Once again, some 200 placard-toting demonstrators assembled peacefully on Gettysburg’s Lincoln Square to protest the actions of the administration of Donald Trump.
Their signs protested the administration’s actions to silence opposition in the media and the university; its treatment of immigrants and lack of due process; the Trump family’s cryptocurrency endeavors, which they alleged amounted to graft; and his acceptance of a luxury airliner from Qatar, which they saw as acceptance of a bribe.
Others expressed outrage at Congress’s failure to play its Constitutional role to check what some describe as Trump’s authoritarian behavior. Still others called attention to the administration’s attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and on the federal workforce.
One local resident wondered aloud if seniors like him would have access to flu shots next fall after HHS head Robert Kennedy, Jr. cancelled the international conference that formulates the vaccine. His neighbor said, “Their attacks on science and expertise are dangerous. Their rewriting of history is a lie.”
The rallies will continue indefinitely, one of the demonstrators said, because “It lets people know they are not alone in their worry and opposition. We all need to do our little part.”
Kevin McDonald spent more than 40 years in healthcare administration in strategic planning and communications roles for hospitals and health systems in several states, as well as in public agencies that regulated health care, He retired from the Maryland Health Care Commission in 2021 and moved to Gettysburg in 2022. On the side, he ran marathons and wrote a weekly column for the Bennington (VT) Banner, and also served on Bennington-area school boards for nine years.