Sightings
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.
Pew Trust: Voter Enthusiasm at Record High in Nationalized Midterm Environment
Top voting issues: Supreme Court, health care, economy
With less than six weeks to go before the elections for Congress, voter enthusiasm is at its highest level during any midterm in more than two decades. And a record share of registered voters – 72%… more »
Updated - Winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics: Donna Strickland, First Woman in 55 Years to Receive a Physics Prize: A Laser Jock
Dr. Donna Strickland said they were aware at the time they were working on something cutting-edge. "Yes, we knew it would be a game-changer," she told the BBC. The physics professor used the description in an interview with a Canadian newspaper, where she discussed efforts to get young people interested in the realm of physics. Dr. Strickland has spent much of her life studying and teaching physics, and describes her research as "fun". Now she shares the distinction of being one of three women to ever win the Nobel Prize for physics. more »
What the 9th Justice (Unconfirmed as yet) Is Missing: Argument preview: Justices to Consider Critical-habitat Designation for Endangered Frog
The justices will consider whether the service’s designation violated the ESA and whether its decision not to exclude Unit 1 was reviewable. As to the first question, Weyerhaeuser argues that Unit 1 is simply not “habitat” for the dusky gopher frog and thus cannot be “critical habitat.” According to Weyerhaeuser, “habitat” must be currently habitable, and Unit 1 fails this test because dusky gopher frogs do not live there now and “would not survive” if they were transplanted to the property in its present state. more »
The Durrells in Corfu Return With Season Three Based on Gerald Durrell’s Trilogy with a Keeley Hawes Interview
"In the third series, Louisa has made the decision to give up searching for love, choosing instead to focus on her family. However, with Larry struggling to write his third novel, Margo in search of a new vocation, Gerry continuing to grow his menagerie and Leslie juggling three different girls, Louisa has her work cut out. With an imminent arrival from her Aunt, Louisa hopes that Hermione will be able to help set her children back on the straight and narrow. Each episode features at least something from Gerald Durrell’s fabulous trilogy. The charismatic Indian guest Prince Jeejeebuoy, Gerry’s beloved wall of insects, Margo’s hobby sculpting soap, Leslie’s burglar-shooting system, Larry’s artist visitors including a frequently naked Henry Miller... " more »
