Issues
Jo Freeman: There’s Plenty To Do at the RNC – If You Have the Right Credentials
by Jo Freeman
Every national nominating convention has plenty of auxiliary events, some authorized, some not. Getting space can be a challenge; getting the word out even more so. But they do it nonetheless. Press were given a RNC 2024 Master Event Calendar, which was updated a few days later. Events began on Sunday and ended on Thursday. The actual convention sessions were just one item on the list. The calendar said if an event was Open or Closed to press, and also whom to contact to register. I’m going to describe some of the events, including a couple I went to, and a couple I was turned away from.
Since my focus is on women, I obviously wanted to go to those events – if I could.
The National Federation of Republican Women is the largest grassroots Republican women's organization in the country with hundreds of clubs. Founded in 1938, its members made the phone calls and knocked on the doors that elected Republican candidates for decades. It’s Tuesday luncheon featured Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders. The Master Calendar said it was SOLD OUT and they wouldn’t let me in. I was able to get into their lounge at the Fiserv Forum Wednesday evening, where I was repeatedly asked if I was a member, and if not, would I join. “I’m press,” I said. “I can’t join anything partisan.” I then said: “What brings you here?” On hearing that, finding anyone willing to chat with me was like pulling teeth.
Moms for Liberty met in a concert hall that afternoon. I had pre-registered, and I got in. From high in a balcony seat I listened to several people talk about the evils of transgenderism. It’s webpage says WE BELIEVE Power Belongs to the People. Sound Familiar? With a focus is on parental rights, it wants to “STOP WOKE indoctrination.”
Tuesday I went to “The New Mavericks” reception co-hosted by the Black Republican Mayors Association and the Georgia Republican Party. They honored Sen. Tim Scott, four Congressmen and two Georgia delegates – all male. There was only one mayor on stage, from Aurora, IL. The chair of the Georgia Republican Party was the one white man on the stage. At that event, women served; they didn’t speak. The RNC reported that 55 delegates to the 2024 convention are Black, up from 18 in 2016.
I missed the Independent Women’s Forum toast to “Women Who Make Our Country Great” because I went to Convention Fest: The Official Delegate Experience, which was held in the streets outside the Fiserve Forum and Baird Hall as well as some space inside Baird. To get to that one you not only needed a credential of some sort, but a USSS pass (which I have).
Concerned Women for America parked its pink bus across from the Baird Center the week before the RNC. No one was home. When Convention Fest opened on Tuesday afternoon, they set up a pink tent, from which its leaders preached to whomever passed by. It calls itself “the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization” but its focus is evangelical Christian. The slogan on the side of its pink bus captures this emphasis: “She Prays, She Votes.” A prayer precedes each sermon.
Continuous Challenges: Dr. Anthony Fauci Reflects On the Perpetual Challenge of Infectious Diseases
Dr. Anthony Fauci notes that the emergence of HIV/AIDS in 1981 led to a sharp increase in interest in infectious diseases among people entering the field of medicine. Since then, infectious disease specialists have faced numerous medical challenges, including the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, Ebola, Zika, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and COVID-19, he writes. Dr. Fauci notes that one success of the response was the rapid development, testing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines thanks to years of research and investment in new and highly adaptable vaccine platforms and structural biology tools to design vaccine immunogens. more »
Women's Congressional Policy, Weekly Legislative Update November 21, 2022; Bills Introduced: November 14-18, 2022
A bill to establish a task force on child and family economic security and stability for economic growth; A concurrent resolution expressing support for the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women's Health and Strengthening the Family and urging that the United States be added as a signatory; A bill to extend, and provide additional support for the activities of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice Joint Commission on Reducing Violent Crime Against Indians; A bill to provide for the reissuance to households Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to replace benefits stolen by identity theft or typical skimming practices.
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Statement by President Joe Biden On Speaker Nancy Pelosi Stepping Down from Democratic Leadership in the House of Representatives; "When I think of Nancy Pelosi, I think of dignity"
"When I think of Nancy Pelosi, I think of dignity. History will note she is the most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in our history. There are countless examples of how she embodies the obligation of elected officials to uphold their oath to God and country to ensure our democracy delivers and remains a beacon to the world. In everything she does, she reflects a dignity in her actions and a dignity she sees in the lives of the people of this nation." more »
Jo Freeman Reviews Thank You For Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission
Jo Freeman Reviews: "The ones who bowed the furthest and fastest were the ones who wanted most to see and be seen with Trump; to call and be called, to hear their names in the media coupled with his. The fact that the masses loved DJT didn’t make it any easier for those who wanted his approval to hold onto a modicum of self-respect. Disagreement with Trump would lead to disparagement, and that could lead to defeat. That’s why so many Republican MCs decided it was time to retire. Two years after Trump took office, almost half of House Republicans were gone or going. A lot, but not all, were defeated in the 2018 election. By then most of Trump’s initial appointments were also gone. Sycophancy was insufficient for survival." more »
