Barack Obama

Unable to attend President’s speech, Obama fans fill the streets of Charlotte (videos)

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DNCcrowd7363sm72by Pamela Powers Hannley

Thousands of people crowded the sidewalks of Charlotte on the last night of the Democratic National Convention. Originally scheduled for the Bank of America Stadium, which holds 73,000 people, President Barack Obama's speech was moved indoors to the Time Warner Arena, a much smaller venue. The official reason for moving the venue was projected rainy weather, which had plagued the convention off and on all week.

Pundits are reporting that the venue was changed because Democrats could not fill the stadium, but hundreds– if not thousands– of people milled about on Charlotte's sidewalks or watched speeches at the outdoor MSNBC stage or inside bars, restaurants, and the convention center.

The street scene was carnival-like with dozens of vendors selling t-shirts, buttons, American flags, programs, and other Obama memorabilia. Although thousands of disappointed but amicable Obama fans, plus police, pedicabs, and a handful of protesters filled the area outside of the arena, the aura was peaceful and friendly, as it had been all week.

Watch videos of the street scenes in Charlotte, after the jump.

Code Pink To Dems: Stop Drone Warfare, Bust Up Big Banks

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by Pamela Powers Hannley
I knew when I saw that hot pink bra on the sidewalk, I knew that Code Pink must be nearby. 
Code Pink, the women-initiated peace and social justice group, protested the War on Women at the Republican National Convention. Their message for President Barack Obama and Democrats targets the military-industrial complex.
At the People's Convention, sponsored by Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin spoke against war– particularly drone warfare– and called for Congress and the President to make dramatic cuts to the military budget.
Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, is a highly vocal peace activist.
At the PDA event, she said that there are strong, powerful men like Arizona Senator John McCain, who are standing up against cuts to the military budget, which are scheduled to go into effect due to sequestration.
But where is the movement to protect Pel Grants, Medicaid, and other social programs? she asked. According to Benjamin, the US could cut the military budget by 80% and still have the largest military in the world.
"Slash the Pentagon and put that money into life-affirming activitieis, which is what the people on the planet need," Benjamin demanded.
Attacking the other sector of the military-industrial complex, Benjamin and other Code Pink protesters wore pink bras on the outside of their clothes and shouted "Bust up the banks" in front of Bank of America, which is headquartered in Charlotte, host city of the Democratic National Convention.
Video after the jump.

Undocumented protesters arrested outside of Democratic Convention

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

Ten undocumented protesters from Arizona were arrested late Tuesday afternoon outside of the Time Warner Arena in uptown Charlotte, as Democratic National Convention delegates watched.

Chanting in Spanish and English, the protesters– surrounded by media and conventioneers with smart phone cameras– quickly marched toward the arena where First Lady Michelle Obama was scheduled to speak.

As throngs of convention delegates bustled down the sidewalk, the small band of Latinos laid a large yellow mat decorated with butterflies in the middle of the intersection and sat in protest of US immigration policies. Just as quickly, they were surrounded by police on foot and on bicycles. Although it was difficult for passersby to see them, we could hear their stories and feel the passion. 

More details and video after the jump.

Charlotte: Teeming With DNC Fever

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

Hot, muggy Charlotte was teeming with DNC fever on Sunday night. Although the Democratic National Convention doesn't start until Tuesday, many of delegates, journalists, politicians, and protesters are already in town.

Consequently, barricades and police were everywhere. In addition to police on foot, stationed at strategic places — like in front of the US Court House– there were swarms of 20 or so bicycle cops cruising the streets.

Fellow Huff Post citizen journalist Krzysztof Piotrowski and I ventured to town (from our hotel in South Carolina!) in search of the Occupy to Free Bradley Manning Dance at Frazier Park. Even after tweeting, e-mailing, and calling the protest organizers, we didn't find them. After about a one-mile trek, we did find the park and about 50 police on bicycles or motorcycles. Maybe they were looking for the dance also? Such is the life of a citizen journalist.

Back in uptown proper, we did find action and parties we couldn't get into behind the barricades. That is where we happened upon Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, who was confronted by reporters asking about campaign finance reform as she left a restaurant.

More photos after the jump.

Where are all the women at? We’re at war.

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Burkaby Pamela Powers Hannley

No longer just a punchline from Blazing Saddles— "Where are all the women at?" became a rallying cry for feminists across the country when a male-dominated Congressional committee refused to allow women to testify about insurance coverage for birth control.

Two Congresswomen– Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Eleanor Holmes (D-DC)–walked out of the committee hearings because no women were included in the list of wittnesses dominated by male religious leaders. Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif) made the now-infamous decision to block Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke from testifying and labeled her an "inappropriate" wittness.

That fateful day in February, the Republican Party's latest barrage in the War on Women unfolded.

What began as political grandstanding on contraception coverage in the Affordable Care Act, snowballed into dozens of invasive, crackpot bills proposed by Republican Legislatures across the country. Requiring women to submit to (and pay for) vaginal ultrasound examinations prior to having an abortion, requiring women to watch an abortion before having one, giving employers the right to deny insurance coverage for contraception based upon any vague "moral" grounds, giving employers the right to question female employees about their contraception usage, defunding Planned Parenthood and other organizations that perform abortions… the list goes on.

Couple these bills with the Bible-thumping piety from all of the Republican Presidential candidates, most notably Rick Santorum, and you have a bare-knuckle fist fight over women's health, contraception, and choice.

Two months into this latest round in the War on Women, the Republican attack on the country's largest voting block has resulted in an 18-point lead by President Obama among women voters. Obama leads R2publican challenger Mitt Romney 2:1 with women under 50.

On the local level, Republican candidates for CD8 (former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' district) have all jumped on the anti-woman bandwagon–ironically, even Martha McSally. In a recent Arizona Public Media televised debate, candidates Frank Antenori, Jesse Kelly, Dave Sitton, and McSally all agreed that contraception should not be covered by insurance, that a fetus' life sacred (unlike the lives of people they would bomb), and that women don't have the right to choose. Senatorial candidate, right-to-lifer, and current Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake–a hardened Teapublican–voted for the Blunt Ammendment which would have vastly expanded conscience exemptions to birth control coverage.

As for the Democrats, Senatorial candidate and former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona has been the most outspoken critic of the Republcan's wrongheaded fight against women's health. In a commentary on the Huffington Post, Carmona wrote, "A recent push to block women from getting access to contraception shows the Arizona legislature is not operating from an evidence-based or reality-based point of view."

Congressman Raul Grijalva and Phoenix-area State Senator and Congressional candidate Kyrsten Sinema also have made strong statements, attacking the Republicans' War on Women.

In my opinion, the political upshot of the War on Women will be a rebirth of the feminist movement. You can see it on facebook and Twitter; social media has fueled the outrage. Prime examples are the backlash against Rush Limbaugh for his slutty comments about Fluke (and resultant loss of advertisers) and the flood of bad publicity targeting the Komen Foundation when it tried to defund Planned Parenthood (and the resultant fundraising loss to Koman and boon to PP).

You can also see it in the nationwide Unite Against the War on Women movement, which is organizing women and protest marches across the country on April 28– including a march in Phoenix. Although the Republicans wanted to frame the anti-abortion and anti-contraception debate as a fight for religious freedom, it is all too obvious a continuation of their long-standing War on Women. They can't put this genie back in the bottle.