‘Americans first and neighbors second’

Group with concerns about direction of state, nation forms in Big Horn Basin

A group of approximately 45 Big Horn Basin residents, both Republicans and Democrats, gathered in Greybull Sunday to discuss concerns about the direction of the nation and state and becoming more vocal about confronting threats to the rule of law and democracy.

The man who organized the gathering was Tom Harrington of Shell. A Basin native and Worland High School graduate, Harrington is a former teacher and wrestling coach who went on to graduate from the UW College of Law in 1991 and spend 10 years as a circuit court judge before retiring in 2019.

“We’re Americans first and neighbors second before we’re anything else,” Harrington said of the group’s makeup. “We’re just concerned about what’s been going on.”

Held at the senior center, the meeting lasted about an hour. While it was difficult to keep proceedings on track with that many in attendance, Harrington came away with ideas, concerns and suggestions written on scratch paper by those in attendance.

Harrington said he intends to compile that information. To the question of what he intends to do with it, Harrington simply said, “Be more vocal.”

The common theme, he said, was not only frustration with the developments on the national and state levels of government, but also with the inaction of current elected officials. He emphasized that it wasn’t just a blue room.

“I can’t recall who it was, but someone asked, ‘How many of you are Republicans?’ Close to half raised their hands,” Harrington said. “‘And how many of you are Democrats?’ There again, about half raised their hands.

“We had people who have been affected (by the Department of Government Efficiency cuts). One guy had a contract through the Department of Agriculture cancelled. It’s a reimbursement situation — the producer puts up money expecting to be reimbursed, and out of the blue, cancelled. That type of thing is happening right here, right now.”

Harrington said some members of the group took an active role in last fall’s election, writing postcards to voters in other states and urging them to vote.

“We didn’t say to vote for any particular candidate — just to try to remember to vote,” said Harrington.

That little group of a half dozen continued to meet after the election before ultimately deciding to organize Sunday’s meeting. Harrington admits that he’s not a “techie” and had a difficult time rounding up phone numbers and email addresses for people but was still pleased with the turnout.

He said he asked attendees if they’d like to meet again, either as a large group or as subgroups. They preferred the larger group, so he’ll be scheduling another gathering in the near future.

“I think part of (the appeal) is encouraging each other not to give up or get depressed,” he said.

Harrington acknowledged that it’s “a very different role” for him, adding, “Most of my professional life, I couldn’t be involved in anything political.”

On a personal level, he said he has two primary concerns.

“Number one, for me, is the rule of law — and making sure everybody is following the rule of law,” he said. “The other is the attack on our democracy and the abdication of Congress and their responsibility. They don’t do anything. It’s just, ‘Whatever you want to do.’ And then they complain about unelected bureaucrats.

“I’ve been a registered Republican all my life, held elected office as a Republican and told them I’m thinking about changing my affiliation, but I’m not going to. We’re just frustrated. But the neat thing is, we’ve got conservative ranchers and people who are left of Bernie Sanders. It’s a broad spectrum. We are Americans first and neighbors second ... before we are partisan.”