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.
Kaiser Family Foundation: Eligibility for ACA Health Coverage Following Job Loss; What Is ESI?
What are coverage options for people losing ESI? Eligibility for health coverage for people who lose ESI (employee Sponsored insurance) depends on many factors, including income while working and family income while unemployed, state of residence, and family status. Some people may be ineligible for coverage options, and others may be eligible but opt not to enroll. Some employers may temporarily continue coverage after job loss (for example, through the end of the month), but such extensions of coverage are typically limited to short periods. People who lose employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) may become eligible for Medicaid or subsidized coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces. more »
Legislative Update May 4-8, 2020: Office to Enforce & Protect Against Child Sexual Exploitation; Paid Sick Leave and Required Paid Family and Medical Leave, Eating Disorder Prevention, Indigenous Women
Bills Introduced: A bill to prohibit the expenditure for an abortion of federal funds authorized or appropriated for preventing, preparing for, or responding to the COVID-19 pandemic; A bill to establish the Office to Enforce and Protect Against Child Sexual Exploitation, A bill to provide emergency funding for caseworkers and child protective services; A bill to allow 2020 recovery rebates with respect to qualifying children over the age of 16; A resolution recognizing the heritage, culture, and contributions of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women in the United States more »
Jo Freeman Reviews: Mythologies of State and Monopoly Power by Michael E. Tigar
If you want some provocative thinking in these days of the doldrums, read Tigar's five mythologies. His chapter on race starts with the 1944 Supreme Court decision upholding the war-time internment of Japanese Americans on the West Coast. The Court accepted the myth that these Americans might help the Japanese government even though there was no supporting evidence. Of course, he discusses the myths behind "separate but equal" and why it was so hard to end that doctrine. Tigar draws upon his own experience in his discussion of the criminal justice system as he represented many criminal defendants in different states. He believes that "fair trial" is one of the myths of the system, though he writes about several such myths. more »
Will COVID-19 Shape the 2020 Election? UC Berkeley Scholars Conclude That It Will Be An Election Without Precedent
Examining an array of issues, from presidential approval ratings, the Constitution, election law, unemployment rates to the security of digital voting, the scholars concluded it was still too uncertain to draw any sweeping conclusions. Except that November 2020 will be an election without precedent. “The Trump administration has decided to make an enormous policy and political bet, and the bet is that they can re-open the economy, and the economy will come back in time for the election, and that COVID-19 won’t re-erupt in a way that will either stifle those efforts or kill lots of people,” said Henry Brady, dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy. more »
