News & Notes, July 2020
After weeks of escalating rumors, Gettysburg residents woke up on July 4th to discover that we were on the front lines of an increasingly divisive culture war. Fueled by a hoax rumor that “ANTIFA” planned to burn flags in the National Cemetery and desecrate monuments in the park, more than 1000 “monument defenders,” including right-wing militias, white nationalists, KKK members, neo-Confederates and Trump supporters descended on the Park and neighboring communities on July 4. They occupied the National Cemetery, the Taneytown Rd. parking lot, and the Virginia monument for much of the day, intimidating tourists and local residents; desecrating the cemetery with firearms, motorcycles, and Confederate and Trump flags; and intimidating local citizens all over town. In a harbinger of more recent events in Portland, we also saw the deployment of a dozen or more Federal Protective Service agents from DHS. The police presence apparently saw the non-existent Antifa as the threat and viewed the occupying armed defenders as allies, or at least distinguished guests. Despite the fact that laws were broken and HIS citizens were threatened and intimidated, at the end of the day, our police chief pronounced the day “a success.”
The next weekend a diverse group of local Black Lives Matter supporters held a rally on Lincoln Square, the third in recent weeks. But emboldened by their “success” in Gettysburg the week before, the far-right agitators returned, brandishing their weapons on the square and insulting the peaceful BLM supporters. A friend was standing outside Blue and Grey when the far-right groups arrived on the square. Seeing their weapons and hearing their racial slurs, the tourists turned and said “We’re getting out of here.” Like many Gettysburg visitors, they will never come back. We hope the local authorities learned something and take more proactive measures to stave off repeated armed occupations.
Meanwhile, the economic and social impact of the pandemic looms over all of us. As July comes to an end, tourist visitation remains low, schools are unable to figure out a way to safely open, large segments of the political class insist that citizens should refuse to wear protective face masks, and the risk of mass evictions and foreclosures and financial ruin loom as temporary relief measures begin to phase out without any congressional action to renew them.
DFA Activities
Following the above episodes, DFA spearheaded a letter to public officials that was signed by more than 150 people. The letter concluded “We demand that you issue a statement denouncing the occupation of Gettysburg by an armed mob and calling for an end to armed intimidation by protestors. People have a right to express their opinions and pro-Confederate tourists, re-enactors, and protestors have been made welcome in Gettysburg since the 25th anniversary of the battle. But armed intimidation must stop.” There has been a lack of response so far.
Gettysburg Democracy for America is holding our Annual Picnic, on Wednesday, August 26 at 6:00 PM in Rec Park at the Lions Club Pavilion, near the Dog Park. We usually hold this picnic in July, but it was delayed due to the pandemic. We will all bring chairs, our own food and drink, and stay safely distant from each other with masks. This won’t be the same as past picnics, but it will allow us to get together safely in an outdoor environment. We are pleased to present our two local Democratic candidates, Todd Rowley and Rich Sterner. Our Democratic County Commissioner, Marty Qually may also make an appearance. Please come and join us in this critical election year!
DFA Task Force Update
Government Accountability. The task force is focusing on two issues: inequality and the upcoming election. Tom DeLoe wrote an op-ed “Election Chaos 2020,” emphasizing that Trump is likely to try to win the election by massive voter suppression efforts.
Mark Berg also wrote a column describing the role of Newt Gingrich in creating the toxic politics that has brought our democracy to a halt. He wrote: “The deterioration of the Republican Party and the coarsening of national politics began with Newt Gingrich. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978, Gingrich arrived in Washington from Georgia with the goal of destroying politics as usual, which relied on Republicans and Democrats working together, compromising, and being civil toward each other. He argued that if the GOP ever wanted to defeat Democrats – who had controlled both the House and the Senate since the elections of 1954 – they needed to adopt an unforgiving style of partisanship employing character assassination and tearing down of governing institutions.” I was in Washington at the time and still watching political affairs pretty closely, and Mark got it exactly right. And from that came our current toxic politics.
You may also want to see Mark’s regular columns for the Times on Aging issues.
Healthcare. The Health Care Task Force had a letter to the editor from the entire group published in the Gettysburg Times on June 30. Titled “The Meaning of Our Masks,” it was a well-received plea to let go of self-interest and political partisanship and follow the scientifically based guidelines for mask wearing that would protect others in our community, not primarily ourselves, from the spread of COVID-19.
