Monday, December 26, 2022

12-26-2022 Newsletter

 

ONWARD!
We hope you and your dear ones are enjoying a joyous holiday season. Let each of us bring hope, peace, love, kindness, and better days for our country and planet to 2023.

Best wishes for your new year from INCO's leadership team,
Bebe, Carmen, Cheryl, Eric, Kathleen, Ken, Laurie, Mary Beth
FOCUS: BRINGING TRUMP TO JUSTICE
 
J6 committee last hearing and summary of referrals to DOJ
Comments from Heather Cox Richardson, December 19, 2022 

Comments from Robert Hubbell, December 20, 2022   

Jonathan Last discusses the implications and possible consequences of the referrals in his Bulwark column. 


The complete J6 report
Joyce Vance presents an excellent chapter-by-chapter overview of the complete 845-page report. Vance quotes the report:

“The Select Committee estimates that in the two months between the November election and the January 6th insurrection, President Trump or his inner circle engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation, targeting either State legislators or State or local election administrators, to overturn State election results. This included at least:

  • 68 meetings, attempted or connected phone calls, or text messages, each aimed at one or more State or local officials;

  • 18 instances of prominent public remarks, with language targeting one or more such officials; and

  • 125 social media posts by President Trump or senior aides targeting one or more such officials, either explicitly or implicitly, and mostly from his own account.”

FOCUS: OUT OF THIS WORLD
INCO celebrates what people accomplish when we cooperate, share, learn, and listen. Thanks to the BBC and the James Webb telescope for these photos of our marvelous universe released after the initial drop last summer.

This photo, per
 BBC.com: "This large galaxy to the right was discovered by the great Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky in the 1940s. Its intricate cartwheel structure is the result of a head-on collision with another galaxy. The diameter is about 145,000 light years." Note: 1 light year equals 5.88 trillion miles, so the diameter of this cartwheel galaxy is 85,260,000 trillion miles. 
FOCUS: DEFENDING DEMOCRACY
-- Photo and caption from The Hill.
HAPPENINGS
Thursday, January 12 - INCO South County Community Group, 6:30-7:30 pm, via Zoom. All INCO members are invited to attend. Contact Bebe at littlebylittle4change@gmail.com to get the Zoom link.
INSIGHTS
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” 
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
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. We're on Facebook, too.
INCO Weekly Newsletter       December 26, 2022

Monday, December 19, 2022

12-19-2022 Newsletter

“This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year’s threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future;
the place of caught breath.”
― Margaret Atwood
AT LAST . . . . 

Next week is shaping up to be a rollercoaster ride! Keep your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and hold on to personal items that may come loose during the ride!

  • On Monday, December 19, the J6 Committee will hold its final public hearing at 1:00 PM Eastern / 10:00 AM Pacific. The Committee will vote on criminal referrals to the DOJ and approve the final report. Per media reports, the Committee will recommend that the DOJ prosecute Trump for insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to defraud the US.

  • On Tuesday, December 20, the House Ways and Means Committee will meet to review Trump’s tax returns. At the meeting, the Committee can vote to make Trump’s tax returns public!

  • On Wednesday, December 21, the J6 Committee will release its final report.
    -- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition, Substack, December 16, 2022

MORE GOOD NEWS
Every Sunday Jessica Craven highlights positive developments in politics, science, global affairs, climate, and more in her excellent Substack newsletter, Chop Wood, Carry Water. We think you'll enjoy this week's list. 
REMEMBER THEIR NAMES
These are the 34 Republican Members of Congress who exchanged text messages with Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, about assorted schemes to overturn the 2020 election. Oregonians don't have a vote regarding any of these traitors*, but we can continue our work to support and elect candidates and representatives who actively defend democracy.

Rep. Rick Allen (Georgia)
Rep. Brian Babin (Texas)
Rep. Andy Biggs (Arizona)
Rep. Dan Bishop (North Carolina)
Rep. Kevin Brady (Texas)
Rep. Mo Brooks (Alabama)
Rep. Ted Budd (North Carolina)
Rep. Andrew Clyde (Georgia)
Sen. Kevin Cramer (North Dakota)
Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas)
Rep. Warren Davidson (Ohio)
Rep. Tom Emmer (Minnesota)
Rep. Bob Gibbs (Ohio)
Rep. Louie Gohmert (Texas)
Rep. Paul Gosar (Arizona)
Rep. Mark Green (Tennessee)
Rep. Jody Hice (Georgia)
Rep. Richard Hudson (North Carolina)
Rep. Mike Johnson (Louisiana)
Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisconsin)
Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio)
Rep. Fred Keller (Pennsylvania)
Rep. Mike Kelly (Pennsylvania)
Sen. Mike Lee (Utah)
Rep. Billy Long (Missouri)
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (Georgia)
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming)
Rep. Barry Moore (Alabama)
Rep. Greg Murphy (North Carolina)
Rep. Ralph Norman (South Carolina)
Sen. David Perdue (Georgia)
Rep. Scott Perry (Pennsylvania)
Rep. Chip Roy (Texas)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (Georgia)


*"Traitors" is the opinion of the editor, Laurie Caplan, and does not necessarily reflect the views of INCO or its leadership team.

