What's On Our Minds for March 9, 2023
Here’s what we talked about this morning:
The history of how socialism became un-American. As you may have guessed, it involves the manipulation of public opinion by moneyed interests.
Progress being made in a couple of campaigns for positions on local school and special-district boards.
This moving first-hand account of trench warfare in Ukraine. One of us said that it reminded her of The War Prayer, by Mark Twain.
The question of how we characterize the decade between 2000 and 2010. Was it the decade of disasters? The decade of peace and love? Read Noah Smith’s excellent Conceiving the 2000s and join us next week to tell us what you think.
The ongoing question of what the Tillamook School Board could possibly have been thinking when it made the most recent appointment to its Policy Committee. The Tillamook County Pioneer is trying to provide a fair and neutral venue for letters on the subject, but we struggle with the problem of listening respectfully to arguments directed at the integrity of someone who asked this simple question: “Based on the applications, what other school board would have chosen Tiffany over Romy?”
What's on our minds for March 2, 2023
Here’s what we talked about this morning:
The need for good people to run for open seats on the Tillamook County Transportation District Board of Directors!
The need for better last-mile broadband in South County.
News that Tim Borman is running for Position 7 on the Neahkahnie School Board!
A new book that one of our members is reading: The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy.
Appreciation for Jimmy Carter, and for the David French article about Carter’s most famous speech: The Wisdom and Prophecy of Jimmy Carter’s ‘Malaise’ Speech.
Appreciation for the Tillamook 8th Graders who raised money for a trip to Washington D.C., and a suggestion that we interview a few of them, maybe before and after their trip.
The need to support Nehalem Bay Health District bond measure, in part because it might bring a much-needed memory-care facility to Tillamook County.
Concerns and questions about the stance we should take on local demonstrations against the war in Ukraine.
Items that were suggested before the meeting, but that we didn’t get to, are here.
What's On Our Minds for February 16, 2023
Here’s what we talked about this morning:
Whether and how we should respond when people in our community call our party The Democrat Party (an epithet used by people who do not share our values) instead of our proper name: The Democratic Party.
CommonGoodGoverning - a grassroots-driven “Network to Preserve Democracy” with about 1600 members but no website.
Whether and how we should respond to Cyrus Javadi’s opposition to HB2667. Friends of Family Farmers has good information about it at https://friendsoffamilyfarmers.org/2023/01/hb-2667-moratorium/. What do you think?
What's On Our Minds for February 9, 2023
Here are the things we talked about today:
Biden’s performance in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address. All of us were pleased and impressed, but we also discussed our concerns about his age and his performance in an interview with Judy Woodruff the next day. In this context we talked about who might be our second choice for a 2024 presidential nominee. These names were mentioned: Kamala Harris (see Kamala Harris Has Had a Most Excellent Year), Cory Booker, Gavin Newsom, Hakim Jeffries, and Pete Buttigieg.
Two David Brooks articles, one in today’s New York Times on the death of his clinically depressed friend (How Do You Serve a Friend in Despair?) and another that was published on December 22, 2022: Biden’s America Finds its Voice.
Noah Smith’s January 27th article about vertical communities, and an article in The Bulwark reflecting on it: Meatspace Matters. Some of us talked about the continuing rewards of finding traditional community in our churches. Others talked about the hope of building community and practicing civil discourse in meetings like our Thursday morning discussion group. In that context we discussed (after reading aloud) this Civility Pledge.
Our surprise in learning that April Bailey had written an appreciative article about Misty Wharton in the Tillamook County Pioneer in May of 2017: Nestucca Valley School District’s New Superintendent Carries on a Commitment to Community.
The decisions some of us are making to enter (or re-enter) local politics in upcoming elections.
What's On Our Minds for February 2, 2023
Here’s what we talked about this morning:
A book recommendation: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Another book recommendation: Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics and Why Our Future Depends On It by Chloe Maxim and Canyon Woodward. Jim Heffernan has copies to lend.
An article in this week’s New Republic on Americans Who Are Fleeing the United States [our copy here].
A troubling question: what explains the apparent decline of involvement in TillcoDems?
A suggestion that we (as TillcoDems) become an annual sponsor of the Tillamook County Pioneer, and that we ask TCP to co-sponsor a series of both-sides conversations between people in the county who have opposing views.
What's On Our Minds for January 26, 2023
These were the things on our minds this morning:
We heard consensus around the idea that Democrats need to talk more and with more confidence about what’s been going well in our country lately – about the good things we accomplish when we are in power. A couple of people mentioned that they often find the issues that need to be repeated widely in Jessica Craven’s Chop Wood, Carry Water and in Simon Rosenburg’s Getting Louder.
We heard hope and curiosity about working with the Rural Organizing Project. One of their leaders will be in Tillamook this afternoon.
