Standing Vigil for Democracy
Three women huddled at the base of the steps of the Capitol Building in Denver, Colorado. The remainder of the crowd they were part of had moved further up the steps toward the Dome. Two of us stayed behind at street level because the third was unable to ascend the steps. Exactly how she made it through the crusty frozen snow from her car to the Capitol, four blocks away, remains a mystery. It was December 18, 2016, at approximately 9pm, and the temperature was 19 degrees Fahrenheit. From where we stood, we could easily follow the chanting of the crowd above us:
“Tell me what democracy looks like! — THIS is what democracy looks like!”
Across the country, an estimated 10,000 people gathered in vigil at their state capitols, hoping to persuade the Electors, who would meet the next day, to remember their purpose and protect the nation from an ill-considered decision by an “uninformed electorate.”
As we know, that particular nationwide demonstration was not effective.
Nearly a year later, we persist. In the month of November, Ken Buck helped the House of Representatives pass a kleptocratic monstrosity of a tax bill, but WTF Colorado publicized the brilliantly organized November 18th candidate forum in Sterling, where the person who will defeat Buck next November made their case to a full house of voters. The number of Facebook and Vimeo users who viewed the event online now exceeds five times the seating capacity of the live Two Roses venue.
At the Tax Scam protest in Greeley on November 27, as usual, Cory Gardner failed to appear to face his accusers, but we have pictures, we have the Twitter, and yes, we have the Weekly Weathervane. Las Estrellas (and their brothers and sisters) shamed Cory Gardner into co-sponsoring the new Dream Act, which still languishes in Congress despite being supported by everyone from Cory to the Jesuits. The Senate may pass the Tax Scam in December, but if it does, it will be the first legislative accomplishment of the staggeringly incompetent Trump administration. Nobody should dare to call it a success.
So we persist. The First Amendment is alive, though it is staggering under the burden of Fox News and Facebook. We exercise our right to free assembly nearly every weekend. The Affordable Care Act is still the law of the land. There have been a few unjust deportations, but none conducted en masse. Mostly, the Dreamers are safe, and no consequences so far have fallen on the cities that shelter them. So many states, cities, and enterprises have signed onto America’s Pledge to adhere to the Paris Climate Accords that together they form the second largest economy in the Accords, barely behind China.
November 2016 marked the beginning of the Resistance. Here we are, one year later, still alive, still resisting. It’s hard and it’s messy and it’s all uphill, but we are here to tell you:
“THIS is what democracy looks like!”
