Members of Third Act Maine attended their local #HandsOff rallies across the State on Saturday, April 5th. There were huge rallies in Augusta and Portland and at least two dozen others spread across Maine, including Bangor, Belfast, Bridgeton, Brunswick, Bucksport, Castine, Cherryfield, Farmington, Houlton, Kittery, Lewiston-Auburn, Lubec, Machias, Oxford, Paris, Presque Isle, Skowhegan, Wells, York and more! Over 3,000 people gathered at the Maine State House in Augusta to demonstrate not just anger and disbelief at the haphazard and destructive dismantling of our government, but also determination, mutual support, good humor and loads of creativity. Third Act Mainer Dick Thomas of Waterville reports:
My wife and I just attended the Hands-Off! Rally and March in Augusta with 3,000 other Mainers! It was peaceful and rowdy at the same time: very inspiring. One of the speakers said that over 60 billionaires bankrolled the Republicans in the last election, and 83 billionaires bankrolled the Democratic Party. She said both parties are complicit in letting the oligarchy control our government. The next presenter was a Maine legislator, and she talked about bills that were voted down last week in Augusta. All of the Republicans voted for six bills that would have helped make abortion illegal, and they all voted for a bill that would have made contraception inaccessible. All the Democrats voted against these bills, so it made a difference that the Democrats have a three-seat majority! Another presenter talked about how the oligarchy keeps us busy fighting cultural wars about things like reproductive freedom, so they can go unnoticed while they continue winning their class war against us, privatizing government agencies and widening the income gap.
Democrats will win big time when they commit more to representing the poor, the oppressed, the working families, and the middle class; working together to make everyone’s lives better. And when they do that, we’ll have the power to end subsidies to the fossil fuel corporations. We’ll finally make some progress on climate change!
Third Act Maine’s co-lead Molly Schen organized the Hands Off rally at Monument Square in Portland, which also drew thousands, including Maine’s State Senator Angus King!
Meanwhile, Molly’s fellow co-lead, Tom Mikulka and hundreds of friends were at Erskine Park in South Portland at the entrance to the Casco Bay Bridge.
The Lewiston-Auburn area standout was on the Longley Androscoggin bridge, downtown between Lewiston and Auburn which drew an estimated 400-500 people. Third Act Maine member Nancy Greene shared her experience:
“It was the largest demonstration ever on the bridge that many of us could remember. The crowd was energetic, very friendly, happy to be there and continued to trade disbelief and anger about the actions of Trump and the GOP. Lewiston-Auburn is a family community, and it was comfortable being together. We were continually motivated by the traffic — many supportive horns and yells as cars and pick-up trucks continued across the bridge.My favorite sign was ” Wake Up, Little Susie.” Another: “Social Security Works, Billionaires Don’t.”The major organizer was RESIST Central Maine, an Indivisible group that stands out at Susan Collins office every Tuesday morning.As mentioned above, the action on Saturday felt comfortable… and good. We saw friends and visited with our neighbors — all of us concerned but glad we were there.”
Third Act was well representing in Farmington, Maine!
