INCO's Day of Service andSupport Martin Luther King, Jr. Day • Inauguration Day TODAY - Monday, January 20, 2025 at 9 a.m. Columbia River Coffee Roaster (CRCR) - formerly 3 Cups Coffee House 279 West Marine Drive, Astoria We'll gather for community and connection. This day and time align with the inauguration in Washington DC.
INCO has acolorful service projectto help our neighbors and brighten our spirits! When weather permits, we'll be painting the outside doors of the units of Astoria's Columbia Inn, an emergency shelter run by Clatsop Community Action (CCA).
Together, let's enjoycoffee,finalize our painting plans, and share support and concerns. This will be way more enjoyable and productive than watching the inauguration.
HOW TOPARTICIPATE INPAINTING: Come to the January 20 gathering, or contact incoregon@gmail.com.
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THE ERA IS NOW IN THE CONSTITUTION
With three days left in his presidency, Joseph R. Biden ensured that the United States Constitution, the oldest on earth, would finally include an explicit guarantee of sex equality with the Equal Rights Amendment. Read more about this historic event here.
WRITING EFFECTIVE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Move Oregon Forward Campaign Training
During this virtual LTE writing party, you'll get campaign info and talking points from the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, as well as tips, tricks, and support for writing your best LTE and getting it submitted. Get answers to questions you may have.
PRESIDENT BIDEN'S WARNING
"Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.
"Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power . . . The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.
".... Now it's your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America. You love it, too. God bless you all. May God protect our troops. Thank you for this great honor."
Watch President Biden's 15-minute farewell address to the nationhere. Read Robert Hubbell's perspective about President Biden's speech here.
THIS AMERICAN FLAG
"Aesthetically, it’s a mess. The stars are unevenly spaced. The stripes are uneven too, and it is constructed from a hodgepodge of available fabrics from a difficult situation in a most perilous moment.
"The red stripes are the remnants of torn-up Nazi flags.
"The Blue Canton is made from parachute silk hastily died blue.
"The stitching is hurried.
"The flag was made sometime on the 6th of June 1944.
"It was presented to American soldiers who landed on Utah Beach, and relieved the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne who fell from the sky on top of the crossroads village of Sainte-Mère Église, making it the first place in France liberated by the US Army.
"The flag was made by the French resistance, and it was carried to the end of the war by the US Army." -- Steve Schmidt, Substack, January 19, 2025
CIVICS CURRICULUM
"I remember decades ago reading a book called Dumbing Us Down by Gatto and began to worry about curriculum at that point. I think everyone needs to go to their next school board meeting and ask specific questions about Civics classes and content. If no meetings are available, find out which teachers at your high school teach any social studies and ask them. It may be too late, but we have to start somewhere. Good information needs to be replenished." -- Bonnie MacEvoy
At Saturday's INCO meeting, we talked about local school board elections and policies, particularly about immigrants and ICE. If you'd like to track your local school board meetings and keep INCO informed about them, please contact incoregon@gmail.com.
PROJECT 2025: BLUEPRINT FOR TRUMP AND THE GOP
Historian Timothy Snyder wrote ON TYRANNY: TWENTY LESSONS FROM THE TWENTIETH CENTURY after Trump's election in 2016. INCO encourages you to read this brief important book.
"WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In an eleventh-hour decision on Sunday, the Inauguration of Donald J. Trump has been moved from the Capitol Rotunda to the interior of a Tesla Cybertruck.
"The change of venue, dictated by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), means that only people with a net worth of over 100 billion will be able to attend.
“'There’s room for me, Zuckerberg, and Bezos, but, unfortunately, not JD Vance,” Musk said. “I usually don’t let employees to work remotely, but JD will be allowed to call in.'”
"The decision to hold the Inauguration inside the electric vehicle pleased Trump, who estimated the number of people inside the truck at 4 million."
INCO INSIGHTS "That's the beauty of democracy, that together we can be more than our individual selves."
-- Ady Barkan
Indivisible defends democracy by opposing authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption. 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 here. Look for the INCO column in Hipfish Monthly. We're on Facebook, too. INCO Weekly Newsletter • January 20, 2024