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A View From My Porch: A 2024 Election Epic—Part One: Why I Vote (Section 3 of 3)

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Editor’s Notes: i) We have divided Part One of Thomas Gotowka’s essay into three parts. This is the third and final Section. Read Section 1 at this link and Section 2 at this link.
ii) This is the opinion of Thomas D. Gotowka.

Tom Gotowka

“I Have a Dream”

Bizarrely, during a press conference on Aug. 8 at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump lashed out at claims that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech had a larger crowd than his “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021.

“If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, same number of people. “If not, we had more.” And “they said he had a million people, but I had 25,000 people.” “And I’m OK with it because I liked Dr. Martin Luther King.”

The House Select Committee that investigated the events of Jan. 6, 2021 actually estimated that 53,000 people attended Trump’s speech at the White House Ellipse.

In contrast, MLK, Jr. delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech  from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial  in front of a crowd of nearly 250,000 people spread across the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Trump expanded his remarks on his Jan. 6 crowd in response to a reporter’s question regarding the peaceful transfer of power. “If you look at January 6th, which a lot of people aren’t talking about very much;” “I think those people were treated very harshly when you compare them to other things that took place in this country, where a lot of people were killed.”

And he argued that no one was “injured” on Jan. 6. “The biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken to, and I said peacefully and patriotically, which nobody wants to say, but I said peacefully and patriotically, the biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken to.” “I don’t know who’s ever had a bigger crowd than I have, but I had it many times… Nobody’s spoken to crowds bigger than me.”

His weird obsession with crowd size continues. Trump is very frustrated that Harris has been drawing large and enthusiastic rally crowds.  In response to her airport rally in Michigan he posted “Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A-I’d’ it, and showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST!” Note that “A-I” is Artificial Intelligence. He also “freaked” out about the crowd at her rally in Atlanta; versus his; citing Harris’ unfair advantage from participating entertainers.(Trump’s caps)

Trump’s Bedminster, NJ Golf Club

In an Aug. 15 speech at his golf club attended by some of his most prominent Jewish supporters, Trump said, “Jews are facing a climate akin to the run-up to the Holocaust due to the actions of anti-Israel forces.” He ludicrously placed the blame on Harris, while failing to mention antisemitism from his far-right supporters.

He went further and said, “Instead of aggressively confronting these venomous antisemites in her party, Kamala Harris has maneuvered for their support.” 

Disgracefully, his speech also included a moment in which he denigrated the appearance of decorated military veterans, while praising Miriam Adelson, the Republican megadonor who, with her husband, has pledged up to $90 million to his reelection; and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from him in 2018.

Trump said, “The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, was much better than the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration; because soldiers who receive the latter had to be severely injured or killed to receive it.” 

He did not stop there, but went on and said that “Adelson looked better than some of the wounded veterans who received the Congressional Medal of Honor.” Trump’s remarks  were condemned by many, including his former chief of staff John Kelly, purple heart recipient Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. 

Note that the Adelsons are also supporters of medical research and healthcare delivery organizations.

Helicopter Landings

Along with challenging the size of the crowd at MLK, Jr,’s “I have a Dream” speech during the Aug. 8 press conference at his Florida property, (see “Size” above), Trump also told a story to reporters about being involved in a helicopter emergency landing with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. “I know Willie Brown very well. In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him.” We thought maybe this is the end.” Trump also said that Brown, who is a Democrat, “… told me terrible things” about Kamala Harris. 

However, Brown rejected Trump’s account as “obviously wrong” during a phone call later that evening with CNN, saying: “I’ve never been in a helicopter with him in my life.” Asked about Willie Brown’s rebuttal of Trump’s narrative, spokesman Steven Cheung only responded, “Slick Willie!” 

Trump may have confused Willie Brown with Jerry Brown, the former governor of California, with whom he did travel by helicopter in 2018, while surveying wildfire damage in the state. Trump attacked the New York Times for its coverage of the press conference, and insisted he had flight records to prove it, despite Mr. Brown’s denial. He threatened a lawsuit, but has yet to provide the evidence.

Gaffe-ing Candidates

Remember how Democrats agonized over Biden’s occasional gaffes? Well, the Republicans have not yet done so with Trump’s.

Although I am certain that each of Trump’s speeches may have had a planned topic, Trump usually veers into disconnected and confusing digressions and tangents that are nearly impossible to follow. He has a few pet themes or paragraphs that he uses over and over and from rally to rally. Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger have become his “super-villains.” 

