from us were not from Stowe. At least one was from California. I could tell by the way they invaded our personal space and kept taunting and saying horrible things to us, that they were hoping we would slip slightly and step on a toe or have an elbow touch them when we swatted a fly. It felt like exactly what they wanted to happen so they could start a riot. These two had to be getting paid.
A gentleman, who stated he was ‘not on our team’, felt the need to get closer to the situation as he explained to these two younger men that they needed to relax. They in turn called him a “homeless old man” and asked him why he was even there. The left even eat their own.
The handful of people who decided to speak at us in disguise of wanting a conversation, chided us, spoke over us, lectured us, and told us we were stupid. It felt very hostile. At one point, a gentleman from England approached me and my friend and asked us if we could explain what is behind this demonstration. Of course, being from England, he lives under a King. I can imagine he may have felt this protest was somehow against him or his country. Is this the thing we want to be portraying to our paying guests in this town? Because this is exactly what we did. Our visitors see our town and country as very hostile. Great. Good job, Stowe.
After the hour of having our innate fight or flight defenses activated, we decided we had enough. We crossed the road and were chanted at with “Shame” as we found our way through the crowd. Another man raced after us wanting to “talk”. I explained that his predecessors claimed the same thing but in essence had no desire to “talk” and I was spent so, I declined his invitation.
And then, perhaps the cause of my overwhelming emotional response on my drive home, two youg boys on bikes came toward us and one said, “Is that Trump?”, referring to the sweatshirt I was wearing. And I said, “yes”, paused and stopped to talk. Well, let me tell you, this young man was very informed. He seemed to me to have been middle school age. What he told me about how he saw the adults a half block in front of him was amazing and sad at the same time. We really should be thinking more about what is being portrayed to our young folks. Not just our words, but our actions, and especially the rhetoric about murder.
I was never interested in politics at that age. And I think it’s a shame the kids of today have to be. Yet, after speaking with this young man, I felt encouraged about our future.
Our journey to the vehicle wasn’t over yet. Sadly, my friend didn’t feel it was safe for me to walk to my car alone. What does that say about our town, our state, our country? That is truly the shame in all of this.
On the side street, just as we turned, a young woman from Minnesota approached us. She initially wanted to know where we lived, where we were from and why we were here. Well, of course, we’re here to celebrate the hard fought war for freedom against the king 249 years ago. Aren’t we? We’re here to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our military. And we’re here to celebrate Flag Day. What was she doing here? Was she being paid too? We engaged briefly with her and the encounter wasn’t as hostile as previous ones. But it wasn’t all good.
We parked at the rec path. We made it to the parking lot unscathed, externally, anyway. Walking toward us were what, to me, appeared to be two younger females with signs. One tall, skinny girl (I’ll call her) with masculine, tough acting demeanor and one shorter one who looked slightly goth. The taller one walked past us yelling profanities and other things I blocked out. After she passed, she turned back toward us, slammed her hands on either side of her pelvis at the top of her legs and yelled “Suck my d–k”.
Wow. This from what certainly appeared to be a female. I turned to look at her and paused, and then said, “Yup, you could actually have one of those”. Apparently, that wasn’t the best thing to say and they both started toward us slinging more slurs and acting like tough chicks from the ‘hood’. I know some will call me out for stereotyping here, but I’m trying to paint the picture. She then whips out her phone and starts videoing the encounter as if something is going to happen here. Is this yet another paid protester inciting violence? Are these the type of people who follow Bernie Sanders?
Are the actions of the people at this protest really what we want to be showing our children? This type of hatred toward people who don’t agree with you on everything is devastating to our society. We found the liberals/progressives to be antagonistic and trying very hard to incite some sort of physical violence with us.
Most of us at this event may live in Stowe or nearby and we share a common love for this place. Where have we gotten to and how much farther is this going to go? Our town, our state, our country is in a very sad, bad way. It needs to change and fast, or this doesn’t end well for anyone. I’m begging those of you who consider yourselves to be liberals or progressives to take a hard look at what is being disseminated from your party now and change the tone. For everyone’s sake.
The author is a Stowe resident and an organizer of election year roadside ‘Trump waves.’
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Categories: Commentary
Go onto the net and search “Find A Protest” (no need to insert the verbiage “leftist”, “anarchist”. or “Communist”) and you will no longer even mildly question whether or not these radicals are being both monetarily compensated and formally schooled to intimidate, harass, & incite violence against average Americans who dare to exercise their innate peaceable freedoms of speech, expression, and movement.
