Monday, August 20, 2018

INCO Weekly Newsletter 8/20

We're On a Roll!
Our initial goal was 1000 stamps, but now, thanks to generous INCO donors, our postcard writers plan to send postcards to at least 2000 voters to Storm the Midterms! With your help, we can encourage more Oregon voters to roll over Trump loyalist Greg Walden and elect progressive Jamie MacLeod-Skinner to the US House of Representatives from Oregon's 2nd Congressional District on November 6. And support progressive candidates elsewhere, as well.

A roll of 100 postcard stamps costs $35.00. Please contribute any amount here or here so we can buy more postcard stamps to reach more voters. You can also donate at INCO events and by mailing your check to INCO, PO Box 536, Warrenton, OR 97146. 
 
 Thanks to your contributions, we've already bought 1100 stamps! Donate here to help INCO buy more stamps!
Scroll down to see how you can be a postcard writer.

 
Countdown: Only 78 days until the midterm election on November 6!
Where's Our Banner?
Our splendid INCO banner fell off the truck pulling the Vote Boat near the end of the Astoria Regatta Grand Land Parade on August 11. People in the boat thought it had been picked up and set on the grass, but it has vanished. It is vinyl, 6 feet long, with sleeves at the top and bottom holding poles. If you have any information about its whereabouts, please contact incoregon@gmail.com.
ACTION PRIORITIES, part 1
Defeating the GOP on November 6 won't happen if the rest of us don't vote! 
SIGN UP HERE to #StormThe Midterms and Stop The Menace.
 
INCO Indivisibles are working to flip two nearby seats and elect Democrat Jamie MacLeod-Skinner in OR-2 (Oregon's 2nd Congressional District) and elect Democrat Carolyn Long in WA-3.  
 
Sign up here and choose what suits you best for INCO's endorsed candidates as well as progressive candidates in nearby swing districts. You can make a difference from home or working with others!
 
 •  Door-to-door outreach:  We’re sending out teams of canvassers on Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons to flip WA-3, the district across the river, and to defeat some ugly Oregon ballot measures the GOP would love to see passed
 
•   Tweet: Set up a private group that includes @indivisiblencor, @huddleupvan, @electlong (WA-3), and @JamieforOregon (OR-2). Tweet and retweet the messaging. Add your own comments.
 
•   Text or Phone: Host a text or phone banking party. Email incoregon@gmail.com, subject line Host a Party.
 
Sign up here to be part of INCO's Storm the Midterms team.
Order 'I am the Storm' t-shirts here. 
WALK AND TALK AGAINST MEASURE 105
Friday, August 24
10 am - training for walk and talk canvassing
11 am - dropping by local businesses to talk about this hate-based measure

Snacks and water provided
Lower Columbia Hispanic Council, 818 Commercial Street, Ste. 100, Astoria
Hosted by La Voz de la Comunidad and INCO
This event is part of the statewide Week of Action sponsored by Oregonians United against Profiling
HAPPENINGS
Check for details and new posts on our events page.
All Indivisibles are welcome at all these events and meetings.
 
THIS WEEK
Friday, August 24 - Postcards to Voters Writing Party - Gearhart, 4 - 5:30 pm.  Contact Bebe at littlebylittle4change@gmail.com for address. Most Fridays, same time, same place. We appreciate donations ($1-5) to help defray costs for postage. If you can, join us afterwards for food and drinks at the Sand Trap.

Friday, August 24 - INCO and La Voz Training and Canvassing Against Measure 101, 10 am-training, 11 am-canvassing Astoria businesses. Lower Columbia Hispanic Council, 818 Commercial Street, Ste. 100, Astoria

UPCOMING
FridayAugust 3Postcards to Voters Writing Party - Manzanita, 4-5:30. Contact Cheryl at coastalmomma@yahoo.com for directions. 

Saturday, September 8 - Astoria INCO Community Group meeting, 8 a.m., Street Fourteen Cafe, 1410 Commercial; no purchase necessary.  On the agenda: another group LTE. What do you want to write about?

