2,000 Sets Of State Of The Art Riot Gear Have Been Ordered By A Wary Cleveland As More Republicans Back Out

With crackpot Trumpsters Roger Stone and Alex Jones calling on 5 million Trump fans to show up in Cleveland in July to teach the establishment a lesson, I don't care how much money law enforcement is spending on riot gear, I'm staying away from Cleveland in July. Nor am I the only one who has come to that decision. Plenty of lobbyists will go, but Jeb Bush has already announced that he's staying away. There's a feeling of "anxiety, uncertainty and unease" among Republicans already, many cognizant that Stone has been threatening to report their hotel rooms to the Trump mob if anyone tries to steal the nomination from him.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been hinting he may be cruising somewhere else instead of Brookside Park, Big Creek Reserevation or the Great Northern Mall. And Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) has told friends that there is no where on earth she wants to be less than her party's convention this year. Richard Burr (NC) has also been hinting he has a previous appointment that week and can't make it. Sen. Mark Kirk (IL) has just been confiding in friends he might not go, he's been telling the media back home, he's too busy to attend.

Kirk is considered tied with Ron Johnson (R-WI) as the #1 most likely Republican to lose in November. Both have stated that if Trump wins the nomination they intend to put party over country and vote for him in November. Kirk's opponent's campaign has pointed out that even if Kirk avoids the convention itself, "no amount of physical distance will separate Sen. Kirk from his Republican roots, nor from Donald Trump's circus."

There could be as many as two dozen Republican congressmen and senators who avoid that circus, especially if it starts to look more likely that there will be violence and bloodshed. Potentially, though, the biggest loser isn't the GOP but tragically, the city of Cleveland which has been wishing it had lost the bid for the convention. What was supposed to be an opportunity to show off to the country how far it had come since the bad old days of default and urban blight.

Thanks to Donald Trump, Cleveland’s first nominating convention since 1936 might not be the customary coronation and infomercial, despite a $64 million corporate fundraising pledge and $50 million in federal assistance to assure all goes smoothly.

“This has the potential to be very, very good for the city,” said Stephen Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association. “It also has the potential to be very, very bad for the city,”

The prospect of a fight for the Republican nomination, bolstered by Trump’s warning of riots if he doesn’t get the nod, has evoked memories of raucous conventions from long ago when backroom deals by kingmakers often determined the nominee. Those featured fistfights on arena floors and, in Chicago’s 1968 Democratic gathering, violent street disturbances that stained the city as images were broadcast worldwide.

The risk attached to the July 18-21 convention has revived the debate over the economic benefit derived from mega-events such as Super Bowls, NATO summits and the quadrennial gatherings to nominate Republican and Democratic presidential candidates.

“For Cleveland, the name recognition and having a chance to tell the turnaround story of downtown brings the potential reward of changing perceptions of the city,” said Ned Hill, an Ohio State University economist. “If it turns out there is blatant Trumpism in the streets, then the good news story will disappear.”

...The possibility of turmoil wasn’t imagined two years ago when the city of 390,000 people beat out Dallas for the right to host the event. Conventional wisdom then suggested former Florida Governor Jeb Bush would coast to the nomination, giving Cleveland the chance to bathe in the positive light of national television exposure.

Trump’s stunning rise, accompanied by violence at his rallies and his own bellicose remarks, has fueled an expectation of disorder. Roger Stone, a Republican operative and Trump ally, invoked the 1968 “days of rage” when he tweeted April 2 his plans to organize protests in Cleveland if Trump isn’t nominated.

...“What you hear from Trump increases the level of anxiety, but we’ll be prepared for whatever happens,” said City Councilman Matt Zone, who heads the safety committee.

About 600 officers from Cleveland’s 1,500 member police force will be on duty for the event, Loomis said, aided by as many as 2,500 security personnel from outside the city. Using $50 million in federal grants, Cleveland will purchase barricades, batons and 2,000 sets of riot gear.

Recent terrorist attacks in France, Brussels and San Bernardino, California, have added to the security concerns. The equipment hasn’t been delivered, Loomis said, and his officers haven’t been thoroughly trained.

“We were excited when we first heard about this,” Loomis said. “But I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was very concerned.”

