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DNC Convention 2024: Day 1

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[NB: check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]

The Democratic National Committee Convention 2024 opened today at United Center in Chicago IL.

Expect both the traditional and the unconventional given the attendees and keynotes as well as the organizers behind this four-day event.

Here’s today’s convention schedule (times shown are Central Time):

7 a.m.-9:30 a.m.: Delegation breakfasts
9 a.m.-10a.m.: Morning press briefing
9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Black Caucus meeting
9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Hispanic Caucus meeting
9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: AAPI Caucus meeting
9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Native American Caucus meeting
9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Ethnic Council meeting
12 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: LGBTQ+ Caucus meeting
12 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: Small Business Council meeting
12 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: Labor Council meeting
1:45 p.m.-3:15 p.m.: Environmental & Climate Crisis Council meeting
5:30 p.m.-10 p.m.: Main programming

Main programming has already begun.

Best channels on which to catch the majority of this evening’s programming:

• C-SPAN will carry the entire convention uninterrupted for all four days.

• CBS News’ primetime coverage of the convention will air Monday through Thursday from 8-11 p.m. ET and be anchored by “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell.

…

• CNN will provide nearly 24/7 live on-air coverage of the DNC, including special live coverage each night from 8 p.m.-midnight ET with “CNN Democratic National Convention.”

• NewsNation will have special primetime coverage entitled “Decision Desk 2024: The Democratic National Convention,” which will air each day from 8 p.m.-midnight ET. It will be co-anchored by Chris Cuomo, Elizabeth Vargas and Leland Vittert.

…

• MSNBC will air special coverage from 8 p.m. to midnight each night and will also livestream all four days of the convention on its YouTube channel, the New York Times reports.

(source for schedule and channel lineup: USA Today)

The other networks including MSNBC’s parent have highly abbreviated coverage.

Tonight’s speaker line up already in progress (via ABC channel 6):

5:15 p.m.

• Call to Order: Minyon Moore, chair of the 2024 Democratic National Convention Committee, Jaime R. Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee
• Invocation: Cardinal Blase Cupich, archdiocese of Chicago
• Land Acknowledgement: Zach Pahmahmie, Tribal Council Vice-Chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and Lorrie Melchior, Tribal Council Secretary of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
• Presentation of Colors: Illinois State Police Honor Guard
• Pledge of Allegiance: William Harrison, 9, and Charles Harrison, 5
• National anthem: Soul Children of Chicago
• Remarks and video introduction: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson
• Presentation of the Convention Agenda: Jaime Harrison joined by vice chairs Keisha Lance Bottoms, Ken Martin, and Henry R. Muñoz III, Treasurer Virginia McGregor, and Finance Chair Chris Korge
Confirmatory and Ceremonial Vote for the Vice Presidential Nominee: Minyon Moore

6 p.m.

• Welcome remarks: Peggy Flanagan
• Welcome Remarks: Jaime Harrison
• Remarks: U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters
• Joint Remarks: Derrick Johnson, President & CEO of the NAACP and Melanie L. Campbell, President & CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
• Honoring the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr, accompanied by Jonathan Jackson and Yusef D. Jackson.
• Remarks: U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood
• Video: Rich Logis: former Donald Trump voter
• Remarks: U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia
• Remarks: Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya, health care advocates and founders of I Am ALS
• Remarks: U.S. Senator Dick Durbin
• Remarks from Arizona: Dutch Martinez and Ryan Ahern, The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada (UA)
• Remarks: U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty
• Joint Remarks: Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Brent Booker, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), Kenneth W. Cooper, international president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Claude Cummings Jr., president of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and Elizabeth H. Shuler, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
• Remarks: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass
• Performance: Mickey Guton
• Joint Remarks on “Investing in the Future”: California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin A. Davis, Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sarah Rodriguez and Harris County, Texas Judge Lina Hidalgo

7 p.m.

• “Project 2025-Chapter One: Introduction”: Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow
• Remarks: U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schutz
• Remarks: U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler
• Remarks: U.S. Rep. Linda Haskins
• Remarks: Lt. Jeremy Warmkessel, President of Local 302 IAFF Allentown Firefighters, Pennsylvania
• Remarks: Maria-Isabel Ballivian, Executive Director of the Annandale Christian Community for Action Childhood Development Center, Virginia
• Remarks: Deja Foxx, reproductive rights activists and content creator
• Performance: Jason Isbell
• Remarks: Gina M. Raimondo, United States secretary of commerce
• Remarks: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul

8 p.m.

