NOTICINGS: Parallel polis

Written By Lisa Citron

At home and the government’s minority power over the majority.

Some folks make a decision.

I’m looking into a kaleidoscope. Not the pretty kind that delights. This one is at once incomprehensible. And then comprehensible. In both cases, it is distinctly enraging. Terrifying. It looks like our resistance is not working. It looks like our resistance is working. Somewhat. Back to square one. The situation remains the same, like a ping pong ball: my powerlessness in regard to the powers that be. Back to shoveling wood chips with the power I’ve got. 

As I dig into the mound of wood chips and get in squats, steps, and arm curls,  torrents of feeling fill and images my head.

Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)· North Carolina, Oregon, confirms first measles cases. Utah now has three measles cases in unvaccinated adults. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/CDC. AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.

Senator Markey said it: “No more tiny coffins.”

As for elders… and the folks who got zip-tied.

Source: Herald Dispatch Media

In the next few days, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, H.R.1, is up for a vote. I say “so-called” because it’s much harder to kid people about what’s beautiful. Beauty speaks directly to us. We know it when we see it. (In fact, all animals do.) But truth can be undermined, and it has in our time, as it has with the name of this bill.

The president demands that his demands be on his desk for signature on July 4. As of this writing, the House Parliamentarian has informed the House that Medicaid and other items cannot be included in H.R.1. We will see. Time will tell.

To add some balance to the ongoing, intentional horrors, let’s cheer our wins. They are the direct result of our phone calls, signs in our windows, professors and more gone public (Heather Cox Richardson! Timothy Snyder! H/T Stephen Colbert, Randy Rainbow and TikTok influencers) and our presence at rallies big and huge. (All across the nation, No Kings!)

Source: Giffords

What can we do about the portions of The Big Ugly Bill that we—we, being the majority of Americans—are adamantly opposed?

Make 5 Calls. Use the resources provided by Indivisible.

Calling your congressperson is the most effective way to influence policy.

What fragment of the kaleidoscope are you looking at today that represents your private life and the government’s manhandling?

Post two photos in the chat here. (Don’t you wonder what the similarities and differences of our lives are, as together, all of us struggle every day to protect and love what we love?

My neighbor, Christine Hancock, MD, who co-hosts an annual holiday cookie party (you know, bring a dozen, take home a sampling from everyone else!), shares dahlia tubers us lucky ones on the block. Christine practices family medicine in a community-based setting providing comprehensive health, human, housing, educational, and cultural services to diverse communities, specializing in service to Latinos. She made the trip to our senator’s office and spoke about proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

We each are doing what we can!

Lisa Citron
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NOTICINGS: Parallel polis