Trump's OpEd in yesterday's Wall Street Journal wasn't meant to smooth anything over with the party establishment. It was meant to rouse fear and loathing among an already paranoid and conspiracy-happy GOP Base raised on simplistic Hate Talk Radio. "A planned vote had been canceled," he wrote. "And one million Republicans in Colorado were sidelined." Gone are the days when he used to brag onstage at the debates how he would buy the politicians with campaign contributions so he could have his special interests attended to. Now he's one of the aggrieved fighting "the system" instead of manipulating it. Or... well, he's just using a different tactic of manipulation, a more dangerous one.

In recent days, something all too predictable has happened: Politicians furiously defended the system. “These are the rules,” we were told over and over again. If the “rules” can be used to block Coloradans from voting on whether they want better trade deals, or stronger borders, or an end to special-interest vote-buying in Congress-- well, that’s just the system and we should embrace it.

Let me ask America a question: How has the “system” been working out for you and your family?

I, for one, am not interested in defending a system that for decades has served the interest of political parties at the expense of the people. Members of the club-- the consultants, the pollsters, the politicians, the pundits and the special interests-- grow rich and powerful while the American people grow poorer and more isolated.

No one forced anyone to cancel the vote in Colorado. Political insiders made a choice to cancel it. And it was the wrong choice.

Responsible leaders should be shocked by the idea that party officials can simply cancel elections in America if they don’t like what the voters may decide.

The only antidote to decades of ruinous rule by a small handful of elites is a bold infusion of popular will. On every major issue affecting this country, the people are right and the governing elite are wrong. The elites are wrong on taxes, on the size of government, on trade, on immigration, on foreign policy.

Why should we trust the people who have made every wrong decision to substitute their will for America’s will in this presidential election?

...The great irony of this campaign is that the “Washington cartel” that Mr. Cruz rails against is the very group he is relying upon in his voter-nullification scheme.

My campaign strategy is to win with the voters. Ted Cruz’s campaign strategy is to win despite them.

What we are seeing now is not a proper use of the rules, but a flagrant abuse of the rules. Delegates are supposed to reflect the decisions of voters, but the system is being rigged by party operatives with “double-agent” delegates who reject the decision of voters.

The American people can have no faith in such a system. It must be reformed.

Just as I have said that I will reform our unfair trade, immigration and economic policies that have also been rigged against Americans, so too will I work closely with the chairman of the Republican National Committee and top GOP officials to reform our election policies. Together, we will restore the faith-- and the franchise-- of the American people.

We must leave no doubt that voters, not donors, choose the nominee.

How have we gotten to the point where politicians defend a rigged delegate-selection process with more passion than they have ever defended America’s borders?

Perhaps it is because politicians care more about securing their private club than about securing their country.

The state of Ohio doesn't allow candidates-- even self-funding ones-- to bribe delegates at conventions. Watch how Maddow explained it Thursday evening:

Going To The GOP July Convention Will Mean Taking Your Life In Your Hands

As the RNC gets ready for the July Paul Ryan coronation in Cleveland, the Trump forces are threatening for violence. Ryan-- one of the biggest NRA shills in Congress-- was smart-- albeit hypocritical-- to ban guns and then to respond to the petition to allow guns with a diktat from the Secret Service saying no guns would be tolerated.

As we explained Monday night, Alex Jones and Roger Stone are asking for Trum-pests to show up ready for a fight. Jones called for 5 million of them to descend on Cleveland. Cash-strapped Cleveland has been forced to spend millions of dollars on heavy duty riot gear and the GOP is refusing to reimburse them. Stone's latest ploy is to threaten to release to the Trump storm troopers the hotel room numbers of anyone who crosses the boss and participates in trying to steal "his" nomination.

"We’re going to have protests, demonstrations. We will disclose the hotels and the room numbers of those delegates who are directly involved in the steal," Stone said Monday in a discussion with Stefan Molyneux on Freedomain Radio, as he alleged that Trump's opponents planned to deny the democratic will of Republican primary voters.

"If you’re from Pennsylvania, we’ll tell you who the culprits are. We urge you to visit their hotel and find them. You have a right to discuss this, if you voted in the Pennsylvania primary, for example, and your votes are being disallowed," Stone said.

Stone, a Nixon acolyte and master of political dirty tricks, has claimed at various points that the political establishment is trying to steal the Republican nomination from Trump, with whom he formally parted ways last summer but remains an informal adviser of sorts. He's now vowing "days of rage" on the banks of Lake Erie if the Republican Party tries any funny business at the convention in Cleveland.

