12-6-2021 Newsletter

 

INCO WINTER HOLIDAYS CELEBRATION Friday, December 17  3-4 pm, via Zoom Party Suggestions: Decorate yourself. Write a New Year's resolution for your least or most favorite political figure.  Decorate your Zoom screen (go to Video options at the bottom of your Zoom screen to select filters, backgrounds, etc. Newer software is needed.)  Share your favorite memory, gift, music. Bring cookies. Contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link if you don't already have it for INCO's Friday Zoom writers gathering.   We can't celebrate in the same room, so let's celebrate with Zoom!   WHICH CANDIDATES? WHOSE VALUES? Who will fill the vacancies coming up in local and regional elected offices? Pro-democracy candidates who believe in the rule of law and share progressive/liberal values -  or right-wing extremists or other conservatives?  Find out how COIN members, Tillamook Democracy Project, and Protect Oregon's Progress successfully recruited and supported local candidates in 2020.   Tuesday, December 7 at 7 pm via Zoom Hear from successful candidates.  Q&A.  Please register here. If you are interested in running for office, helping with campaigns, or simply making sure we have candidates we believe in, please attend! WHAT'S YOUR STORY? Everyone loves good news, so INCO's leadership team wrote a Letter to the Editor (LTE) in Thursday's Astorian highlighting the accomplishments of the Biden administration. Please join us in reminding readers that Congress - mostly only Democrats, unfortunately - is passing legislation to improve our lives. Your LTE could tell how people are benefitting or something else entirely, in a few sentences or a few paragraphs, up to 250 words. Include your name, address, and phone number so the paper can contact you to confirm authorship. Submit your letter to editor@dailyastorian.com or online here.  BIDEN'S PRESS COVERAGE:  Using artificial intelligence (AI), a recent analysis of 200,000 articles using artificial intelligence (AI) shows the negativity of Biden's recent press coverage with precision. You can help correct that with your LTE. He is removed, but his loyal anti-democratic followers persist, and some are in Congress. You're an essential part of INCO's ongoing work to defend democracy. Thank you!  This was INCO's Rally to Impeach and Remove, Astoria, December 17, 2019.  COURSE CORRECTION FOR THE COURT The current conservative, often reactionary, majority of the US Supreme Court seems intent on undoing decades of settled law and precedent. If you are concerned, check out the suggestions in Robert Hubbell's Today's Edition online newsletters, including these from his December 1 edition: •  "Though expanding the Court may be a longshot, the threat of expansion was enough to chasten a reactionary majority on the Supreme Court in 1937. The Senate has a bill on its docket that would increase the size of the Court to thirteen. Call Chuck Schumer and your Senators urging them to co-sponsor and pass the Judiciary Act (S.1141)." •  "... we can pressure Congress to pass legislation to codify the rights recognized in Roe v. Wade. Call your Senators and urge them to co-sponsor and pass the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021 (S.1975). Senator Ron Wyden email here 202-224-5244 Senator Jeff Merkley email here 202-224-3753 LEARN MORE: Check out last week's conversation about the current Supreme Court, "Justice on the Brink: Twelve Months that Transformed the Supreme Court." It's presented by The Brennan Center for Justice and features noted author and SCOTUS commentator Linda Greenhouse.  It's on YouTube here. OREGON'S NEW CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS Oregon's legislature created these Congressional districts using the 2020 census results. It's likely there will be heated contests in all districts, and the outcome could affect not just Congress but the impact of legislation on Oregonians. Note that these districts are roughly equal in population, so you can see how thinly populated a large part of our state is. COIN WANTS TO KNOW COIN wants to know about the calls, emails, postcards, rallies, and more that Oregon Indivisibles are doing. These numbers will add weight to INCO and COIN influence. COIN's report form is here. On the drop-down menu for the COIN Squad group name, please select INCO, whether you are working alone or as a member of a group.   HAPPENINGS  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.  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, 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 (WTV) 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.  Please note: December 17 is INCO's Winter Celebration. No WTV group on December 24 or 31. WTV returns January 7, 2022. Write To Voters - Research shows that your letters to voters increased voter 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 "Bless all things that are more than one thing and all people For our unwitting and witting witless improvised mixtures...." -- excerpt from "Culture," by Robert Pinsky 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. Look for the INCO column in Hipfish Monthly. INCO Weekly Newsletter   December 6, 2021