So, despite my very sad litany of ‘thing-that-weren’t-great’ from July, August seems to be starting out with a bit more promise.
But first…a nature note:
This the time of year when if you’re still for a second, and raise your nose to the north, there is just a whiff of a breath of a hint that summer’s tight grip is beginning to loosen. A few tired leaves drift off the poplar, the rain feels just a teeny tiny bit more refreshing, there are still-green berries now visible on dogwood, and the soil starts to smell….different. The daylight is half-a-shade more golden, the tomatoes are ripening faster than we can eat them, and the birds have settled down into a background-level of squabbling. All the greenery seems to be considering exhaling again. For sure we have some heat left to endure - a couple of months for some of us - but there is a mellowness about it now. Its main work is done, and we now get to reap rather than sow.
For me, especially later in the month, when we really do feel a cooler breeze every now and again, this is a time of renewed energy. It’s back to school for most kids in America, and I feel that vibe a bit too. I’m sharpening my pencils (literally) and preparing my lunchbox (metaphorically) for a new semester.
And there’s still plenty of summer left for picnics!
So, what else can we celebrate about August…
Well, first of all, to the good people of Kansas, we say thank you. Thank you for standing up for your own access to abortion and pregnancy-related health care and for giving the rest of us hope that our voices matter and that we might yet beat back efforts to curtail women’s choices.
Despite an attempt by the Kansas Republican state legislature to make the ballot measure misleading, the state turned out voters in numbers that are more like a general election than a primary for a midterm election. Amazing. And the voters overwhelmingly rejected the measure that would have restricted access to abortion. This was the first state to have such a question on a ballot, so hopefully this bodes well for other states where the electorate gets to decide such things.
This is also perhaps a reminder that despite 100 years of women being able to vote, there remains much work to do to elect leaders who represent us too. It is clear that it especially matters when WE show up to cast our vote. Let’s do more of that this fall.
In fact, what if we all made an attempt to register just one more woman voter each? Or maybe such a program exists? If you know about something, let me know and I’ll share it.
To the CIA: Thanks for making us safer! It is a reminder to me how many people work in our service behind the scenes, investigating and infiltrating and gathering information for years and years so that more than a decade after Osama Bin Laden was killed, we can also take out the current leader of Al Qaeda. It was a carefully reviewed and planned strike to avoid injury to anyone else. An incredible feat and a serious blow to terrorism and to Al Qaeda specifically.
To Congress: Thank you for passing bills that help veterans and address infrastructure, energy, and healthcare issues.
The PACT Act was finally passed to help veterans get access to healthcare related to toxic exposure while deployed. After a handful of Republicans rejected it out of spite for another piece of legislation getting agreement, they sensibly reconsidered and held another vote to pass it.
The other piece of legislation that got agreement and passed the Senate (with zero Republican votes): The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Although this bill likely won’t reduce inflation, it allows the Medicare program to negotiate on the prices of a few key drugs (like most other countries) and caps insulin cost for those on Medicare; it imposes a minimum 15% tax on corporations earning over $1 billion (which, along with more funding for IRS actions, yields more revenue that the bill costs, according the non partisan Congressional Budget Office); and finally starts to invest in climate change-limiting policies and energy independence at a scale that matters.
This legislation won’t fix the wildfires and floods right away, but it is critical that we do more now so that later is not completely unmanageable. Plus the infrastructure and incentives for electrification will help us stay competitive in the global marketplace. Without this kind of federal boost, investors would be more uncertain about investment in our clean energy innovation, infrastructure, and manufacturing. Now there is a clear signal for the direction we’re taking.
I’ll talk more on the specifics of this funding and the projects in this bill later in the fall.
And I think we should enjoy our break from Congress (they’re in recess until September 8), and from the Supreme Court (until October 3)! A whole month of freedom from legislative or court bickering and decisions. Seems kind of delicious if you ask me!
Looking further ahead to September and beyond:
When the Supreme Court comes back at the beginning of October, we already know a few cases they’ll be hearing. There will be two very consequential decisions about election processes in states. Alabama and North Carolina are both in the spotlight for how voting districts are drawn and how much authority the state courts have to challenge a potentially gerrymandered map. The implications go far beyond district maps however. More on this and a few other cases in the fall.
In September, an updated vaccine will be released, helping us boost immunity to the newer variants of COVID. For those under 50 years old, who haven’t been eligible for a fourth shot, this is the one that will be available.
I am still amazed at our collective success on the COVID vaccine. Despite the indescribable losses we’ve all experienced as a result of this disease, the rapid, massive and effective effort we’ve also seen to combat the virus is phenomenal. This will surely be the story of 2021 when we look back in history. A vaccine that almost entirely prevented serious illness and death was available (to many) within a year after a virus shut down the world. Truly incredible.
The January 6th Committee will be back to holding hearings in September too. There are a lot of reasons to criticize our congressional activities, but this committee has handled itself and its business so professionally and in the most bipartisan manner possible. I am grateful to them for not only uncovering and explaining the horrors of our previous transfer of power, but for showing us that bipartisan work can be done and that there are representatives on both sides who care about who we are and how we conduct ourselves in a democracy.
And of course, the big news of the fall will be the upcoming midterm election. November 8th is the day on which much will be decided about our next two years. Between now and then (less than 100 days), there will be a LOT of yelling, accusing, grandstanding, negativity, and flat out lying.
Our tasks, should we choose to accept them, are to rise above the din, remain decent human beings, and find out facts. It’s no longer easy to do that, but non partisan sources are available such as Vote411.org.
And if all of that is too much, there’s always football! Seriously, in the fall, there always seems to be football on! Now that I live in Tennessee, I am more or less legally obliged to support the University of Tennessee Vols. They had a good season last year. Here’s to a great season this year!
And in the meantime….more picnics.
By the way, the link for nonpartisan information on candidates is vote411.org. (I left off the 'vote' part of that in the URL I sent out this morning). I fixed it in the Substack app, but can't fix it in your emails! Sorry about that.