We heard admiration for Jim Heffernan’s most recent letter to the editor of the Daily Astorian (Essential), about the rights that FDR suggested we recognize four ourselves in his last State of the Union speech. You can read it at https://www.dailyastorian.com/opinion/letters/letter-essential/article_adfc68be-9a9f-11ed-84a1-c7bc8b1ab27e.html. What do you think? Do you consider these to be rights you should have? Should others have them too?
What's on Our Minds for January 19, 2023
At our inaugural Thursday 8:30 a.m. meeting, we heard appreciation for the productive and civil atmosphere in Tuesday night’s Election Debriefing Session, and for the availability of recorded meetings in general. Email us if you would like to see the recording of the Debriefing Session.
But the subject most talked about was the Town Hall that Senator Jeff Merkley hosted on Saturday at Tillamook High School. Merkley’s sponsorship of the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act made an impression as a commonsense measure that might reduce the kind of speculation that drives up housing prices and worsens instability across the whole economy. We also noted the compassion, humility, and decency in Merkley’s presence and particularly in his last comment, echoing Rodney King’s words in 1991, about the mental health crisis that is needlessly worsened by intolerance for transgender youth: Can’t we all just get along?
"Short Read of the Week" is now "What's on Your Mind?"
The TillcoDems Communications Committee has made some changes to the format of what we used to call our weekly Short Read of the Week meeting. It now has a new name (What’s On Your Mind?), a new meeting time (8:30 a.m.), and a new more-inclusive focus: we ask each person to recommend something – maybe an article you’ve read, or a podcast or video you’ve heard or seen, or maybe just an issue that you hope TillcoDems will be thinking and talking about this week. It doesn’t have to be smart or profound or informative.
Will you join us tomorrow morning?
Short Read of the Week for December 22, 2022
This morning we discussed six articles, and chose one that we recommend if you don’t read anything else this week:
How to Imagine a Different America
https://www.myheraldreview.com/opinion/commentary/jamelle-bouie-how-to-imagine-a-different-america/article_8adb7332-80b1-11ed-9c22-3ffd84b4f52b.html
[our copy here]
We also recommend this:
Values-based politics are winning politics for Democrats
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/07/democrats-woke-politics-midterm-elections/
[our copy here]
Short Read of the Week for December 8, 2022
Here’s what we recommend you read this week, even if you don’t read anything else:
The Truth About Election Fraud: It's Rare
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/01/truth-about-election-fraud-its-rare/
[our copy here]
We also recommend this:
The midterms made state governments bluer
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/2022-governor-state-government/
[our copy here]
Short Read of the Week for December 1, 2022
This week we discussed three articles, and chose to recommend one of them that you should read if you don’t read anything else this week:
America is still stumbling toward good
2022-11-11 Terrance Carroll
https://www.denverpost.com/2022/11/11/opinion-america-is-still-stumbling-toward-good/
[our copy here]
From the article: “Democracy is a slow process of stumbling to the right decision instead of going straight forward to the wrong one.”
We also recommend this:
Being in a union means you could make $1.3 million more over your lifetime
https://www.businessinsider.com/being-in-union-make-1-million-dollars-more-over-lifetime-2022-10?op=1
[our copy here]
Short Read of the Week for November 24, 2022
In this morning’s discussion we chose one article that every Tillamook County Democrat should read this week if you don’t read anything else:
Four Stark Lessons from a Democratic Upset
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/opinion/lessons-democratic-upset-washington-midterms.html
[our copy here]
We also chose to recommend this:
Using the Ocean to fight climate change raises serious questions
https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/using-the-ocean-to-fight-climate-change-raises-serious-environmental-justice-and-technical-questions
Deep Read of the Month for November 2022
This morning we discussed an article that should be required reading for everyone who is registered to vote but not affiliated with a political party — the voters we sometimes call “the NAVs.” It traces the decades-long slow slide of the Republican Party into the far-right:
It didn't start with Trump: The Decades-Long Saga of How the GOP Went Crazy
by David Corn
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/09/it-didnt-start-with-trump-the-decades-long-saga-of-how-the-gop-went-crazy/
[our copy here]
As our nation descends into gridlock and chaos, it’s getting harder every day to stay neutral. We ask, if you are a Non-Affiliated Voter, that you please read this article with an awareness of your own values. Maybe you don’t agree with everything that the present-day Democratic Party stands for, but could you really live with yourself as a Republican, tainted with this legacy?