• Remarks: Steve Kerr, Team USA men’s basketball coach
Shawn Fain, president of the United Automobile Workers
• U.S. Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez
• Remarks: Stacey Johnson-Batiste and Doris Johnson, childhood friends of Kamala Harris
• Hillary Rodham Clinton, former United States secretary of state
• U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn
• U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin
• U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett
• U.S. Rep. Grace Meng

9 p.m.

• Joint Remarks: Amanda and Josh Zurawski, Texas; Kaitlyn Joshua, Louisiana; Hadley Duvall, Kentucky
• Remarks: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear
• Remarks: The Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, Georgia senator
• Remarks: U.S. Sen. Chris Coons
• Remarks: First Lady Jill Biden
• Performance: James Taylor
• Ashley Biden
• President Joe Biden
• Benediction: Rabbi Michael S. Beals and Pastor Cindy Rudolph
• Gavel out: Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan

Some of the DNCC’s events noted above were conducted at McCormick Place earlier in the day, including these speakers:

• Black Caucus featuring Rep. Barbara Lee and Rep. Jahana Hayes
• Hispanic Caucus featuring Miguel Cardona, House Democratic  Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Rep. Maxwell Frost
• AAPI Caucus featuring Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi
• Native American Caucus featuring Tucson Mayor Regina Romero
• Ethnic Council featuring Lisa Ann Walter and former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio
• LGBTQ+ Caucus featuring Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, BenDeLaCreme, and Peppermint
• Labor Council featuring Miguel Cardona, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Rep. Tom Suozzi, Rep. Donald Norcross, and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler
• Small Business Council featuring Rep. Morgan McGarvey
• Environmental and Climate Crisis Council featuring Rep. Ro Khanna and AFT President Randi Weingarten

As media coverage of the convention begins, take heed:

Laffy @[email protected]

Via Richard Stengel:

A word of caution to the press: a political convention is the place where more journalists are in one place in search of fewer stories than any other situation. The tendency is to blow up something small because it’s new, not because it’s important. Don’t do that. #DNC2024

Aug 19, 2024, 01:56 PM

Expect bullshit coverage. In addition to likely puny-matters-blown-up for the clicks, there’s a raft of crap being strewn by right-wing media outlets right now, all of which looks like so much spaghetti thrown at the wall to see what will stick. Don’t help them.

Tuesday: Disinfowar Dust Up

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In this roundup: Disinfowar, fossil fuels’ finale, pipeline problems, and a longish short about evolving hope.

The embedded feature video here, Dust by Ember Lab, won a number of awards last year. It’s a gritty blend of real and fantasy, and the closest thing to a American feature film with an Asian lead (there were no true feature-length films with an Asian/Asian-American lead or co-lead last year). It’s a little exposition dense, but this is integral to the challenge of world-building for a sci-fi/fantasy story. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see this story extended into a true feature or a series.

Disinfowar
If you haven’t already read Marcy’s latest piece today, you should do so soon. We are now deep in disinfo slung by multiple parties.

The one thing that niggles at me about WikiLeaks’ involvement in this latest volley of disinfo: why didn’t WikiLeaks release the Podesta emails when they originally said they were going to do so?

Or was skanky political operative Roger Stone blowing more disinfo out his ass when he tweeted about the impending Wikileaks’ release?

And how does the concurrent “Trump pussy grab” video story interleave with the WikiLeaks’ disinformation? Let’s take a look at the timing.

Early September — WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange claims to have documents damaging to Hillary Clinton which would be released before the election.

30-SEP-2016 Friday — WikiLeaks cancels release of an info dump on Hillary Clinton due to alleged security concerns. The info dump has been framed by some as a potential ‘October surprise’.

02-OCT-2016 Sunday — 12:52 am: Roger Stone tweets “Wednesday@HillaryClinton is done”.

03-OCT-2016 Monday — Unspecified time: Producer at an NBC entertainment outlet Access Hollywood remembers video of Trump with Billy Bush.