Saturday, September 8 - Warrenton INCO Community Group Meeting, 11 am, Dooger’s Seafood and Grill, Highway 101, Warrenton. No purchase necessary. We'll write postcards after the meeting to support Carmen's friend who's running for office in Iowa.

Tuesday, September 11 - Seaside/Gearhart INCO Community Group Meeting6:30-8:00pm. Email kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com for location

Friday, September 14 Postcards to Voters Writing Party - Manzanita, 4-5:30. Contact Cheryl at coastalmomma@yahoo.com for directions. 

Friday, September 14 - Under 40s Group Meeting, Postcard Party + "Wine & Whine" Happy Hour. Happy Hour: 5:00 - 6:00 pm, Group Meeting & Postcard Party: 6:00 - 7:30 pm. Contact  beebashcroft@gmail.com for directions to Seaside location.

Saturday, September 15 - Town Hall with US  Representative Suzanne Bonamici, 1 - 2 pm, Seaside Heights Elementary School, 2000 Spruce Drive, Seaside. We'll have Agree/Disagree signs for you. 

Wednesday, September 19  INCO Vote the Future Team, 6:30 pm, Seaside Library Board Room. All Indivisibles interested in voting and elections are welcome.

Wednesday, September 19 - INCO Book Club, 6:30 pm, in Astoria. We're back after our summer break! The book we’ll discuss is THE AGE OF AMERICAN UNREASON IN A CULTURE OF LIES by Susan Jacoby, Vintage Books, New Updated Edition, 2018. Contact cebeady@outlook.com for directions.

Wednesday, September 19 - Seaside AAUW C
andidates Forum, 7 - 8:30 pm, Seaside City Hall. Confirmed as coming are candidates for Seaside mayor, Seaside City Council, Gearhart City Council, and Tiffiny Mitchell for Oregon Legislature, HD 32.    

Tuesday, September 25 - INCO Voter Registration Drive,  10 am - 2pm, Clatsop Community College, Towler Hall, 3rd floor. Register or update registrations with new name, address, or handwriting.
More Postcard-Writers = More Postcard-Getters
Your handwritten postcards are one of the most effective ways to increase voter turnout.  Write anonymously to support progressive candidates in key elections elsewhere. INCO provides you a Postcards to Voters (PTV) starter kit with postcards, pens, and postage. Bebe Michel will show you how to get started. Contact Bebe at littlebylittle4change@gmail.com for details. 
 
See Happenings in every newsletter for dates and places of postcard parties.
 
Send Postcards to Voters on your own -at your convenience.
It's easy to sign up for www.postcardstovoters.org - they'll send you guidelines, and you can anonymously contact voters elsewhere. 
ACTION PRIORITIES, part 2 
Focus on the issues you care about most 

Tell Your Members of Congress to:
• Uphold the rule of law and protect our democracy. • Condemn the administration's authoritarian speech, actions, and policies. • Pressure your GOP colleagues to assert Congress' role as a co-equal branch of government, not as a servant of the President. • Protect Mueller, Rosenstein, and the Russia investigation that has already led to indictments and convictions of Trumpsters and Russians. • Restore trust in the judiciary, media, and in all the other civic institutions being purposely undermined by Trump and his administration • Defeat the administration's white supremacist actions and promotion of bigotry against people of color, naturalized citizens, foreign students, and non-Christians. 

• Stop the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh as the new Supreme Court Justice. Here's the latest guide from Indivisible. Delay the hearings and confirmation until after the winners of the November election take office.  Mr. Kavanaugh is a well-known Washington insider, anti-environmentalist, and right-wing extremist, even in his judicial decisions. 

•  Develop and enforce a humane, practical bipartisan immigration policy.

