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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.
From the GAO*: Religious-Based Hate Crimes; DOJ Needs to Improve Support to Colleges Given Increasing Reports on Campuses
Religious-based hate crimes are on the rise on America’s college campuses, according to data from the Departments of Education and Justice. The Department of Justice offers publications, webpages, and educational activities to help colleges and campus law enforcement monitor and address these crimes. However, much of DOJ’s information is outdated and difficult to find in one place. In addition, many colleges are unaware of what resources are available. We recommended that DOJ update, centralize, and share its information to make it easier to use. more »
Kaiser Family Foundation: 300+ FAQs Help Consumers Understand the ACA Marketplaces as Open Enrollment Begins and Closes a Month and Half Later
Editor's Note: Although our former company funds part of our health expenses as retirees, not all is covered nor funded. Therefore, we too, have to explore parts of our plan for explanations, changes, lowering costs and other aspects. Open enrollment for the Federal and most state marketplaces begins Friday, Nov. 1, 2019 and ends on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019. Organizations assisting consumers are encouraged to link to the Kaiser Family Foundation's FAQ web page.Designed to help consumers and the navigators, brokers and others who assist them, the FAQs cover a wide range of topics including eligibility for subsidies, requirements for health coverage and information about health plans offered through state ACA marketplaces. more »
My Mother’s Cookbook; More Cookies: Frosted Chocolate, Orange Slice, and Sugar Cookies, Coconut Macaroons
Margaret Cullison writes: Mom baked regularly, working at the much-used enamel table in the kitchen. When I came home from school in the afternoon to find her there, I'd sit at the table and watch her work, telling her the events of my day. She always made small cookies, dainty enough to serve her friends when they stopped by for impromptu coffee and a chat. Mom also offered cookies and coffee to anyone doing work in the house or yard, and they probably wished for larger cookies! more »
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's "brilliance, grace, humor, tact, and unyielding resolve that saw her shatter barriers in the legal world”
Despite graduating at the top of her law school class, Ginsburg struggled to find a job. Title VII had not been enacted, anti-discrimination measures were not yet part of employment law, and firms were reticent to hire women. In law school, she routinely saw sign-up sheets for job interviews that explicitly said “Men only.” “Very few firms were willing to take a chance on a woman and no firm was ready to engage a mother,” said Ginsburg, who landed a judicial clerkship only through the diligent efforts of a professor-mentor. When she joined Rutgers’ law faculty in 1963, the Equal Pay Act had just been passed — but was widely ignored. When notified of her paltry salary, Ginsburg asked how much a man with similar experience was paid. more »