He frequently portrayed Biden as confused and mentally unfit for office. However, Trump has bewildered his audience and his allies during his speeches. In September, Trump confused Biden with former President Barack Obama, saying “with Obama, we won an election that everyone said couldn’t be won.”

During the same speech, Trump also said, “We would be in World War II very quickly if we’re going to be relying on” Biden.

I think more troubling for we voting citizens of the United States are the memory lapses and repeated use of a word or phrase during and within a single speech, by a man who wants to again try his hand at POTUS The following illustrates both. 

Trump  appeared to mistakenly refer to his-then GOP rival, Nikki Haley, instead of Nancy Pelosi when discussing Jan. 6 at a Concord NH campaign rally in early January, where he spoke for 90 minutes and repeatedly bashed Haley on her smaller crowds. 

He suddenly changed tack and appeared to blame her for the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol by his own supporters;  “By the way, they never report the crowd on January 6. You know Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, did you know they destroyed all the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it? All of it. Because of lots of things like Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guards, whatever they want.” They turned it down. They don’t want to talk about that. These are very dishonest people.”

Note that then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was not in charge of Capitol security, and there was no evidence that Trump gave an order to have 10,000 troops ready for Jan. 6.

Author’s Comments: Trump flourishes on insults, lies, shocking rhetoric, and conflict to keep himself and his campaign in the media. Remember when his apologists labeled his “shock-jock” antics as just “Donald being Donald”? 

I want to remind readers that there is more at stake on Nov. 5 than the Presidential election. These are the “down ballot” or “down ticket” races that will appear below the presidential election line; and can include Senate and House seats and contests for state and local offices. Those races are particularly important this election because the Republican-controlled House is inept and a mess—voting 749 times this year, but passing just 27 bills into law, thus making this Congress the least productive in decades.

On Tuesday, Aug. 20, at the DNC, Barack Obama said, “We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos; we have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse,” He reminded us that the upcoming election will be a “tight race in a closely divided country.”

He described Donald Trump as “a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago. It has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s getting worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala. There’s the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, and his weird obsession with crowd sizes.“

In closing, May God bless America and may God protect our troops.

About the Author: Tom Gotowka is a resident of Old Lyme, whose entire adult career has been in healthcare. He will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sit on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK. A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960. He hopes these experiences give readers a sense of what he believes “qualify” him to write this column.

