I recently joined my local political club, the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club, here in the northwest Bronx. The club is one of the few left in NYC that really does do the old fashioned work like canvassing for candidates and getting out the vote. This was only my second meeting — timed to end in time for the debate — but I have already have been asked to run for the Bronx County Democratic Committee and for an at-large position on the Club’s Board. I had a similar experience when I got involved in Virginia in Fairfax County and Arlington County. It is much easier to get involved at a local level than people think — you just have to be willing to put in some time and effort!
What was horrifying about this meeting was that I had to run a gauntlet of anti-vaccination protesters to get into the meeting. NYPD officers were outside the meeting to keep them out; had they managed ot get into the crowded room there might well have been violence. Denied entry, they went outside the building and started shouting at the top of their lungs to disrupt the meeting. I was near the window where they were shouting and could barely hear the business of the meeting.
Why this particular little political club? Our State Assemblyman is Jeffrey Dinowitz. He earned the ire of anti-vaxxers everywhere by pushing the new New York law that ended non-medical exemptions for childhood vaccinations through the State Assembly. When it passed, the galleries were full of disruptive anti-vax protesters. I regret to say that many of the protesters were dressed like orthodox Jews and identified as such, as I myself am orthodox. The horrible slanders they used against him are not someone anyone should be called. Here is one of the examples, from a sign that the protesters left after the police required them to leave:
This is not the first time that these protesters have come to savage both Assemblyman Dinowitz and also Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (who was supposed to be at the Club tonight but was a no-show). They give other supporters of sane science-based policy the same treatment. They are all over social media, hijacking social media feeds; one major target is Sen. Anna Kaplan.
Note what these targets all have in common? They are all Democrats. The anti-vaxxers understand Trump’s dog whistles and know that they have a friend in the White House. We should not underestimate the power or numbers or fervor of the hate groups and stupid groups that Trump has assembled in his coalition.