The New York Times featured the 
names and photos of the 147 Congressional Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 Presidential election results. Representative Cliff Bentz of Oregon was one of them and was re-elected in the November 2022 midterm.
PLEASE CALL TODAY
They won't know what you want if you don't tell them.
 
Please take a few minutes to call Senator Merkley's office (202-224-3753) and Senator Wyden's office (202-223-5244) and ask them to stay in session until the following Indivisible priorities are passed in these final weeks this session of Congress.
  • PASS S4573, The Electoral Count Act, to strengthen the presidential certification procedures and prevent future presidents from trying to overturn an election, as we witnessed Donald Trump try to do.
  • Lift the debt ceiling through reconciliation, to prevent the GOP from holding our government hostage in order to get their legislative agenda passed. Key Republicans in Congress are threatening to block raising the debt ceiling. If they succeed, the American and global economies would implode.
HAPPENINGS
Thursday, January 12 - INCO South County Community Group, 6:30-7:30 pm, via Zoom. All INCO members are invited to attend. Contact Bebe at littlebylittle4change@gmail.com to get the Zoom link.
INSIGHTS
“You have not lived until you have done something for someone
who can never repay you.”
--John Bunyan, 17th century English writer and preacher
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. We're on Facebook, too.
INCO Weekly Newsletter       December 19, 2022

 

Monday, December 12, 2022

12-12-2022 Newsletter

 

YOU'RE INVITED!
"In a Landscape" is the quilt designed and sewn by INCO leader Laurie Caplan for the Clatsop Democrats raffle. It is 41" x 47", all cotton, and ready to hang or use as a lap quilt.
SURVEY ABOUT CLIMATE, ENERGY, AND ENVIRONMENT
What are the issues you care about? Please complete this survey from the CEE (Climate, Energy, Environment) Team of COIN. Your feedback will help COIN's CEE team affect policies and policies and programs at the state, federal and local levels that promote environmental sustainability. Please fill out the CEE survey by December 31.
"ANTIBODIES TO ANTIDEMOCRATIC THINKING"
• Watch as Lizzo shares the spotlight as a "champion of the people" with these stellar activists. 

• For more proof that every voice matters, major advances for civil rights for people with disabilities came from grassroots activists demanding change. "Crip Camp" is a film documenting this inspiring accomplishment.

 "I have faith in the underlying resilience of our country’s democracy. The antibodies to antidemocratic thinking and practice are kicking in." The director of Freedom House looks at the power of dissent and democracy in the US and around the world. 

•  Who decides how to run elections? That's the heart of a case before the US Supreme Court, Moore v. Harper. This New Yorker article explains the controversy - and why conservative Justices appear ready to disrupt precedent once again. 
CHANUKAH: LIGHTS IN THE WINDOW
About 2100 years ago the Greek-Syrian ruler, Antiochus, sought to forbid the practice of Judaism in what is now Israel and ordered Jews to turn instead to the Greek gods and pagan-worship, the very antithesis of the Jewish faith, which gave birth to monotheism.

In a victory against all odds, the Jews defeated Antiochus’s army, restoring their right to worship, and rededicated the Second Temple in their ancient capital, Jerusalem. This is considered the first battle for religious freedom and is the basis for the Jewish holiday of Chanukah.

Starting Sunday, December 18, the first night of Chanukah this year, people of all religious faiths will display the Chanukah menorah in their windows, in solidarity with Jews facing increasing antisemitism and with religious freedom for all peoples.  

PLEASE CALL TODAY
They won't know what you want if you don't tell them.
 
Please take a few minutes to call Senator Merkley's office (202-224-3753) and Senator Wyden's office (202-223-5244) and ask them to stay in session until the following Indivisible priorities are passed in these final weeks this session of Congress.
  • PASS S4573, The Electoral Count Act, to strengthen the presidential certification procedures and prevent future presidents from trying to overturn an election, as we witnessed Donald Trump try to do.
  • Lift the debt ceiling through reconciliation, to prevent the GOP from holding our government hostage in order to get their legislative agenda passed. Key Republicans in Congress are threatening to block raising the debt ceiling. If they succeed, the American and global economies would implode.
HAPPENINGS
Thursday, January 12 - INCO South County Community Group, 6:30-7:30 pm, via Zoom. All INCO members are invited to attend. Contact Bebe at littlebylittle4change@gmail.com to get the Zoom link.
INSIGHTS
"People will sometimes forgive you the good you have done them,
but seldom the harm they have done to you."
-- Somerset Maugham
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. We're on Facebook, too.
INCO Weekly Newsletter       December 12, 2022