Thereafter, you’ll be further directed to a site termed “Mobilize” – “No Kings Rally” – wherein it is explicitly stated: “One Million Rising, One Million TRAINED”. Yet even conservative media fails to investigate this group’s origins, and the media continue to merely suggest or meekly imply that maybe their minions are very obviously paid militants.
These oft violent “rallies” are indeed NOT spontaneous. NOT organic. NOT peaceable. And they are, much like the once “mostly peaceful” BLM “rallies” of yesteryear, meant to instigate violence & mayhem and appeal to the lowest common denominators & deeply troubled of society in the hopes of destroying the Republic, installing Marxism/Communism, and hoping to have one of their most unbalanced & mentally ill “patients” – murder the current duly elected POTUS in cold blood. You know, as attempted previously.
Sentor Sanders is a SOCIALIST, i.e.: a COMMUNIST. Exactly what did you people THINK you were doing when you elected him? Vermont is cooked, as is California & Colorado, etc. It’s way past time to turn off the gas or else. Treat these people in kind, NOT kindly.
And btw, precisely WHERE were the police during this near riot where a lone woman was the apparent subject of harassment, possible assault, and/or disorderly conduct? Were they on site or ever summoned? And where was a man, any man – an actual man possessing an actual d–k affording some semblance of protection that fine day?
Americas k-12 children are involved in politics because the NEA, Principles Association, Vermont Department of Education, State Equity Office, and our progressive politicians are indoctrinating them with Social, Emotional and Learning programs are including DEI. The state Equity Director was allowed to show a very political Power Point presentation to kids condemning George Washington as an abuser of slaves. There was even a slide condemning Trump for a mean Tweet. Parents demanded a copy of the presentation.
Why is it that teachers are the only state employees allowed to belong to a union other than the VSEA ? I don’t know that doing away with the NEA in Vermont would change anything other than that teachers would then have the same quality of protection, and expectations, as other state employees. To me, allowing them to organize under another union is setting them apart (above?) every other state employee, and that should not be !
Exactly. For people who think that “local control” of schools will be lost if we consolidate districts, I would argue that whatever “control” people think they have is a fantasy. The Superintendent of our SU acts as a dictator- she decides everything about everything from curriculum to DEI to hiring to what Principals are supposed to be working on. She seeks out-of-state hires when people inevitably leave bc of her micromanaging and doesn’t promote from within. This is bc she wants fresh people who don’t know her and who will be her puppets. Parents’ concerns are disregarded, teachers are not asked for feedback-she decides everything. And she lies to the Board of Directors (her only actual boss) about how happy everyone is in the district in order to keep her job. And they unquestioningly just keep patting her on the head and assuming that she knows best. There is zero local control bc she has it all. She is untouchable as long as she keeps the Board believing in her!
Articles like this always make me wonder how many of the participants in these events are actually residents, and how many come here from elsewhere knowing that their numbers will make a bigger splash if they go to a small state like Vermont. I’ve seen it personally during the 2009 same sex marriage debate, and 2017 “Women’s March”. It makes me wonder how much our lawmakers allow these out of state voices to influence their decisions, especially given that about 2/3rds of these lawmakers were born, spent their “formative years” and/or were educated out of state. If they want to come here to influence policy through protest, I don’t like it, but that is their right. What really sticks in my craw is when lawmakers in the State of Vermont, allow their policies to be influenced by these out of state political advocates. I don’t really know how one would go about insuring that these voices not be given consideration in decisions involving State policy, but I would suggest that a good starting point would be to ask for I.D. from anyone asking to speak at policy meetings, and that priority for speaking at the meetings be given to legal citizens, not haphazardly, or on a first come first heard basis, or to those with “expert” opinions. I would like to quote Abraham Lincoln and state that state policy should be, “Of the people, by the people, and for the people” (of Vermont)
Stowe isn’t what it used to be and unfortunately either is Vermont. Sad!
Wow, thanks for sharing your experience. These are indeed frightening times in Vt. What are we going to do?
Confessions of an agitator. Wah, wah. Next, you should go to a Red Sox rally with a Yankees shirt and report back.