Sources for Parts 1, 2 and 3 of ‘A 2024 Election Epic’:
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Applebaum, A. “Suddenly Trump Looks Older and More Deranged.” The Atlantic. 07/22/2024
Allison, N. et al. “Trump’s ‘nuclear explosion’ on Kemp was months in the making. He could pay a price in November.” Politico. 08/18/2024.
Arnsdorf, I. “Trump campaign uses misleading posts, racist trope to attack Harris on crime.” The Washington Post. 08/02/2024.
Associated Press. “Trump on Kim: Tough talk … ‘and then we fell in love’.” CNBC.09/30/2018. 
Barber, R. & Jackson, D. “Trump falsely claims Harris used A-I to generate visuals depicting large crowds.” USAToday. 08/12/2024.
Basu, Z. “Trump campaign defends “vermin” speech amid fascist comparisons.” Axios.11/13/2023
Barrow, B. & Kinnard, M. “Trump again tears into Georgia’s Republican governor on the same day he campaigns in the state.“ AP News. 08/03/2024.
Bond, S. “A coup, fake signatures and deep fakes are the latest conspiracy theories about 2024.” NPR. All Things Considered. 07/23/2024.
Brandt, J.“ Josh Shapiro reacts to Tim Walz’ selection as Harris’ VP candidate: “Strong addition to the ticket.” CBS Pittsburgh. 08/06/2024
Camut, N. “Trump congratulates Putin on ‘great’ hostage swap.” Politico. 08/04/2024.
Choiniere, P. “Two debates, 64 years apart, show political decline.” The Day. 07/13/2024.
CNN Wire Staff. “Obama lampoons Trump, releases ‘birth video’ at annual dinner.” CNN. 05/02/2011.
Davis. S. &Giles, B. “Harris says, as a former prosecutor, ‘I know Donald Trump’s type’” NPR. 07/22/2024.
Doyle, K. “’We’re not going back’: Some Never-Trump Republicans embrace Harris’ ‘top cop’ persona.” NBCNews. 07/26/2024
Friel, K. “Former U.S. President Donald Trump holds rally in Claremont, New Hampshire.” The Dartmouth.11/11/2024’
Gibson, G. “Trump says immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country.’ Biden campaign likens comments to Hitler.” NBC News. 12/17/2023.
Haberman, M. ““Trump Claims He Has Helicopter Trip Records and Threatens to Sue.” NY Times. 08/09/2024
Hartocollis, A. &  Alcindor, Y. “Women’s March Highlights as Huge Crowds Protest Trump: ‘We’re Not Going Away.’” NYTimes. 01/21/2017
Itkowitz, et al. “‘This was a coup.’ Trump primes supporters to challenge a Harris win.” The Day.  08/19/2024
Kim, S. & Ibssa, L. “Trump compares political opponents to ‘vermin’ who he will ‘root out,’ alarming historians.” ABC News. 11/13/2023.
Kampeas, R. “Vance says Democrats made Josh Shapiro ‘run from his Jewish heritage’.” The Times of Israel. 08/07/2024.
Katersky, A. “Embattled Trump Foundation forced to shut down after ‘egregious pattern of illegality’: Officials.” ABC News. 12/18/2018
Kutzleben, D. “Why Trump’s authoritarian language about ‘vermin’ matters.” NPR.11/17/2023.
Lebowitz, M. “Trump confuses Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi when talking about Jan. 6.” NBC News. 01/19/2024.
Lemon, J. “Trump Claims Jan. 6 Rally Size ‘Censored’ by Media, Crowd Was Biggest He’s Seen.” Newsweek. 01/08/2022.
Nazzaro, M. “Historian Meacham links Trump ‘vermin’ comments to ‘most ghastly kinds of crimes’” The Hill. 11/13/23.
Nazzaro, M. “Shapiro fires back at Trump after post slamming convention speech.” The Hill. 08/22/2024.
McCreesh, S. “What’s Rattling Trump: The Size of Harris’s Crowds.” NY Times. 08/04/2024.
Moore, G. (Arizona Republic). “I was wrong about Kamala Harris. And that’s a huge problem for Donald Trump. USA Today. 08/03/2024.
Nichols, J. After Trump’s Speech,it’s Absurd To Suggest Trump Can’t Be Beaten.” The Nation. 07/19/ 2024
Nichols, J. “Kamala Harris Is Ready for This Fight.” The Nation. 07/26/2024
Press, B. “Opinion: Trump goes full racist in attack on Kamala Harris.” Tribune Content Agency. 08/01/2024
Rose, R. “Trump said he ‘went down’ in helicopter ‘emergency landing’ with former San Francisco mayor, who says it never happened.” CNN.08/09/2024
Rosenberg, Y. “Trump’s Crocodile Tears for the Jews.” The Atlantic. 08/15/2024.
Samuels,B. “Trump stokes fears with ‘unconstitutional’ Harris talk.” The Hill. 08/10/2024.
Sales, B.  & Kampeas, R. “In speech about antisemitism, Trump blames Harris and focuses on anti-Israel forces. “Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 08/16/2024
Scripps News Staff. “JD Vance says ‘childless cat lady’ comment was sarcasm” WCPO News. 07/26/2024.
Shivaram, D. “Harris is leaning into her history as a prosecutor. It’s not the first time.” NPR. 07/29/2024
Sullivan, K. “Trump amplifies posts calling for televised military tribunal for Liz Cheney.” CNN. 7/02/2024.
Swenson, A. & Sanders, L. “Majority of US adults say democracy is on the ballot but they differ on the threat: AP-NORC poll” The Day. 08/08/2024
Samuels, B. “Trump stokes fears with ‘unconstitutional’ Harris talk.” The Hill. 08/10/2024
Sforza, L. “Chris Christie: Trump retreating to ‘greatest hits’ with Harris race attacks.” The Hill. 08/04/2024
Tapper, J. “Exclusive: John Kelly rejects Trump’s comments that civilian award is ‘much better’ than Medal of Honor: ‘Not even close,’” CNN. 08/19/2024
Visser, N. “Trump Says Civilian Award He Gave To Donor ‘Much Better’ Than Medal Of Honor.” Huffington Post. 08/16/2024
Wallace, T. & Parlapiano, A. “Crowd Scientists Say Women’s March in Washington Had 3 Times as Many People.” NYTimes. 01/22/ 2017
Yilek, C. “Kamala Harris picks Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her VP running mate.” CBS News. 08/05/2024

One Dead, Two Missing After Old Saybrook Boat Accident Monday Night

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OLD SAYBROOK—Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Environmental Conservation Police (EnCon Police) along with multiple agencies, responded to a boating accident in Old Saybrook around 9:15 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 2.

