VOICES FROM THE WILDERNESS...... HOW LONG WILL THE WINTER LAST?

We should join in celebrating the power of peaceful protest that was demonstrated earlier this month in North Dakota. After months of effort, the Army Corps of Engineers announced that they would not issue a permit to the pipeline company to construct an oil pipeline on significant tribal lands and under a pure water lake - Lake Oahe - that is a water supply source and houses sacred Sioux sites. This victory of people over corporate greed should be a source of pride and encourage all of us to know that taking a stand is more than worth the effort. It is notable that this victory comes at the very same time that 2000-3000 veterans chose to join the protest to protect those who had peaceably assembled to protest the construction of the pipeline under the lake. They faced "militarized" local law enforcement attempting to "encourage" the protesters to abandon their camp through the use of water cannon, flash-bang grenades, spotlights, and constant flyovers - day and night - to harass the protesters. The threat of forcible removal after the December 5th deadline to evacuate, evaporated on December 4th with the Army Corps announcement. March on......

Yet, the proponents of the pipeline, including the incoming President, have said that the pipeline will be built.  Will a President Trump simply order the Army Corps of Engineers to reverse their decision to deny the necessary permits for the project to proceed to violate the pristine waters that the Native Americans had protected?  Or, will the Army Corp prevail and develop an alternative route for the pipeline?  Only time will tell.  Meanwhile, the pipeline issue remains frozen in time - just like the freezing temperatures in North Dakota that were endured by the members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe protesters and the thousands of military vets who stood with them in the days before the Army Corps announcement.

Other protests across the nation took place in a variety of cities and towns, protesting the election of Donald Trump.  Large in some city venues and smaller in other towns and villages, most were peaceful protest marches that appeared more like funeral processions than street activism.  Nonetheless, the point was made that a good segment of the electorate was concerned regarding the outcome of the 2016 election and felt the need to communicate that to a broader audience.  After all, the President-elect had said so many hateful things and taken a variety of positions with which a majority of Americans disagree, that demonstrations were predictable.  And, after all of the focus and commentary regarding women's issues, including considerable misogyny by Trump, and the now-famous Trump Tapes with Billy Bush, it should be no surprise that planning for a "Woman's March on Washington" began in earnest in the days after the election.  Feeling at risk and abused by Trump's testosterone-fueled attitude toward women, many wanted to take a stand rather than quietly roll over and accept the notion that decades of progress might be lost overnight with the Trump ascendancy.  In fact, this writer has joined in the fray as well.  As a member of the NJ Legislature in the late 70s, I was a co-sponsor of the state version of the Woman's ERA and a supporter of the ERA constitutional amendment.  The ERA passed in NJ but failed to garner the support of enough states across the nation to become a part of the US Constitution. The March will take place on January 21st - one day after the Donald is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. 500,000 women and their supporters are expected to descend on the nation's capital on that day, not to protest the Trump election, but to stand for equality and women's rights.

So far, the National Park Service and the Trump Transition Team has yet to release a permit for a public site in DC for this demonstration of women's solidarity.  You can bet, however, that the march will happen.  What is unclear is how the Trump crowd will respond.  Will they really try to deny the women the "right peaceably to assemble"?  Are water cannon in our future as they were for the the Standing Rock Sioux tribe protesters?  Are there enough police vans to arrest thousands of women on that day? Or, will the permits be issued, hundreds of thousands of women arrive and assemble for their march and peaceful demonstration, raise their issues, make their point, and return home to their families and children on a cold January day?  We will know the answer to these question in a few weeks.  And, just maybe, how this event is handled will foretell much about the new Trump administration...