“They’re trying to steal it in two different ways. It is interesting to me that in every primary or caucus where Ted Cruz won, we have certified, proven, sworn evidence of massive voter fraud, which will later be presented to the credentials committee in Cleveland in an attempt to unseat delegates who were illegally elected," Stone claimed.



The other way method of theft, Stone elaborated, is "the phenomena of the Trojan Horse delegates, where Trump has won a primary, let’s take Texas for example — or he’s won a share of the votes in a primary. Trump got 40 percent of the vote in Texas; he’s entitled to 40 percent of the delegates. There’s 100 delegates from Texas. That’s 40 delegates. And they are pledged by party rules to vote for Trump on the first ballot."

"But the actual people in those delegate seats will be anti-Trump party hacks who will vote against Trump on procedural matters such as the seating of delegates or the rules under which this convention will be conducted," Stone said, pointing to the example of Louisiana, where Cruz's allies in the local GOP muscled out pro-Trump delegates even though Trump won the popular vote.

Trump initially threatened to sue the Cruz campaign, Stone noted, though he quickly realized he would have to seek redress through the Republican National Committee's internal procedures.

Laying out what he thought would happen, Stone continued: "Either Trump will have 1,237 votes in which case the party will try to throw out some of those delegates in a naked attempt to try to steal this from Donald Trump, or he will be just short of 1,237, in which case many of his own delegates, or, I should say people in his delegate seats will abandon him on the second ballot."

"So the fix is in," Stone concluded. "If Trump does not run the table on the rest of the primaries and the caucuses, we’re looking at a very, very narrow path in which the kingmakers go all out to cheat, to steal and to snatch this nomination from the candidate who was overwhelmingly selected by the voters, which is why I have urged Trump supporters: Come to Cleveland, march on Cleveland, join us in the Forest City."

One got a taste of Trump's fury at the GOP Establishment Tuesday night in his mean-spirited, graceless "concession" statement after being pulverized by Cruz, an incredibly weak candidate himself.

Sign The Petition To Allow GOP Convention Goers To Shoot Each Other

Paul Ryan figured it out before most Republicans did-- and way before Trump began threatening to provoke a riot if the Republican Establishment steals the nomination from him at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland in July. Ryan moved quickly to have guns banned from the arena, even though Ohio is a proud open-carry state, where homicidal Republicans can go to a bar and get drunk and shoot everyone in it. The theory is that everyone in the bar is safer if they all have guns. But not at a Republican convention. We looked at it closely back in early February once it became obvious-- at least to non-Beltway types-- that Ryan was going to steal the nomination.

Remember the Republican gun nut/Trump petition we told you about? It's closing in on 40,000 names now, heavily supported by NRA types and by Democrats who love the idea of a televised GOP shoot-out at the convention. (You can sign it at the link.)

In July of 2016, the GOP will host its convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Though Ohio is an open carry state, which allows for the open carry of guns, the hosting venue-- the Quicken Loans Arena-- strictly forbids the carry of firearms on their premises.

According to the policy on their website, "firearms and other weapons of any kind are strictly forbidden on the premises of Quicken Loans Arena."

This is a direct affront to the Second Amendment and puts all attendees at risk. As the National Rifle Association has made clear, "gun-free zones" such as the Quicken Loans Arena are "the worst and most dangerous of all lies." The NRA, our leading defender of gun rights, has also correctly pointed out that "gun free zones... tell every insane killer in America... (the) safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk." (March 4, 2016 and Dec. 21, 2012)

Cleveland, Ohio is consistently ranked as one of the top ten most dangerous cities in America. By forcing attendees to leave their firearms at home, the RNC and Quicken Loans Arena are putting tens of thousands of people at risk both inside and outside of the convention site.

This doesn't even begin to factor in the possibility of an ISIS terrorist attack on the arena during the convention. Without the right to protect themselves, those at the Quicken Loans Arena will be sitting ducks, utterly helpless against evil-doers, criminals or others who wish to threaten the American way of life.

All three remaining Republican candidates have spoken out on the issue and are unified in their opposition to Barack HUSSEIN Obama's "gun-free zones."