A single motorboat was found floating, half-submerged, near the Harbor One Marina in Old Saybrook. There was significant damage to the boat, which hit the east-facing jetty at the mouth of the CT River.

A total of nine people were on the boat. An adult male was recovered deceased, and six people were transported to the hospital. As of 1 a.m., two people were still being searched for. The search was suspended for the night shortly after 1 a.m., and resumed in the morning as, most likely, a recovery operation.

In addition to EnCon Police, several agencies assisted in the response to this incident, including- Old Lyme FD, Middletown FD, Middlesex Health (EMTs), Essex FD, Goshen Fire, Old Saybrook FD and PD, Clinton Fire, the Coast Guard, and the State Police Dive Unit.

Editor’s Note: This article is based on a press release issued by DEEP.com at 1:27 a.m. today.

A View From My Porch: A 2024 Election Epic—Part One: Why I Vote (Section 2 of 3)

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Editor’s Notes: i) We have divided Part One of Thomas Gotowka’s essay into three parts. This is Section 2—we will publish Section 3 on Thursday, Sept. 5. Read Section 1 at this link.
ii) This is the opinion of Thomas D. Gotowka.

Tom Gotowka

“Mein Kampf” at the Claremont, NH Rally

In a nearly two-hour rambling speech on Saturday, Nov.11, 2023, Trump addressed a rally crowd in Claremont, NH and promised that “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.”

He accused these groups of doing ‘anything’ “to destroy America and to destroy the American dream;” and he then went on to repeat his old and baseless claims of election fraud.

Trump spoke at length about his criminal indictments. “I am being indicted for you. Never forget, our enemies want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom. In the end, they’re not after me, they’re after you; I’m just standing in their way.” He said, “The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within.”

Trump’s dystopian rhetoric has drawn significant criticism and concern from historians and political analysts, who noted the dangerous parallels between Trump’s language and the antisemitic propaganda of Nazi Germany. Historian Jon Meacham said. “To call your opponent ‘vermin,’ to dehumanize them, is to not only open the door but to walk through the door toward the most ghastly kinds of crimes.” 

Yale University professor Jason Stanley, author of “How Fascism Works,” said “It doesn’t echo ‘Mein Kampf.’ This is textbook ‘Mein Kampf.'” 

Huyen “Steven” Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, responded with threats to the criticism. Cheung rejected the critics as “’snowflakes’ suffering from ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome, and threatened that their sad, miserable existence would be crushed when Trump returns to the White House.”

In keeping with the rally’s theme, Cheung may have been mirroring Josef Goebbels, chief propagandist for Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Party with his threatening language. Cheung also worked in communications for “The Ultimate Fighting Championship” organization.

In addition, Trump faced outcry from critics after an interview with “The National Pulse,” a right-wing political news publication, when he said that immigrants, who are in the country without authorization, are “poisoning the blood” of America. He also repeated his longstanding claim that terrorists, criminals, and those with mental illness are coming in through the borders. Trump went on to say his criticism is of immigrants from all over the world, including Asia and Africa.

“Birther” Redux at the National Association of Black Journalists Conference

At this July 31 Conference, Trump released a volley of vicious attacks on Kamala Harris, absurdly questioning her Black identity.  “She changed her identity from Indian to Black for political gain.” His ridiculous claim is reminiscent of the birther nonsense he unsuccessfully attempted on President Obama in 2011 (see Part 2)

Trump said, “I’ve known her a long time, indirectly, not directly very much; and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage;” After being asked whether he thought Harris was only on the Democratic ticket because she was Black, he responded, “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black,” he continued. “So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

To set the record straight, Harris’ mother, born and raised in India, was a biomedical scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, whose work in isolating and characterizing the progesterone receptor gene stimulated advances in breast biology and oncology. Her father, Jamaican-born Donald Harris, was a professor of economics at Stanford University, joining the faculty in 1972, retiring in 1998. He also served as an economic consultant to Jamaica’s government. 