03-OCT-2016 Monday — 5:55 pm: AP publishes story, “‘Apprentice’ cast and crew say Trump was lewd and sexist.”

04-OCT-2016 Tuesday — Date of canceled WikiLeaks’ info dump.

Midweek (no date/day given) — Access Hollywood’s executive producer Rob Silverstein and team have reviewed the video. A script is prepared for airing of video, but it will not appear Friday evening before the next presidential debate on Sunday.

05-OCT-2016 Wednesday — No WikiLeaks’ info dump.

07-OCT-2016 Friday — First thing in the morning, Access Hollywood was still working on story; an NBC source said the story “wasn’t quite finalized.”

07-OCT-2016 Friday — Noon: Washington Post’s David Farenthold asks NBC for a comment on the Trump/Billy Bush tape which had been leaked to him by unnamed source(s).

07-OCT-2016 Friday — 2-4:00 pm (approximately, exact publication time to be confirmed): Washington Post runs Farenthold’s story, “Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005.”

07-OCT-2016 Friday — 11:03 pm: WikiLeaks tweets link to “The #PodestaEmails Part 1.”

09-OCT-2016 Sunday — 9:50 pm: During the second presidential debate, Wikileaks tweets, “Hillary Clinton just confirmed the authenticity of our #PodestaEmails release of her paid speeches excerpts.”

10-OCT-2016 Monday — 9:36 am: WikiLeaks tweets link with “RELEASE: The #PodestaEmails part two: 2,086 new emails.“

A Google Trends snapshot of key words from these two stories also tells the story. To be fair, though ‘pussy’ spiked on Friday, it’s a pretty popular internet search term (in case this had not occurred to some of our readers).

[Source: Google Trends - compare terms:'wikileaks', 'hillary', 'podesta''pussy', 'billy bush']

[Source: Google Trends – compare terms:’wikileaks'(blue), ‘hillary'(red), ‘podesta'(yellow), ‘pussy'(green), ‘billy bush'(purple) – click to expand]

Really convenient timing, no matter the validity of the content in the emails.

Wheels

  • Germany’s upper house of parliament wants combustion engine cars off the roads by 2030 (Reuters) — This is one of the most important stories so far this year: one of the largest single nation economies in the world wants to end use of gasoline- and diesel-fueled vehicles within its borders inside 18 years. How will this impact Volkswagen Group, the largest automaker in EU? At least VW now has impetus to move completely away from its failed passenger diesel engines. Political parties across the Bundesrat, the upper house, support ending sales of combustion engine vehicles. What next steps Germany will take is unclear as is the next possible response by the EC in Brussels.
  • VW’s CEO Matthias Mueller knew nothing about passenger diesel vehicle scandal (Reuters) — Might be plausible that Mueller didn’t know anything about VW and Bosch tweaking engine control units to defeat emissions standards since Mueller was the head of Porsche before VW Group appointed him to replace Martin Winterkorn. And we all know Porsche isn’t the first brand you’d seek when shopping for either passenger diesel vehicles or fuel efficiency.
  • Fiat Chrysler and Canadian union Unifor avoid a strike (Detroit Free Press) — The deal includes updates to two plants and a restructuring of workers’ wage scale while working around the impending demise of the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart car models. No mention of self-driving/autonomous cars in FCA’s future lineup, if any.

Pipe meets face

  • Russian facial recognition software IDs 73% of people of of million-person database (Wall Street Journal) — This application developed by startup NTechLab beat Alphabet’s facial recognition software. This gives me the fecking creeps, especially considering the countries interested in buying this software.
  • Facial recognition app failed when used at pipeline protest (Indian Country) — A Crow Creek Tribe activist found he had been ‘identified’ as a pipeline protester by facial recognition software though he had been at a family event elsewhere during the time he was alleged to participate in the protest.
  • Pipeline construction work resumes after appeals court ruling against tribes (ABC News) — In a stunningly callous move, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision Sunday evening — before Columbus Day, the observation which offends Native Americans — denying Native American tribes’ request for an injunction to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Work on the pipeline picked up again today, though the tribes vow to continue their protests. Protesters were arrested yesterday for trespassing, including actor Shailene Woodley. Woodley may have been selected in particular because of her high media profile and because she was streaming the protest online.