• Protect all Americans. • Stand with people who need help getting medical care and enough food to eat. • Stop the administration's attacks on America's allies and embrace of America's totalitarian enemies. • Demand effective government actions to deal with climate change. • Provide meaningful help for Puerto Rico's recovery from Hurricane Maria. • Oppose  nominees to be federal judges who fail to support equal rights for all people. 
 
www.indivisible.org    Contact elected officials here.
Sign up for the weekly Americans of Conscience Action Checklist, compiled by Jen Hoffman and a team of volunteer researchers. Scroll down this week's Checklist  to see inspiring good news from around the country.
Indivisibles In Action
•  ENDORSEMENTS: Meet the candidates from around the country endorsed so far by Indivisible.org. Not all candidates nominated by local Indivisible groups have returned surveys to national to be vetted. You can donate to support these candidates here.

•  A TEENY INDIVISIBLE GROUP AND A BIG LTE: Laura Allen is an active Seaside Indivisible. Her mom, Ruth, is 80 and lives in a very rural part of Texas. Ruth wrote a letter to the editor criticizing a misleading article about immigration written by her Republican-leaning US Representative, Henry Cuellar (D). She pointed out his factual errors and said Cuellar and Congress should focus on the gang and domestic violence that brings them to our borders. Ruth tried to call Cuellar's office before she wrote the letter, but no one would talk with her. He responded with his own LTE attacking her and repeating a lot of his first article, but corrected the false statements pointed out by Ruth. Though she was not happy Cuellar attacked her, she was pleased she got such a reaction from him! Then she got a call from another resident who invited Ruth to join the local Indivisible group. It has only 2-3 members. She also said she intended to show up at the local cafe on Friday mornings for coffee and encourage like-minded people to join her. 
ALERT:  Domestic Surveillance Continues
"At the end of July the Boston Globe published a detailed report about a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) program, “Quiet Skies”. Thousands of innocent Americans were surveilled based on the thinnest of reasons. This surveillance appears to have continued even after the passenger exited the terminal to the airport curb which means air marshals were also recording who was picking passengers up. This program raises many troubling questions and I asked the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General to conduct an audit of “Quiet Skies”, evaluating its compliance with the law, impact on personal privacy and overall effectiveness. The IG contacted our office this week to inform us that they would conduct this review. I am encouraged by their quick response."
-- 8-17-18 newsletter, US Representative Michael Capuano, MA-7
INSIGHTS
“Democracy is not just the right to vote, it is the right to live in dignity.”
― 
Naomi Klein
We're Ready! 
Here's INCO's plan if Trump crosses one of three red lines that threatens the rule of law as it relates to the investigation: fire Mueller, fire Rosenstein, or pardon key figures. 
  • If actions are triggered BEFORE 2 p.m. local time —> events will begin @ 5 p.m. local time.
  • If actions are triggered AFTER 2 p.m. local time —> events will begin @ noon local time the following day.
We'll take to the streets to Rally for the Rule of Law at 8th and Commercial in Astoria. Indivisibles across the nation will be gathering according to this schedule.  

We'll post info about a Rally for the Rule of Law on our INCO Facebook page and email an Action Alert. You can also sign up (RSVP) for a notification here.  
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
INCO has Community Groups in Manzanita-Cannon Beach, Seaside-Gearhart, Warrenton, Astoria-East County, and the Washington Peninsula. All INCO Indivisibles are invited to get active with INCO's Events Team, Oppose Bigotry Team, Vote the Future Team, and Book Club. Contact Laurie at incoregon@gmail.com for more information.
 
Questions, suggestions, & photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com.
Elections, voting, issues, and more at INCO's Vote the Future website:  incovotethefuture.org.

INCO's new website is Activism for Really Do Care INCO Under 40s
 Join INCO's closed Facebook group for more actions, information, and discussion.
Share this newsletter and our website with other resisters. Check spam if you can't find it.
INCO is supported entirely by donations. Please donate here.

Deb Vanasse and Laurie Caplan, INCO Co-chairs
INCO Weekly Newsletter   August 20, 2018