Trump bragged that he had been “the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.” He repeatedly targeted one of the moderators, ABC News’ Rachel Scott, calling her “nasty” for her line of questioning, a word he usually reserves for women.

Harris summarized Trump’s remarks very concisely at a campaign event a few hours after Trump’s appearance at the Conference, and said “It was the same old show.”  

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, once a Trump ally, said that Trump is retreating to his “greatest hits” by attacking Vice President Harris on her race; “and as the presidential race gets tighter, he may revert to more personal attacks.”

Burning Bridges in Atlanta — “I just want to find 11,780 votes”

At an Aug. 3 rally in Atlanta, Trump spent 10 minutes ranting about Brian Kemp, Georgia’s popular governor, blaming him for his loss to Biden in the 2020 election, and for not stopping the district attorney from prosecuting him and several associates for his efforts to overturn Georgia’s election results. 

Trump was already fuming over Kemp, offended by the Governor’s absence from campaign events and fundraisers, and probably other perceived slights. After all, Trump had “helped him get elected.” Kemp had skipped a fundraiser and a Georgia rally weeks earlier; and his wife, Marty, had told a local television reporter that she planned to write in her husband’s name for president, rather than vote for Trump. 

In addition, Kamala Harris had a very successful and enthusiastic rally just a few days before at a packed Georgia State Convocation Center, where she told the crowd “The path to the White House runs right through this state, and you all helped us win in 2020 and we are going to do it again in 2024.” Trump claimed that Harris had an unfair advantage from participating entertainers.

Earlier in the day, Trump took to social media to blast the governor, who he referred to as “Little Brian Kemp. Bad guy;” and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan for being disloyal to the GOP, after Duncan announced that he was endorsing Harris, despite his party threatening to ban him from running for office as a Republican. Remember when Trump reserved “Little” for Senator Marco Rubio?

Trump continued to falsely claim victory in Georgia, stating that he won the state twice. He also attacked Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who had refused to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump suggested, without evidence, that they were working against him in the 2024 election.

At the rally, Trump said “Your Governor, Brian Kemp, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, they’re doing everything possible to make 2024 difficult for Republicans to win.”. “What are they doing? I don’t know. They’ve got something in mind, you know, they’ve got a little something in mind. Kemp is very bad for the Republican Party.”

He continued, “They don’t want the vote to be honest. In my opinion, they want us to lose. That’s my opinion. And we can’t let that happen because if we lose Georgia, we lose the whole thing and our country goes to hell.”

Harris did admit that she wants Trump to lose.

Trump also tried to paint Harris as an extreme leftist, attacking her positions on the southern border, guns and public safety.

“She was the worst border czar, she was the worst czar in history,” he said, repetitively referring to an informal and unofficial title. “Kamala’s radical ideas belong in a San Francisco commune filled with far left freaks, but they do not belong in the White House. They do not belong in the United States of America. This November, Georgia is going to tell Kamala that we will not let her turn America into a communist country.”

Back Story

On Jan. 2, 2021, a panicking and flailing Trump initiated an hourlong phone call with Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, who included his office’s General Counsel Ryan Germany and Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs. Trump was joined by several lawyers and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

“We won Georgia easily,” Trump said. “We won it by hundreds of thousands of votes.” He listed a litany of phony fraud allegations: e.g., close to 5,000 dead people voted; there were 18,000 secretly counted ballots for Biden; criminal removal of election machinery or machine parts; and dumped ballots, unsigned ballots, forgeries, and shredded ballots in totally corrupt Fulton County. Trump asked the Georgia officials to investigate his allegations about voter fraud. He framed his requests to state officials as a mission to ferret out criminal wrongdoing.

“And you can’t let it happen, and you are letting it happen,” Trump said. “You know, I mean, I’m notifying you that you’re letting it happen. So, look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.”

Finally, Trump asked Raffensperger, “What are we going to do? We won the election, and it’s not fair to take it away from us like this. And it’s going to be very costly in many ways. And I think you have to say that you’re going to re-examine it, and you can re-examine it, but re-examine it with people that want to find answers, not people that don’t want to find answers.”

Raffensperger replied, “We have to stand by our numbers. We believe our numbers are right.”

Size Matters

On January 21, 2017, the first full day of Trump’s presidency, hundreds of thousands of people crowded into the Nation’s capital for the Women’s March on Washington, aimed largely at the Trump administration and the threat it represented to reproductive, civil, and human rights.