Sandy Busche’s July Op Ed explained the urgency of passing another COVID-19 relief bill in Congress: “The Heroes Act for the Health of America.” States desperately need relief to pay for greatly increased Medicaid expenses due to the pandemic, workers’ protections, education and other budget items during a time of greatly reduced tax revenues. Above all, working families will need continuing help to maintain a semblance of economic and health security. Although the bill was “dead in the water” in the Senate (like all bills proposed largely by Democrats), it demonstrates what kinds of commitments by our government are desperately needed during these trying times. We the people in our county need to keep the pressure on Senator Pat Toomey, in particular.
The Pennsylvania Health Access Network (PHAN) is an increasing reliable and important source of information for our task force with its bi-weekly field calls, webinars, and grass roots reports and political action days. Task Force chair Jeanne Duffy encourages more members to take advantage of these opportunities to keep up to date and join other grass roots organizations in Pennsylvania to advocate with our legislators on specific bills and issues. PHAN’s current top priority is for all citizens to have access to affordable, comprehensive healthcare. This translates into ensuring that the ACA is both protected and improved by electing legislators who share this goal. Healthcare is a major election issue in 2020.
Allied Organizations
Gettysburg Rising. Gettysburg Rising is planning an outdoor and socially distanced event on Saturday, August 8 from 1-4pm at the Rec Park in order to celebrate the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave (white) women the right to vote. It will be educational and interactive and we will have voter registration forms as well as information for signing up for a mail in ballot. All are encouraged to attend. The group has task forces on the schools and the police.
Gettysburg for Gun Sense. Recent meetings of PAGVP (Pennsylvania for Gun Violence Prevention, a monthly meeting of Ceasefire PA with the other PA gvp groups) and of Gettysburg for Gun Sense involved discussions of the recent July 4 invasion of GNMP by hundreds of armed visitors. Research on the laws affecting this is being done in preparation for a letter-writing campaign to protest this dangerous intimidation masquerading as a first amendment protest. Previous Federal Regulations covering National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, and National Cemeteries have been subverted by a 2009 law allowing loaded guns in National Parks. Letters objecting to this misuse of a park dear to our community can be written to our Park Superintendent and to our national and state legislators. Bill numbers follow, for those who can help with research on this! We would appreciate any further thoughts sent to jsmithyoung@gmail.com. People who would like details on the letter writing campaign, with legislator addresses, etc., can be added to the list by contacting Judy Young.
GGS is now calling for repeal of the legislation allowing loaded firearms in the National Parks, Section 512 of the 2009 CARD Act, Hr 627.
Green Gettysburg. The Green Gettysburg Book Club gathered on Friday, July 10 to discuss the “Leverage” section of Bill McKibben’s book Falter. The group also discussed the concept of the Overton Window, which was introduced in the book Antisocial: online extremists, techno-utopians and the hijacking of the American conversation by Andrew Marrantz. The Overton Window offers a way of framing the political ideas that are acceptable at any given time in a society. Marrantz in his book asserts that it has been the goal of some powerful people in America over the last forty years or so to shift the Overton Window decisively to the right. And, as McKibben and others document, that’s pretty much what has happened. The takeaway: to make progress we need to shift the Window back to the left. Changing what’s “thinkable” may be, in fact, every bit as important as advocating for this or that particular piece of legislation.
For next time we turn back to the our local land and to local impacts of land use decisions, and new projects and initiatives right here in Adams County. At least five members have agreed to report. The rest of us will poke around in Drawndown—Paul Hawken’s book on innovations that will help us deal with climate change. Please consider signing on in September when we begin a new set of readings.
Disarm the Dispute. A new organization is forming to advocate the end of guns in Gettysburg National Military Park. The group has a pending meeting with the Park Superintendent, Steve Sims. When we are able to meet with him, we plan to discuss at length the capability of the park to act on our call for a ban of certain firearms.
The group has obtained a permit to assemble at the Gettysburg National Military Park Cemetery First Amendment Exercise on August 9.
The organizers stated that "Gettysburg National military park is at the center of a growing conflict in a heated national divide. More than once, this conflict has brought civilians armed with assault rifles and strong opinions ready to use force for what they believe. And, in time, they will. As residents, we are uniquely tasked with preserving our local history. We are also responsible for facilitating difficult discussions about the causes, nature, and lasting implications of the battle - not just for our town, but the nation as a whole. In this, we are determined to maintain a safe and habitable space for all individuals, residents and visitors alike. We, the residents and business owners of Gettysburg, will not stand by and wait for another battle!"
Draw the Lines. A research fellow at Gettysburg College produced an interesting podcast on partisan gerrymandering, its impact and how to move forward with reform. https://consentofthegoverned.podbean.com