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.
Hearings and Bills Introduced: Veterans’ Access to Child Care Act; Hearing on Gang Violence and Human Trafficking; Violence Against Women; Breast Cancer Care
A bill to improve the response to sexual assault and sexual harassment on board aircraft operated in passenger air transportation; A bill to enhance transparency, improve the coordination, and intensify the impact of assistance to support access to primary and secondary education for displaced children and persons, including women and girls; A bill to require that health plans provide coverage for a minimum hospital stay for mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer. more »
Generations of War: The Rise of the Warrior Caste and the All-Volunteer Force
In the report "Generations of War: The Rise of the Warrior Caste and the All-Volunteer Force," the Center for a New American Security" Research Associate Amy Schafer writes that the trend of military service being passed from generation to generation has created a warrior caste in which a small section of the population bears the burden of America's wars. The report examines the risks and benefits associated with a warrior caste, but advocates against returning to conscription. more »
Obamacare Exchanges In Limbo; Deadlines Fast Approaching for the Start of Open Enrollment this Fall
Covered California, the exchange, might not wrap up negotiations with insurers and announce 2018 premiums for its 1.4 million customers until mid-August — about a month later than usual. Similar scenarios are playing out across the country as state officials and insurers demand clarity on health care rules and funding, with deadlines fast approaching for the start of open enrollment this fall. "It's insane," said John Baackes, CEO of L.A. Care Health Plan. "Here we are in the middle of July and we don’t even know what rules we will be operating under for open enrollment. It is not how you want to run a business." more »
A Stanford Faculty Spotlight: Should Retirement Be the End Goal for Individuals Entering the Workforce?
"The idea that you can support a 20-year retirement with 30 years of work is outdated. And can't continue. It's just not sustainable. So as lifespans increase, then if retirements start at the same age, then retirements just get longer and longer. And I think the idea that we can continue to support a longer and longer retirement with — without changing the length of work is unreasonable going forward." more »