Trump was already upset with what he felt were undercounts of his inauguration the day before, and falsely accused the media of lying about the size of the crowds at his inauguration, saying that when he looked out from his podium, “it looked like a million, a million and a half people,” and that the area “all the way back to the Washington Monument was packed.” 

Crowd counting experts said the Women’s March in Washington was about three times the size of the audience at Trump’s inauguration, and drew over 470,000 people in the Capital; and between 3,267,134 and 5,246,670 people in marches across the U.S.

A few benchmarks: The annual Lollapalooza 4-day music festival in Chicago’s Grant Park draws 400,00 each July; as did Woodstock in August, 1969.

About the Author: Tom Gotowka is a resident of Old Lyme, whose entire adult career has been in healthcare. He will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sit on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK. A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960. He hopes these experiences give readers a sense of what he believes “qualify” him to write this column.

‘General Lafayette’ Retraces His (200-Year-Old) Steps, Visits Old Lyme

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Old Lyme First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker addresses the audience.at the celebration held to honor General Lafayette’s visit to Old Lyme on Aug. 22, 1824. The event was held in the Old Lyme Historical Society’s building on Lyme Street. All photos by James Meehan except where otherwise indicated.

OLD LYME— On Thursday, Aug. 22, the Old Lyme Historical Society Inc. (OLHSI) celebrated the 200th Anniversary of Major General Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to Old Lyme on Aug. 22, 1824, by serving a continental breakfast attended by Lafayette re-enactor Michael Halbert.

The Old Lyme Historical Society building was appropriately decorated to welcome their esteemed guest.

Around 80 people attended to enjoy breakfast, hear speeches, and take photos of and meet with ‘General Lafayette.’

The.celebratory event drew such a large crowd that there was standing room only for some attendees.

This event was part of a nationwide celebration affiliated with Lafayette200 and took place at the OLHSI building at 55 Lyme Street in Old Lyme.

Major General Marquis de Lafayette, played by re-enactor Michael Halbert.(center), drew a constant throng of guests who wished to chat and take photos with him

Lafayette was taking a two-year tour of 24 states to honor the United States’ 50th birthday. On Aug. 22, 1824, he enjoyed breakfast with Richard McCurdy at his home on Lyme Street.

After the breakfast on Aug. 22, 2024 had concluded, ‘General Lafayette’ took a stroll down Lyme Street to the South Green, where revolutionary troops were briefly billeted.

Following the breakfast event, ‘General Lafayette’ walked down Lyme Street to the South Green.

For more information about General Lafayette’s visit and Lafayette200, visit the OLHS website or lafayette200.org or lafayettecttrail.org/old-lyme

‘General Lafayette’ chatted with a passer-by on Lyme Street. Michaela Pearson (front right) from the OLHSI listened intently. Photo by David Patterson.

Editor’s Note: Read more about Lafayette in these two columns by Tom Gotowka, which were published previously on LymeLine.

‘General Marquis de Lafayette’ brought smiles to many Old Lyme residents during his stroll. Photo by David Patterson.

Op-Ed: Facing the Realities of Rising Waters in Shoreline Connecticut

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Editor’s Notes: i) This op-ed was submitted by Eric Knapp, who is employed as the Town of Old Lyme’s Land Use Coordinator. He is writing here as a private citizen.
ii) This is the opinion of Eric Knapp.

As Long Island Sound rises inexorably, flooding along the Connecticut shoreline is likely to become more frequent. This file photo shows flooding in a prior year at White Sand Beach in Old Lyme.

I have lived in Connecticut my entire life. My career as a lawyer involved representing property owners and land use commissions across the state, but especially along the shoreline, attending countless evening meetings, court hearings and conferences with municipal officials. In my time as a land use officer, I have staffed commissions and served in various positions as a zoning enforcement officer, wetlands enforcement officer, flood plain manager and de facto planner. While I am not a planner by training, my decades of time seeing the Connecticut shoreline in variance capacities has given me time to think about its present and its future.

Connecticut is blessed with abundant water, both fresh and salt. We have a system of rivers that flow through every community, many man-made lakes (almost all of the lakes and ponds in Connecticut are man-made) and a long shoreline with natural harbors. The waters of Connecticut powered our industrialization in the 19th century, and we continue utilizing them for off-shore power and maritime-related centers such as the Coast Guard Academy, Electric Boat and the submarine base. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who does not have some fond association with the waters of the State.