Short Read of the Week for November 10, 2022
This morning we discussed nine great articles suggested by Tillamook County Democrats since our last meeting, and from them we chose one that we hope you will read if you don’t read anything else this week:
Regardless of what happens today, we are the future of America
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/regardless-of-what-happens-today
[our copy here]
From the article:
”Ask yourself: Why are the election deniers, the monied interests, and the bigots and the haters fighting so hard to defeat us? Why are they telling such blatant lies? Why are they so desperate to suppress our votes? Why are they so willing to violate the Constitution, the rule of law, and common decency in order to claw their way to victory? For one simple reason: They are afraid of us. They know deep in their hearts that we are the future of America. We who call ourselves progressives. We who are people of color. We who are young. We who are women. We who are new immigrants to these shores. We who are LGBTQ people. We who are Muslim and Jewish and people of every faith, or no faith. We who are poor. We who are average working people who need and deserve better jobs and higher wages. We who believe in democracy and cherish the Constitution and the rule of law. They are afraid of us because we are gaining in numbers, gaining in strength. Our voices are growing louder. … [T]hey know that over the long term we are winning. It is inevitable. Which is why they are so desperate.”
We also chose to recommend this:
The Truth About Inflation
https://popular.info/p/the-truth-about-inflation
[our copy here]
Short Read of the Week for November 3, 2022
This morning we discussed six great articles, and from them chose one that we hope you will read if you don’t read anything else this week:
Voters mad about inflation might be tempted to vote GOP. Think again.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/01/midterms-republicans-nonexistent-agenda/
[our copy here]
Deep Read of the Month for October 2022
We are often looking for hope — just any glimmer of hope — in considering what to recommend for your reading, and the article we read for today’s Deep Read of the Month discussion (What Does Sustainable Living Look Like? Maybe Like Uruguay [our copy here]) is full of it, particularly for younger people. We want young people to know that your future doesn’t have to be grim. By staying engaged in the political process, by not giving up, you can build a world like the one described here.
By email after this morning’s meeting, Mary McGinnis summarized it perfectly:
This article was an amazing, comprehensive look at the possibilities for slowing climate damage.
Here are the links I mentioned this morning that may deepen people's interest in the article:
1. Biden's Inflation Reduction Act also reduces climate emissions-
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/inflation-reduction-act-climate-change-rcna42052
2. A concise description of Uruguay's climate plan:
3. Link to the Story of Stuff, what we individuals can do for the climate and a personal appeal-
Thanks for the discussion this morning!
Short Read of the Week for October 13, 2022
This morning we discussed eight articles that had been suggested during the week by a good variety of Democrats around our county, and selected one that we feel you should read if you don’t read anything else this week:
Biden global strategy tackles China, Russia, domestic needs
https://ktvl.com/news/nation-world/biden-global-strategy-tackles-china-russia-domestic-needs-foreign-policy-middle-class-ukraine-war-oil-energy-saudi-arabia-middle-east-europe-asia-saudis-putin#
[our copy here]
Why? With so much going on in the US at election time, we rarely look into the work the Biden administration is doing to prepare us for the future. The White House laid out a national security strategy Wednesday. The strategy is broken down the dividing line between foreign policy and domestic policy that will increase our competitiveness and better position us to deal with everything from climate to global health, to food security, to energy, There is a link in the article to the strategy plan.
We also chose to recommend this:
US firms exploiting Trump-era loophole over toxic ‘forever chemicals’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/12/pfas-toxic-forever-chemicals-trump-era-loophole
[our copy here]
Short Read of the Week for October 6, 2022
This morning we discussed five great articles that had been suggested by our fellow Democrats during the week, and from them chose one that we recommend you read even if you don’t read anything else this week:
Idaho’s Far Right Suffers Election Loss to 18-Year-Old Climate Activist
https://theintercept.com/2022/09/13/idaho-boise-school-board-election/
[our copy here]
We also recommend this short and sweet reflection from Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner:
Please Take Care of You
https://steady.substack.com/p/please-take-care-of-you
[our copy here]
Short Read of the Week for September 29, 2022
It was quite a week for reading in Tillamook County. Democrats here suggested ten articles during the course of the week. We discussed them this morning and chose one that you simply cannot afford to miss:
The Power of Kindness
https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-the-power-of-kindness/2022/09/27/
[our copy here]
We also recommend this:
A Brief Thought for a Friday Night: Finding Hope
https://steady.substack.com/p/a-brief-thought-for-a-friday-night
[our copy here]
Short Read of the Week for September 22, 2022
Today we read nine articles, and from them selected two that you should read this week if you don’t read anything else. First this:
Why Is Phil Knight Bankrolling A Logging Industry Ally?
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nike-climate-phil-knight-bankrolling-betsy-johnson_n_631a4bbde4b082746bdd977c
[our copy here]
And, if you’re tempted to vote for any “moderate” Republicans hoping that they might temper the GOP’s extremists, please also read this:
If you care about your country and your rights, don't vote for any Republicans in 2022
https://www.yahoo.com/news/care-country-rights-dont-vote-110005774.html
[our copy here]