Many Cheshire Democratic Town Committee women and others from Cheshire are joining the Women's March On Washington today, a global event with the main event in Washington, D.C.

Many women in Connecticut overall and women nationwide are making the trek to Washington, D.C. today (Saturday) to take part and show support for the Women’s March on Washington. Their passionate desire to support women’s rights, their desire to show support for human rights, and their concern with the impact of a Donald Trump administration on the future of the United States are among the driving forces motivating these women to march in Washington, D.C.

According to the event's website at www.womensmarch.com and Facebook event page at http://bit.ly/2eKDgj2, the rally is a way to "send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights." Combined, as of Monday 377 “sister” marches will be held in each state and throughout the world on the same day, including the Connecticut Women’s March scheduled to be held in Stamford and rally in Hartford.

According to the event's website, over 1,800 buses nationally have asked for parking permits and have committed to going to the event in Washington, D.C. Amtrak is booked up as well.

Earlier this week five women from Cheshire who are also CDTC members - former Cheshire Town Councilor Diane Visconti, Kerrie Dunne, Cheshire Board of Education member Anne Harrigan, Renee Barley and Connie Catrone - sat down for a round table discussion to discuss why they are marching in Washington,D.C. today. If you missed it, check out their story at this link - http://bit.ly/2ivls24 .

When Dunne, Barley and Harrigan arrived in Washington, D.C. this morning they met up with U.S. Representative Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire. Esty and other Connecticut Democrat U.S. representatives plan to host a reception later today for all Connecticut people marching in Washington. Later in the afternoon, Barley and Harrigan also met up with comedian and The Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper.

Visconti, Dunne, Harrigan, Barley and Catrone and others from Cheshire will be sharing their experiences and emailing this blogger with photos from their march and rally. Photos will be added to the above slideshow throughout the day.

Others from Cheshire marching in Washington D.C.today are Elizabeth Morin and a large group of women from Temple Beth David, including Cheshire Board of Education member Marlena Soble.

CDTC Policy Committee chairwoman Judith Slisz and her daughter Rebecca are in Boston, Massachusetts today taking part in marches and rallies there to take part in that city's Women's March On Washington event.

Check back here throughout the day for photo/info updates.

Five women, One voice – Renee Barley, Connie Catrone, Kerrie Dunne, Anne Harrigan and Diane Visconti of Cheshire are among the many women in Cheshire, the many women in Connecticut overall and women nationwide making the trek to Washington, D.C. on Saturday to take part and show support for the Women’s March on Washington. Their passionate desire to support women’s rights, their desire to show support for human rights, and their concern with the impact of a Donald Trump administration on the future of the United States are among the driving forces motivating these women to march in Washington, D.C.
 
CHESHIRE, CONNECTICUT - At least five women from Cheshire are planning to be among the hundreds of thousands of women who plan to go to Washington, D.C. on Saturday to show support and take part in the Women’s March on Washington.

According to the event's website at www.womensmarch.com and Facebook event page at http://bit.ly/2eKDgj2, the rally is a way to "send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are human rights." Combined, as of Monday 377 “sister” marches will be held in each state and throughout the world on the same day, including the Connecticut Women’s March scheduled to be held in Stamford on Saturday.

Cheshire residents Diane Visconti, Kerrie Dunne, Anne Harrigan, Renee Barley and Connie Catrone are all on the same page on why they feel strongly motivated to make the trip to Washington and take part in the main march.
They can’t pass up the opportunity to show their disdain for Trump, his rhetoric and his divisiveness along with the chance to show support for women’s rights and human rights in general.

At a round table discussion on Sunday at Cheshire Coffee with Visconti, Dunne, Harrigan, Barley and Catrone, they agreed this worldwide event isn’t simply a rally or a march, it’s a movement.

“When  it comes to progress, when it comes to human rights, you don’t stand still, you don’t go back, you move forward,” Barley said. “I’m attending this march for my kids, Alvin and Andrea - one is a millennial and the other a Gen Xer. This is about their futures. We live in an aspirational, multi-cultural country and what we saw from the Trump campaign this past election cycle wasn’t respectful of that.
“I’m a child of the 60s. I know what it’s like to take part in other marches. I had to do something. All humans are created equal, but we still have women who struggle. Women represent more than 50 percent of the country’s population and we need to step up. The Women’s March on Washington is an opportunity to do that on Saturday.”