That makes it particularly difficult to address the sorts of changes that have already arrived and those that are likely to arrive during the course of the 21st century. It does not rain in the same way it did when I was a child. We get many more “rain bombs” — short intense storms that drop an inch, two inches, sometimes more in an hour. It does not snow in the same way that it did when I was a child. December and January are largely snow-less now. Storms during February and March more frequently involve collisions between moisture moving north and a cold front moving south, resulting in huge dumping events, with feet of snow falling at a time.

Infrastructure designed for the 20th century cannot keep up with the 21st century weather. Culverts are now undersized, leading to road-flooding. Some of the pipes draining into Long Island Sound now flow backwards during high tide events. Bulkheads are failing. Streets are flooding. The cooling system for the Millstone nuclear plant has been unable to draw water that is sufficiently cool from a warmer ocean, leaving the biggest source of energy for Connecticut subject to shutdowns.  All of this is already here. But more is to come.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released a detailed map showing where it anticipates coastal erosion in New London County. It is a scary map to look at, with entire streets anticipated to face serious erosion by 2030. 

Nearly all the properties around the mouth of the Connecticut River are serviced by septic systems, most of which are outdated. As Long Island Sound rises, saltwater intrusion will make these systems ineffective. Even now, the nitrogen and phosphorus being added to the Sound due to the over-concentration of septic systems is impairing the water quality, impacting attempts at re-establishing shellfish beds along our shorefront.  

As impervious surfaces increase year after year, and the rain bombs occur with greater frequency, storm sewer systems will fail with increasing regularity. Roads will flood and then fail. Methods such as rain gardens and detention basins will lose their effectiveness as the water table rises. There will be, quite literally, no place to put the water.

Elected leaders have not fully embraced this reality. It is not hard to see why. In towns such as Clinton or Westbrook, these low-lying areas provide a large percentage of the real estate taxes. Importantly, since many of the dwellings are seasonally-used, they contribute the same taxes as year-round dwellings, but use a fraction of the services, and do not send any children to the school system. The fact that these neighborhoods are at risk poses potential financial threats to these communities.

Property owners do not want to face this reality either. These are valuable properties. Even when the structures on them are old and dilapidated, the land is worth a great deal. That this investment might lose value, or worse, become valueless, is a hard pill to swallow. Taking steps to address climate-related issues only highlights the problem, putting pressure on resale values. There is frequently an insistence that all that is required is a simple fix: a better drain, or an elevated road, and whatever “temporary” issue there is with water can be resolved.

One of the clearest examples of how the system is not working is the FEMA “substantial improvement” requirement. In theory, the rule is simple: if you perform improvements on your structure, the fair market value of which exceeds 50 percent of the value of the structure, you are obligated to make the structure FEMA-compliant for flood zone purposes. The idea is commendable: over time, as owners perform necessary repairs and improvements, houses will have to be raised, diminishing that owner’s and the community’s flood risk.

The reality is quite different. There are three pathways, and none of them is ideal. First, yes, there are those with the money to elevate their houses. But the truth is that if an owner is going to spend the money to elevate their home, they will also likely want to maximize their investment, making the home as big as zoning will allow, and obtaining variances to go beyond even that. The effluent will still be in the septic system, of course, but the house will be there after the next storm. 

Next are the “dodgers”. As any zoning officer will tell you, people will play games to show that they are not exceeding the 50 percent threshold. They can provide their own appraisal of the structure to show it is worth more. They can claim that there is some code-related emergency. They can try and undervalue the work proposed, or simply do more work than their permit sets forth, or maybe not bother to get a permit at all.

The fact that all of this will leave them vulnerable when some future storm arrives is tomorrow’s problem. By then, it may be another owner’s problem. Every seller of a vulnerable shoreline dwelling silently knows that they have dodged a bullet.

Finally, there are those who are simply not in a position to make improvements. Their dwellings will continue to deteriorate, making the problem harder to solve. Each dollar of value that a structure depreciates lowers the threshold of any future improvement that would trigger the “substantial improvement” requirement. These houses are potential death-traps. Inevitably, when these structures collapse and wash away, their debris will harm other properties.

Each year, the amount of impervious coverage grows, the Sound inexorably rises and the odds of a catastrophic storm get worse.

As the saying goes, the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. Shoreline Connecticut has a problem.

So, what happens next?