Longread: Asymmetry’s role in Trump’s rise
Worth reading NYU’s Jay Rosen on media’s inability to deal with asymmetry in the U.S. political system, and how this permitted Trump’s elevation as a presidential candidate. Personally I take issue with the concept that the “GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics.” In a two-party system where nearly half the population identifies with either one of these parties, neither of the two parties can be insurgent or an outlier.

Instead, this asymmetry — the departure from the past equivalency of either of these two major parties — results from the application of the Overton Window over decades to move nearly half the population toward a more conservative consensus. Applied too much, too often, and nearly half the population has adopted an ideology which is incompatible with the values espoused by a critical mass of this nation before the Overton Window was applied.

And the media, like meteorologists focusing on the day’s weather — is it cloudy or sunny? rain or shine? — missed the entire shift of the political climate toward fascism. Rather like the financial crisis of 2008, for that matter, when they failed to adequately look at the big picture before the entire economy went over the cliff.

That’s a wrap. Make sure you’re registered to vote as many states have deadlines today. Check in with housebound and with college students to see if they are registered and encourage use of absentee ballots where appropriate. Absentee voting has begun in some states.

Illiberal Hollywood: It’s 1984 — Or Is It 1964? Can’t Tell from EEOC’s Inaction

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If you haven’t watched this Bloomberg-produced video yet, you should. The women directors interviewed are highly skilled and have been fighting Hollywood’s not-at-all-liberal misogyny for decades.

And yes, decades — nothing substantive has happened since 1983 when Reagan-appointee Judge Pamela Rymer ruled for two major studio defendants in the Directors Guild of America‘s lawsuits against them for their discriminatory hiring practices. There was an uptick for about one decade after the suit; by 1995, roughly 16% of movies were directed by women.

But since then the numbers have fallen, and neither the DGA nor the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have done anything about it.

We could cut some slack on the first decade, between 1995 and 2005, right? Congress was full of right-wing zealots chasing the president over a blowjob, and the president who followed him was hyper-focused on going to war, pushed by Dick Cheney’s hand up his backside. Their administrations drifted along with them, shaped by their leaders’ attentions.

But a second decade now — over thirty years in all since 1983 — and the EEOC gave the matter no attention at all? It’s not as if the film and television industries aren’t right under the noses of people charged with paying attention. Who can work in government and say they haven’t watched any television or film in thirty years? Hello, West Wing?

Or is that an answer in itself, that the film and television industries are merely acting with government sanction, that it is U.S. government policy to discriminate in entertainment media because it serves national interests? Read more →

Illiberal Hollywood: What’s the Point of a Union if It Doesn’t Represent Members?

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BrokenHollywoodThis year continues to be a big one for women in film. Films featuring women as leads and/or directed by women made beaucoup at the box office. Mad Max: Fury Road, Pitch Perfect 2, Insurgent, and Fifty Shades of Grey are among the top ten films out of more than 284 released so far this year. Two of these films were directed by women; all four featured female leads. And two of these films put to lie once again the bullshit claim that ‘women can’t lead action films.’

The immense popularity of these movies — especially with women — demonstrates how much Hollywood underserves the female audience, in spite of repeated studies revealing how much women contribute to box office results. Women want women’s stories, told by women, and they’ve gotten them too rarely.

You’d think that Hollywood would actively court the single largest demographic by catering to its desires — but no. The film production pipeline remains solidly weighted toward men, still chasing the increasingly distracted 18-25 year-old male demographic.

It’s not as if women aren’t available as actors or directors. The Directors Guild of America (DGA) — the labor organization representing directors — counts among its ranks roughly 1200 female directors, reflecting the parity of female students who’ve been through film school or learned on the job in other production roles.

Which makes one wonder why actor/director/producer George Clooney said in a recent interview, “…there’s something like 15 female directors in a town of directors …”

If a household name like Clooney doesn’t know more female directors, what exactly is it the DGA is doing for its female membership? It’s clearly not representing them within their own organization, let alone to studios and the public.

The ACLU‘s May 12th letter to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) spelled out DGA’s complicity with Hollywood’s exclusion of female directors, when it asked the EEOC to investigate discriminatory practices. DGA has denied the use of short lists, but apart from preparing regular reports on diversity in hiring, it’s not clear at all what the DGA does to further the hiring of women directors. Read more →