On Nov. 8, when Donald Trump pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the political world and was elected president, there were mixed emotions.
Trump won the election with 306 electoral votes to Hillary Clinton’s 232. While the 62,979,879 people who voted for Trump were happy (many were ecstatic), the 65,844,954 who voted against Trump were stunned, and many are still reeling from the result.

On Nov. 9, Teresa Shook of Hawaii created a Facebook event page and invited 40 of her friends to march on Washington, D.C. to protest Trump's election. Similar Facebook pages quickly followed and were created by Evvie Harmon, Fontaine Pearson, Bob Bland, Breanne Butler. Those Facebook pages and others quickly led to thousands of women signing up to march. A domino affect ensued, the Facebook page creators joined forces, organized and the Women’s March on Washington was born.

“This past election was so divisive with so much anger,” said Dunne, who will be wearing her pussyhat at the event. The “Pussyhat Project” is a nationwide effort to knit pink hats to be worn during the Women’s March on Washington. The hats are named because of the cat ears on top. “The election left me with a very sad feeling for our country.
“This march in Washington is a chance to show unity with all of us who are going there. Women should be treated with equality and dignity. I hope being a part of this event brings back the good feeling I used to have.”

Connecticut’s Democrat U.S. Representatives Elizabeth Esty, Rosa DeLauro, John Larson, Joe Courtney and Jim Himes will meet with Connecticut marchers at the Women’s March on Washington. They have extended an invitation for a reception they will host for Connecticut residents who march in Washington, D.C. from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the 2165 Rayburn House Office Building.

“I'm proud to be joining hundreds of thousands of folks from Connecticut and across the country at the March on Saturday,” Esty said. “Democracy works best when all of us make our voices heard and that's more true now than ever before.
“We must stand up for our American values. We must stand up for the Constitution and we must stand up for the rights and dignity of all people. The March on Washington and those around the country on Saturday will put both Congress and President-elect Trump on notice. The American people will oppose any effort to roll back the rights of women or to roll back the civil rights that heroes like John Lewis and so many others have fought for throughout our history.”

Based on the number of buses that have permits to park in Washington, D.C., the indications are the number of people expected to attend is growing for  the Women’s March on Washington.

According to Internet reports, including the Washington Post’s website, there are 393 bus permits for Trump’s inauguration compared to 1,200-plus bus permits for the Women’s March on Washington. Nearly 200,000 participants are expected for the Women’s March on Washington with the potential for a million marchers nationwide as participation numbers grow as the event day approaches.

“This march isn’t just about Trump or Trump’s people,” said Harrigan, a member of the Cheshire Board of Education. “And it’s not just about women’s issues. This is about respect for all human beings. It’s about being supportive of all people and all the issues when it comes to human rights. We can have disagreements but we can still support each other.
“You don’t get that from the Trump camp. It matters what Trump says, what he Tweets. As president of the United States of America, he can’t continue to degrade people. The reason I’m going to the march is to do my part to see that respect comes back into our lives, to see that human rights in general are shown respect.”

Connecticut media outlets have reported that over 80 buses are expected to leave from the state for the Women’s March on Washington. While Visconti will be driving to Washington, D.C., Dunne, Harrigan, Barley and Catrone will be taking one of the 16 buses expected to leave from the IKEA parking lot in New Haven at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.

“Donald Trump is very frightening to me,” Catrone said. “We’re at huge risk of having very many institutions of our country dismantled. I also feel terrible about his cabinet nominations like Education Secretary (Betsy DeVos) and Health and Human Services Secretary (Tom Price).
“Another thing that frightens me is Trump’s desire to end Obamacare. My daughter and I are both on Obamacare. I’m self-employed and have been on Obamacare. Because I’m self-employed I think I would not be insurable without Obamacare. I’m going to Washington because there is a lot at stake.”

