SoYouThinkYOUCanBePresident

Liz Cheney is going to support Kamala, how fabulous is that. Makes me so happy. She is courageous and has a moral core. She, my kind of republican, actually, she unlike all those cowards who are MAGATTS, is a real republican, the kind with whom you can disagree in a civil conversation. Yesterday we were supposed to be in Rome. The captain tried and tried but the weather conditions were too awful so we had to skip that port and pasta a da gino. Boo hoo.  The good news (as opposed to we couldn’t go to Rome) is that we arrived in Naples and were able to find our way to the cafe and Pizza place we were instructed to find.  It wasn’t the reservoir tavern but it was pretty good. Talk about being big as a house, oh we weren’t, well I am. And I’m not going on a diet anytime soon.  This is too much fun. The meals, the sweets, (including high tea) I’m even eating fruit that’s not frozen in heavy syrup. I was reading my Facebook messages and I saw that David Fisher commented on the political chic

“I can’t control what other people do.” That’s what McCain said today when asked if he would admonish people who said despicable things about Obama.  (These are not direct quotes but I put them in quotes because it’s what I would do if I was writing fiction and someone said something worth quoting.)  What does “I can’t control or I can’t stop them” mean?  It means the general election will be very ugly. David has been with McCain for a day and a half and he says “this guy will be very hard to beat.”  That’s actually a direct quote. Every four years a few elected officials decide they want to be President of the United States. And every four years political junkies, sign on to a campaign and try to try to get them elected. Sometimes the people surrounding the candidate have high ideals and a centered moral core. Sometimes the campaign staff and consultants are a little too Machiavellian for my taste. The end cannot justify the means when the end means the we are left with a lie.   I am

You probably want to know why things are running so late at the convention. When you schedule too many speakers all of want to be heard because they have important things to say. It’s hard to give them the hook, so they’re not going to keep them on time.  On one occasion we had to turn off the mikes but today that would be rude.  With that I think I’ll try to remind you a little about most of the conventions.  Yesterday I got a call from my cousin Adam, who reminded me about the convention in Denver. Although it was the first time local police were seriously armed with funds received from some federal fund. They weren’t trained but no one got killed who shouldn’t have. Anyway, whatever there is convention, if I’m there I get credentials and first on my list is to give them to family.  At my convention my cousins worked security. You know no one got up on podium who was not so to be. One cousin stood at the base of the steps to sooth the savage beasts, or VIP’s,  it is always chaos beha

The Convention ran so long that the NYT had no story this morning.  And so what.  They have a story tomorrow.  On the east coast it ran so late Joe didn’t get to speak in primetime.  So what, every new agency will run it again and again, and pencil press will right about it, whenever.  Last night while I was watching, I missed not being there.  But the line we’re going with now is “Iris you had a really good run, so step aside.” I will certainly do that but it surprised me that no one wanted to talk to the first and only woman to direct security at a National Political Convention.   That was close to a whine, but hey! I taped the convention so I could watch it at my discretion, which was from 10 to the end.  I love all the hoopla. Beyond the hoopla everyone seemed excited and invested.  Its hard to imagine that Trump will find a way to rain on the parade, but we all know he will.  Who cares When something goes awry, at an enormous event, what do you do? At the convention, when they wer

 Around this time of year, the circus came to Madison square garden. In 1980 the democratic convention was supposed to follow the circus into the Garden. Like one circus following the next.  Bill Dixon called me to report that they had hired convention staff except for the Director of Security. He proceeded to tell me that although they needed one woman in a senior role, the White House was pretty sure I wouldn’t or couldn’t be that person. I put on my Sadie hat and said, “of course I can, I have let’s of experience.”  Off to New York City to reinvent myself and begin another adventure.  There was a terrific appartment available on Park Ave, available with one bedroom and a sunken living room. It was close to the Garden but in a better neighborhood, so I signed a 6 month lease.   Off I went to NYC. Having no idea what was in store for me.  There were two important lessons I learned immediately. One was that you could have anything delivered to your home. And two, the most important one

One of my dearest friends, Angela, calls us the 4th quarter queens. Sounds good to me. Sure, I loved the politics but I also love the figuring out the government. You remember that Luther Hicks taught me everything I needed to know about the personnel system of the State Department/USIA. In addition to many other tricks, when someone told me I couldn’t do something, I could reply “yes I can and this is how you do it. Did I mention in part 3 that I built my office at International Visitors from 35 people to 90 people with foreign service officers who were over complement. Its too complicated. In my new and what I thought was temporary position as Chief of Staff at what was now USIA. It was not temporary so after three years I told the Director that I wanted the job of Chairman of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was a Senate confirmed position. At the same time I met Kay Koplovitiz who founded USA and Syfy Television Networks and she asked me if I would like to work with her

There are so many ways to go after Trump. But where do you start?   We created the chicken statements and the ducks. Oh and then there were the Pinocchio’s, witches and the Harry Truman Truth Squad. How do you go after this moron running for President. And Vance who grew up as a Christian with one name, Married as a Hindu with another name and, I assume changed into a Christian again with who knows what name. Now that’s fodder for any trouble makers who wanted to fod. Watch our Donald Ducking Video    But wait. There is breaking news, the Americans held hostage in Russia will be released. Today, tonight, they are on their way home. The blob I was going to write was about choices. Maybe all my choices weren’t the best but what was lacking was follow through. For example, I was in USIA the cultural are of the state department. The officers who were taken by Iranian students were Cultural Affairs officers. It was horrible. We had meetings everyday with the political people at the State De