Relationships and Going Places
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.
The Airplane Bathroom That Cleans Itself; A Toilet Seat That Lifts Itself
After watching a steady parade of people emerge from the lavatory on an extended commercial flight, many passengers are reluctant to expose themselves to the germs left behind.
But what if the lavatory could clean itself after every use? Boeing engineers and designers have built a prototype lavatory that uses ultraviolet (UV) light to kill 99.99 percent of pathogens, thus sanitizing all the lavatory surfaces. Combined with touchless faucets, soap dispensers and more, the lavatory of the future could make for a more hygienic, less worrisome experience. more »
A Goodbye to Nancy Reagan; a Long Goodbye to 'Ronnie'
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan says her final goodbye to former President Ronald Reagan during internment services held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. The observance concluded the weeklong state funeral services for Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States who passed away on June 5, 2004. US Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Jon D. Gesch more »
American Indian Girls Often Fall Through the Cracks: "It's like these kids are living in a war zone"
"As Indian people, our greatest hope is our children. And our kids are really at risk," said Carla Fredericks, director of the American Indian Law Clinic at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder. "The only way we can help these girls is if we do it cooperatively, with the states, federal government and within our own communities." American Indian women have the highest rates of rape in the country, more than twice that of other ethnic groups. The vast majority of the perpetrators are non-Indian men, according to Amnesty International.
An Oglala Lakota teenager sits in a juvenile detention center in Kyle, South Dakota. Native American girls are five times more likely than wh… more »
Why? Like Why Do I Waste Time Watching "The Chew" Chefs Concoct Recipes I’m Never Going to Attempt and Other Conundrums
Rose Madeline Mula writes: I also wonder why everyone in the country doesn't agree with my choice of political candidates. I mean it's so obvious that I'm right! And why do I waste so much time on Facebook reading the completely erroneous, poisonous comments they post about my guy or gal? And then why do I wonder why my blood pressure readings are so high? more »