According to its website, the Women’s March on Washington will begin with a rally from 10 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the intersection of Independence Ave. and Third Street near the U.S. Capitol. The march will follow after the rally. Among the celebrities expected to attend are Katy Perry, Amy Schumer, Cher, Debra Messing, and Julianne Moore.

“I’m going to the march because you have to stand up to a bully,” said Visconti, a former Cheshire Town Councilor. “Trump is the bully-in-chief. Doesn’t it bother you that this guy got to the highest level in our country after constantly insulting people and professing his love of (Russian president Vladimir) Putin?”

In an effort to get people to participate with other people from their own state at the Women's March on Washington, colors have been assigned to each state for people to wear. Connecticut has been assigned the color purple and everyone from Connecticut going to the march are asked to wear something purple.

You can still join the march in Washington, D.C. or the Connecticut march in Stamford. For more information, go to the Women’s March on Washington Facebook event page, or their website, or the march’s Connecticut Chapter Facebook page at http://bit.ly/2iJnb2W .
 

As inauguration day, Jan. 20, approaches for President-elect Donald Trump, Americans nationwide are anxious to see what a Trump presidency will look like, wondering what will actually transpire under his leadership.

​Trump has many goals and has surrounded himself with an interesting group of cabinet selections and group of advisors. Those goals and the "Trump team" along with Trump’s love of Twitter will likely make life interesting for us all on a daily basis the next four years.
 
Here is one prediction I am extremely confident with after Trump is sworn into office. He has many plans and goals in his first 100 days as president. But I predict that within that time anywhere from 1-3 members of his new cabinet and maybe an advisor or two will resign. During the campaign it took Trump three shots before he got his campaign manager right.
If you look at all the strongly opinionated people with egos and contradicting personalities that have been tabbed, cabinet and advisory clashes are bound to happen. We get a short glimpse of those clashes now with the constant media reports of unrest and clashes among Trump’s transition team and its advisors.
 
I also predict throughout Trump’s campaign, I’m talking about at least once a week, there will be at least one Tweet (more likely multiple Tweets) that will get Trump in trouble. Hopefully, if that happens, it will be a Tweet that strictly impacts Trump and not the entire country in some way.
 
I predict the wall that Trump promised throughout his campaign, an actual solid wall that everyone envisions, will never be built along the Mexican border. Something might be placed there, something affordable and cost-effective, but not an actual wall. I think the most that will be established is an increase in border patrol help.
 
I predict, and we are seeing the problems reported now, that throughout his presidency Trump will be dogged by consistent conflicts of interest with his business ventures and investments. He has suggested he will separate himself from his business empire to avoid any conflict of interest. I believe in the next four years there will be at least one major presidential decision or move by Trump involving a global or domestic issue that will favorably impact his business. And as a master of loopholes, Trump will probably do something that is ultimately considered legal.
 
I predict that Trump will not win his “war” with the media. The media giveth and the fact-based media taketh away. When it comes to politics, the media, whether it’s social media or mainstream media (newspapers, CNN, network news, etc.), made Trump what he is today – president-elect. But mainstream media news outlets are fact-based and will continue to fact-check the consistent false statements and inuendos that come from Trump and the Trump camp.
The media can also be relentless when serving and informing the public. Trump was so smug and confident he had the media wrapped around his finger, calling out the media at his rallies. But when the “Access Hollywood” video surfaced, the electronic media played it over and over again. All the media entities analyzed it over and over again to the point where it contributed heavily to the momentum that was in Hillary’s favor. While the Trump camp will likely continue the mantra of never letting the facts get in the way of a good story, the media will continue to do its normal job of fact-based reporting. That means putting the presidency and all the actions of president-elect Trump under a microscope, whether his staunch and blinders-wearing supporters like it or not.
 
My last thought in this blog….
 I can’t wait for Jan. 20, 2017 to arrive because that is the day Donald Trump will be sworn into office. And on that day, we can start counting down the days to the next presidential election on Nov. 3, 2020. And when Trump seeks re-election, he will have to deal with a growing demographic. It will be the first time all members of the millennial generation – the 18-45 age group - will be eligible to cast their vote for President. According to Internet reports, that age group is expected to represent 40 percent of the eligible United States voters in 2020.
Millennials will likely wonder - is there another Bernie Sanders out there?