11-15-2021 Newsletter

 

#TimeToAct  Join Indivisibles throughout Oregon and the Consolidated Oregon Indivisible Network (COIN) in a postcard campaign to show our Senators the overwhelming grassroots support for voting rights.  Use a postcard to let Senators know how important passing the #FreedomToVoteAct is for you and everyone in the nation. Any postcard will do, even a heavyweight 4 x 6 index card. This is a great time to thank Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Jeff Merkley for their tireless efforts to pass voting rights legislation and to protect our democracy from the anti-democratic forces in Congress and the country. Senator Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Senator Jeff Merkley 531 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 GETTING EVERY VOTER TO VOTE Training is Thursday for COIN's Voter Outreach Team Getting non-affiliated voters to vote could mean progressive victories! COIN's Voter Outreach Team will focus on projects that identify non-affiliated voters (NAV) and that bridge the rural-urban divide. If you care about getting more votes for causes and candidates you support, please attend the first training session on Thursday. Register here. This team is led by Bev Sherrill and Debi Ferrer, founding members of the Oregon Democracy Project.   The first Zoom training is Thursday, November 18, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Register here. Learn about deep canvassing, how to organize an event in your own community, or be ready to help out in districts that will need it most in 2022.   The project objectives are: -->  Identify progressive NAVs to later target for GOTV efforts. -->  Identify and better understand the issues that are important to NAVs so as to help candidates better address their concerns. -->  Train volunteers in “deep canvassing” techniques so that a team of folks could work together in important “flippable” districts or critical local races, via phone or in person. NO MIDDLE GROUND “In this time of testing, will we do our duty? Will we do what we must? Will we defend our Constitution? Will we stand for truth? Will we put duty to our oath above partisan politics? Or will we look away from the danger, ignore the threat, embrace the lies and enable the liar?” she said. “There is no gray area when it comes to that question. When it comes to this moment, there is no middle ground.” -- Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), St. Anselm College, November 9, 2021 "It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. -- President Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863 NANCY AND JOYCE'S GREAT IDEA Kudos to Nancy Holmes and Joyce Hunt, who organized a pop-up rally to support the pipeline protest at Standing Rock on November 15, 2016. Inspired by its success, Nancy invited a few women to begin organizing the Astoria Women’s March for January 21, 2017. That's where many of us first heard of Indivisible and signed up up to start INCO. DRAMA IN RURAL OREGON Even a brief glance at the headlines reveals challenges and turmoil in rural Oregon. Keep up with the latest rural news and activism with the Rural Organizing Project. ROP started in 1992 to support its multi-issue, rural-centered, grassroots base in Oregon and continues to challenge anti-democratic forces in the state.  ROP began with 30 human dignity groups and is now a network of over 80 groups, including INCO, across 35 Oregon counties and one tribal community. HAPPENINGS  Tuesday, December 14 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, December 13 for your Zoom link. Saturday, December 11 - INCO Astoria - North County Community Group Zoom meeting, 11am - noon. If you are new to this group, contact incoregon@gmail.com by December 10 to get the Zoom link.  Saturday, January 15 - INCO Warrenton Community Group, in person meeting, 11 a.m. Location TBA. Contact incoregon@gmail.com by January 13 for more information. EVERY FRIDAY - INCO Write to Voters Virtual Group, 3 - 4 pm. Via Zoom. If you are new to this group, contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link. More details about writing to voters are below. Join us for informal conversation, venting, and solving the world's problems. Pets welcome. Write To Voters - Research shows that your letters to voters increased vote turnout significantly. Elections and issue campaigns need you year-round. INCO encourages you to sign up to write to voters at www.postcardstovoters.org. For general Get Out the Vote campaigns, sign up at Vote Forward. For supplies or information, contact incoregon@gmail.com. INSIGHTS "At every crossway on the road that leads to the future ... each progressive spirit is opposed by ... a thousand men appointed to guard the past." -- Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist Comments, news, and photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com.  Resources and other information at www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org. Encourage others to sign up for the INCO newsletter at our website or here. INCO Weekly Newsletter   November 15, 2021