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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.
Rosalynn Carter: Do What You Can To Show You Care About Others, and You Will Make Our World a Better Place
"Do what you can to show you care about others, and you will make our world a better place." Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter’s marriage to Jimmy Carter took her from a rural farming community to the White House. Showing the world a new vision of the First Lady, Mrs. Carter was a working partner and trusted advisor to the president, a participant in foreign and domestic affairs, and an astute political strategist. Widely recognized as the nation’s foremost advocate for mental health, she was actively devoted to building a more caring society. more »
Loss of Local Newspapers Accelerating, Northwestern University Study Finds
"Medill researchers for the first time used predictive modeling to estimate the number of counties at risk of becoming news deserts. Those models show that another 228 counties are at high risk of losing local news. In creating that “Watch List,” Medill researchers and data scientists applied the characteristics of current news deserts to counties with only one news source. Medill’s annual “State of Local News Project” report also counts about 550 digital-only local news outlets, 700 ethnic media organizations and 225 public broadcasting stations producing original local news. Most of the digital-only startups are based in metro areas, exacerbating the divide in America between news-haves and have-nots." more »
Rose Mula Reprise, Not My Parents' Church: It's Saturday Mass and I'm Wearing Slacks and Sneakers! No Hat! Not Even a Lace Square Pinned to My Head!
Rose Mula Writes: What’s more, the priest is speaking English — not Latin! And though said priest is still a he, he is often now assisted by altar girls — not always boys. And shocker of shockers — yesterday's sonorous organ music is often replaced by rocking guitars. Can it be? The 20-year-old me remembers weddings where the leading lady's entrance could not be heralded with Here Comes the Bride, which was considered secular and thus banned from the church. Bummer! A wedding without Here Comes the Bride was like lasagna without ricotta cheese... Also, when I was young, a cousin married a non-Catholic (shameful!), and the ceremony had to be performed in the rectory. Such a "sacrilege" could be permitted only in the priests' house — not God's... That it was allowed at all was probably to prevent the couple from seeking a non-Catholic church to marry them. A few years later, however, still another cousin had the gall to fall in love with a Protestant, and they actually were allowed to take their vows inside the church — but only outside the altar rail — not on the altar itself. more »
Fact Sheet: US Justice Department Efforts to Combat Hate Crimes; Preventing and Prosecuting Hate Crimes is a Top Priority for the Justice Department.
Combating Hate by Investigating and Prosecuting Hate Crimes
Pursuing Hate Crimes Prosecutions: Since January 2021, charged 100 defendants in over 85 cases and secured more than 85 convictions of defendants charged with bias-motivated crimes.
Elevating Hate Crimes Threat Level: Elevating civil rights violations and hate crimes enforcement for prioritization among the FBI’s 56 field offices.
Expediting Review of Hate Crimes: Designating the chief of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division to serve as a facilitator for the expedited review of hate crimes.
Enhancing State and Local Law Enforcement Training: Launching a hate crimes recognition and reporting training aimed at line-level state and local law enforcement officers and holding trainings for state and local law enforcement on assessing and managing hate crime and domestic extremist violence threats. This training is provided for free to state, local, tribal, territorial, and campus law enforcement agencies via the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services technical assistance program: https://cops.usdoj.gov/cri-tac. more »