Realistically, a lot of hard choices. Solutions will take money. There will be winners and losers. Some towns may need to rethink how they see themselves. But it must be done, and we need to start now.

Let’s start with what we can’t do. We cannot simply try and armor the coastline. Not only is this completely disfavored by both FEMA and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, but it would also be wildly expensive and would not even work. Armor merely diverts the energy and water from the ocean. The water that is not coming ashore on one site will search for another location to enter.

Water may not overtop a wall, but it will exert pressure on the surface water beneath the wall, pressing the fresh water north and then rising up out of the ground. Likewise, where streams or inlets meet the shore, the tidal wetlands will fill up and freshwater wetland will become brackish. A Maginot Wall along the Sound will work as well as the real one did. Water will find a way around. It always does.

Realistically, we are going to need to create space. 

“Creating space” will mean different things in different locations.

For distressed homeowners, who cannot afford to make improvements, a modest buyout program may be possible. Removing houses and creating more pervious area for water to infiltrate will help, if only modestly. Removing potentially hazardous structures from the flood zone will reduce the danger to other structures. Finally, if the structure is removed, there is no chance of anyone being inside during a storm event.

This latter option has two negative financial implications. First, there is the cost of any buyout. Second, each of these dwellings pays taxes, and removing them directly affects the Grand List. But increasing the security of other structures should, in theory, increase their value, somewhat offsetting this loss.

Buffers around tidal wetlands may need to increase. As the Sound rises, these coastal areas will try and move inland. By creating and enforcing realistic buffers, towns can protect the spaces into which these tidal marshes and flats will want to intrude. Property owners will not like seeing these encroachments on their properties. They will feel, rightfully, that they are losing something they own. The abstract idea that healthy tidal areas protect everyone is little comfort to those most affected by these efforts.

Fortunately, there are other creative ways being developed to help mitigate some of these issues.  Boston is trying out an “emerald tutu” system, described by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as, “A linked group of floating spherical mats. Each is roughly a meter in diameter, made of a mix of biomass, seeded with marsh grass, and surrounded by a net to hold it all together.”  These serve the dual purpose of assisting the ecosystem while also helping to dissipate wave energy, preventing or mitigating erosion.

In Stratford, they are using concrete reef balls to perform a similar function. Other communities are adding a layer of additional soil to their tidal wetlands to keep them above rising waters. 

It will take a lot of trial and error to figure out the best ways to accomplish these goals. Not every project will be successful, and what may work in one place may not work in another. 

At the risk of starting a firestorm, there is also the dynamic of reliance on individual septic systems in a large portion of the coast. From Clinton to Old Lyme, the official policy has been “sewer avoidance”. As a result, many older systems, while not officially “failing”, are putting nitrogen and phosphorus into the ecosystem at a rate higher than it can be absorbed. There is also the basic hydrological issue that most of the shore is served by public water, so water arrives from outside of a community and then leaves through the septic system, creating a net increase in water.

The likelihood that new large sewer plants will be constructed is low. They are expensive and unpopular, however necessary they might be. What seems feasible is that smaller community systems can be installed on small lots throughout shoreline communities.  Even tying eight or 10 houses into a small system would prove beneficial. Of course, this is not easy to do under the present Health Code, so regulatory changes may be required to allow this to occur.

For larger commercial uses, there may be some benefit to having them build systems that exceed what they require (in exchange for regulatory benefits), which could allow nearby substandard systems to be phased out and those properties to hook into the commercial system (for a cost.)

Inevitably, while making choices, there will be those who will lose property rights, or more clearly, their properties will be reduced in value, sometimes to zero. The reality is that this is going to happen anyway, as the water rises. But if the government does this, it constitutes a taking and compensation will need to be paid. This will cost real money. People will fight to get as much compensation as possible in exchange for giving up some or all of their property, and rightfully so.

The alternative is to wait for a large storm to come and then see who has the resources to rebuild. I am not persuaded that this would be better.

I am not writing this because I have the answers. I am writing this because we all need to come together and start contemplating the answers together. This will take time. It will be hard. People will disagree, quite loudly, about the extent of the problem, before we even get to the question of what answers will look like.

But I would encourage the people of Connecticut to take up this work now, so that my 14-year-old sons will have a future here. We may be the Land of Steady Habits, but we are also a land of inventors and hard workers. We can solve this, but only if we put our minds and our energy, and yes, our dollars towards a solution.