I fully agree with the concern about how having differing opinions has become a cause for hate, and sometimes inciting hatred (and despicable behavior) towards those who disagree. Opposing opinions are branded as evil rather than an occasion for a discussion and education about the source of those opinions. It is a sad reflection of our current state of affairs. And in terms of the author’s reaction to the slogan, “86-47”, it is understandable why it evoked that reaction when perceived to be encouraging assassination. However, my understanding was always that it was intended as meaning, “kick him out”/”get rid of him” (impeach, etc) So, I asked ChatGPT — hardly a definitive source, but at least it collates what one might find on google into one response. It agreed with me: It “simply means ‘Reject President #47’ or ‘Get Trump out of office.'” It gave a much longer answer, going into etiology and history of the slang term, “86” and discussing the interpretation that it means to kill someone, and why that is not a correct interpretation.
Re: “So, I asked ChatGPT–”
Ms. Donahue: Please consider the following AI assisted response to the question ‘Does ChatGPT have a political bias?”
“Yes, studies have shown that ChatGPT tends to exhibit a left-wing political bias, often producing content that favors liberal perspectives while being less likely to generate conservative viewpoints. This raises concerns about the potential influence of such biases in shaping public opinion and discourse.”
Try it yourself. There are many other articles listed in various search engines making the same observation. And this is not to say that some AI platforms don’t have a conservative bias. Surely, they do. Even Elon Musk’s AI platform, GROK, has a left-wing bias that Musk says he’s trying to correct.
The question you must answer for yourself is, if one’s construal of the idiom ‘86 47’, and the other invectives being hurled by those who express hatred for Trump and his supporters, are ‘not correct interpretations’, what are we to think about the actual attempts on Trump’s life last fall? Are we misinterpreting them too?
Curiously, in September 2021, at the Talladega speedway in Alabama, when the adult crowd chanted ‘F—k Joe Biden’, the NBC reporter said they were yelling ‘Let’s Go Brandon’, referring to the winner of the race. ‘Let’s go Brandon’ caught on and is about as bad as the conservative invectives are these days. But now we have a 7-year-old little girl proudly carrying a F—k Trump poster for all, including her mother, to see.
I guess we conservatives can still say to that 7-year-old little girl and her mother, in the words of the 1968 Virginia Slims cigarette commercial, ‘You’ve come a long way baby’, without being ‘misinterpreted’.
I am sorry you had this traumatic experience, Lynn. Hang in there, and may God bring you comfort and keep you safe.
Amen, Renee!
God bless you, Lynn, and thank you for your courage. What you experienced was a firsthand encounter with the forces of evil. The mean, crude, angry, and abusive people there are not our enemies, but they are being controlled by the enemy of our souls and theirs. And when we don’t expect that, it can be shocking and sickening. But be encouraged because when you are standing for what is right and true, even if you stand alone, you are in the majority.
“Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then…I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies…”
Philippians 1:27-30
I also want to complete the scripture passage I quoted in my response to Lynn for the benefit of and to encourage all of us who encounter the forces of darkness opposing us whenever we do God’s will and try to do what’s right:
“Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are in this struggle together…”
Philippians 1:28-30 NLT
The enemies referred to in this passage as those that are going to be destroyed are the evil rulers, principalities and powers, and forces of darkness arrayed against Jesus and His people. Jesus was clear in what He taught and how He lived and died that He laid down His life as the greatest act of love ever demonstrated, not to destroy flesh and blood enemies, but to make them His friends. I thank God He did that for me!
“Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”
Romans 12:14, 17-18, 21 NLT
God bless all of you who are doing your part each day to live into the reality of “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Thank you for your faith, love, and courage. Because as Guy so well articulated at the birthday celebration of the Dobbs decision at the statehouse this past Saturday, indeed hope is alive and well in Vermont!
It is the Living Hope Himself within us, Jesus Christ, who is overcoming the darkness around us. Revival and awakening are happening here in Vermont as we each live into His calling and do our assignments with faith, love, and courage. Jesus alone will receive the glory as things turn around in Vermont. We will all be astounded at the miraculous transformation and reformation His Spirit is accomplishing in our communities, in Vermont, and in the USA.
I struggled with confusion about what is going on with people and our leadership – l asked the Lord, what ails people, why can’t they see? The word “idolatry” came to mind and then led to 2 Thessalonians 2. We’ve been told these things and shown these things – yet we still doubt, still question, still fear, still capitulate to things we instinctively know are wrong. Instead of looking at them, search our own souls to find if we are being led down a path to ruin by principalities and wickedness in high places. Red team v blue team – one in the same if we are able to see and hear, to be honest and transparent, to be genuinely awake and aware. Free will to believe or not.
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
If someone gets thrown out of a bar and told to leave and never come back, they are ______ed?
I don’t understand what you are trying to say, Eddie. Can you please explain?