‘Vigil for Democracy’ heads into second week in Front Royal

On Wednesday, March 15, Len Sherp will hold his second “Vigil for Democracy” near the Town Gazebo at the primary East Main-Chester Street intersection of Front Royal’s Downtown Historic District.  The weekly vigils will occur from noon to 1 p.m. each Wednesday for an indefinite time, and have been permitted by the town government.

The impetus for the vigils is Sherp’s concerns that the newly-elected president and his administration, coupled with a very conservative legislative branch majority and what is likely to be a soon-to-be approved conservative judicial branch majority, are threatening to undermine the ideals upon which the American Republic was founded, and upon which it has evolved over two centuries.

Len Sherp is flanked by Kathleen Roush and Hannah Bement at first Vigil for Democracy – viable affordable health care reform was BIG on the list of concerns, along with Sherp’s concern over the president’s financial connections in other countries. Photos/Roger Bianchini

“The government still works for us – “of the people, for the people” – and just because one Party has achieved a majority doesn’t mean they shouldn’t show the same reverence for the democratic principals and values of honesty, openness and fairness which have made us a beacon for two centuries,” Sherp told us at his first vigil on March 8.  “This administration, in eight weeks, has shown that it doesn’t understand the rule of law; does not respect the separation of powers; and has a Republican Congress that for some reason refuses to stand up and be adult.  There are threats to our democracy when our president lies every day.  And I think there are some underlying issues – I’m holding a sign today that says ‘Show us the Tax Returns’.

“Every president, I believe since Eisenhower if not even earlier, has released their tax returns, so that we can see that they are not indebted to or beholding to other foreign powers.”

We pointed out that Donald Trump has used the fact that his most recent tax return is under audit by the IRS to keep from releasing it.  And while that fact does not appear to present any legal basis to prevent one from making their tax return public*, Sherp pointed out that Trump’s taxes due April 15, 2017 (2016 tax return) “is not under audit yet” so that he could release it when it is ready to be submitted to the IRS.

Sherp’s tax release sign was but one of several on display by about five people who had stopped to join the vigil during our visit to see what was going on at Front Royal‘s Village Commons on March 8.  Sherp had several printed up, and there were blank pieces of cardboard available for people to stop by and add their own specific concerns with the administration or legislative and policy agendas.

Sherp notes you can create your own vigil sign to express personal concerns – here our rivers, mountains and natural environment in general were added to several pre-printed signs regarding the president’s financial ties and voter suppression.

One vigil participant, Hannah Bement, said she had been at that morning’s Sixth District Open Door meeting at Samuels Public Library in Front Royal.  “Someone said Len would be down here, so I came down during my lunch hour to show my support.”

Kathleen Roush said she was there to show support, specifically on the affordable health care issue, as well as “equal education for everyone, especially special needs students – and the environment is a BIG one too.”

And that last one is bound to be a BIG issue on more people’s minds in coming weeks after Trump’s appointee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, made waves over the next week with a public statement that there was no substantive evidence that carbon emissions or human activity had anything to do with climate change.**

A passing citizen joined briefly to express his concern about affordable health care reform – which appeared to draw a honk of support.

Was he concerned with the small turnout – though we did hear a number of horn honks as driver’s passed on East Main Street that appeared supportive – at his inaugural vigil, we asked.  “No,” Sherp replied.

He explained the genesis of the idea for his Vigil for Democracy.  “I got the idea as a replication of a protest movement during the Vietnam War when I was a student at the University of California-Santa Barbra.  A professor, I believe he was a philosophy professor, started a silent vigil on campus in 1966.  He stood there alone at the outset, and by the time I graduated in 1968 he had attracted hundreds of people each week.  I’m going to try and do the same here.”

* FOOTNOTE: During the 2016 presidential campaign, U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett (estimated net worth $78.7 billion) pointed out that his taxes were also under audit but that, that fact did not legally prohibit its release.  In fact, Buffett offered to meet Trump at a NYC street corner and publicly release BOTH their tax returns together.  It was an offer Trump declined.

** FOOTNOTE: As Oklahoma’s AG and a champion of fracking in his state, Pruitt sued the EPA five times.  Coincidently, as fracking gained traction in Oklahoma under Pruitt’s legal stewardship, so did earthquakes which were recorded in the hundreds across the state in areas with little previous history of earthquakes – something else the new EPA chief likely sees no connection between.