The Valley and Vermont drew attention last week and weekend when Vice President JD Vance and his family visited. The visit and the local response to it made national and international news.
Locally, lots of people engaged. Some supported the VP, some wanted us to offer hospitality. Others said no, protesting was appropriate given the priorities of this administration.
The Friday afternoon debacle in the Oval Office where Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was bullied did nothing to curb protesters. The prevalence of Ukrainian flags, flowers, and signs made that clear as did interviews with protesters.
People can disagree on how to greet an elected official whose policies are devastating and impactful. Were there a lot of cuss words on the signs? Yes, there were. Were they the majority? Nope, not even close.
Some argue that desperate times call for desperate measures and that the fervor and intensity of the protests are in response to the draconian, hasty dismantling of the social safety net, the abandonment of an ally (to whom we promised ongoing protection when the country got rid of its nuclear weapons in 1994), the cancellation of vital aid programs. Add to that the summary firing of thousands of civil servants who have been put out of jobs and into the unemployment lines by Elon Musk, an unelected official, who somehow sits at the right hand of the President.
Participation in the process always matters whether it is questioning why librarians or nurses are being axed from school budgets or why the VP came to town without reading the room. It is 100% fair to protest, to push back and to vocally and loudly reject the policies of this administration as long as it is done in ways that don’t break the law.
That is what happened here this weekend. Loud, vocal, raucous, profane responses to the actions of elected leaders who are on duty 24/7. They do not need to be shielded from protesting Vermonters who demonstrated how to comport themselves in the face of the extremism of Vance’s boss. There was no violence. Nobody stormed the Gate House or the undisclosed location.
Vance said he “barely noticed the protesters” after opening with “these people are such idiots.” It doesn’t matter if he saw it. The world and our fellow citizens saw it.