Donald Trump said "I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools—you have-- and on military bases on my first day. It gets signed my first day...you know what a gun-free zone is to a sicko? That's bait." (Jan. 8. 2016)

Ted Cruz has accurately pointed out "shooting after shooting after shooting happens in so called gun-free zones." He continued, "look, if you're a lunatic ain't nothing better then having a bunch of targets you know that are going to be unarmed." (Dec. 4, 2015)

And Ohio Governor John Kasich has been a leader in this movement to eliminate deadly "gun-free zones" starting with his brave decision to fight the Democrats and end "gun-free zones" at National Guard facilities in Ohio. (Dec. 18, 2015)

We are all too familiar with the mass carnage that can occur when citizens are denied their basic God-given rights to carry handguns or assault weapons in public. EVERY AMERICAN HAS THE RIGHT TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THEIR FAMILY. With this irresponsible and hypocritical act of selecting a "gun-free zone" for the convention, the RNC has placed its members, delegates, candidates and all US citizens in grave danger.

We must take a stand. We cannot allow the national nominating convention of the party of Lincoln and Reagan to be hijacked by weakness and political correctness. The policies of the Quicken Loans Arena do not supersede the rights given to us by our Creator in the U.S. Constitution.

THEREFORE, WE ARE CALLING TODAY FOR THE FOLLOWING FIVE POINTS OF ACTION:

1. From the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland: A suspension of their policy preventing the open carry of firearms on the premises of the arena from July 18-21, 2016 to coincide with the Republican National Convention.

2. From the National Rifle Association: An immediate condemnation of the egregious affront to the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution constituted by the "gun-free zone" loophole to the state law.

3. From Ohio Governor John Kasich: A concerted effort to use his executive authority to override the "gun-free zone" loophole being exploited by the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

4. From Reince Priebus and the Republican National Committee: An explanation of how a venue so unfriendly to Second Amendment rights was chosen for the Republican Convention. Further, we demand a contingency plan to relocate the convention to another location should the Quicken Loans Arena refuse to honor the constitutional rights of the RNC guests to open carry firearms during the convention.

5. From all Republican candidates for President: You have been brave in raising awareness about the immense dangers posed by "gun-free zones." In order to ensure the safety of your supporters, delegates and all attendees at the convention in July, you must call upon the RNC to rectify this affront to our Second Amendment freedoms and insist upon a suspension of the Quicken Loans Arena's unconstitutional "gun-free zone" loophole. Every American is endowed with a God-given Constitutional right to carry a gun wherever and whenever they please.

One of the Ten Commandments of the Republican Party, after all, is "The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." So why is Ryan being so hypercritical about allowing guns into the convention? Even if a few dozen patriots get shot... it's all about watering the roots of liberty anyway, right? No? Early this month, Andrew Tobias reported in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the city's law enforcement agencies are hitting up the stressed federal budget for significant purchases of riot gear in time to great the Republican conventioneers. They've asked for the money to equip 2,000 control officers, including 2,000 sets of state-of-the-art riot-control suits.

The convention, scheduled for the week of July 18, is expected to attract 50,000 visitors to Cleveland. As part of its security plan, Cleveland is organizing a police force of 5,000 officers-- the city is in the process of recruiting officers from surrounding suburbs and elsewhere to bolster its existing force of about 1,200. Previous conventions also have attracted political demonstrators, ranging from more than 100,000 for the 2004 RNC in New York City to less than 1,000 for the 2012 RNC in Tampa, Florida.


Because the RNC has been designated as a National Special Security Event, it is eligible to receive federal funding. Cleveland is planning convention security under the direction of the Secret Service.


City officials largely are not commenting on their convention-planning efforts.


However, Mayor Frank Jackson's administration told City Council last month that the city plans to spend roughly $30 million of the federal grant on personnel, and $20 million on equipment.

Neither the Philly police nor the Wells Fargo Center Center expects any street violence from disgruntled Hillary Clinton fans if Bernie wins the Democratic Party nomination there the week after the GOP shootout Paul Ryan coronation (July 25-28). I wonder if Ryan, a bow-and-arrow enthusiast, will try to compromise by allow bows and arrows into the convention instead. Will that include crossbows? Dr. Ben wants to know. He was back on Fox and Friends this morning sound apocalyptic and threatening mayhem if Trump doesn't get the nomination. (Trump has promised him a job.) "If there are shenanigans, if it's not straightforward, all of those millions of people that Donald Trump has brought into the arena are not going to stay there. The Republicans are going to lose, and it's going to be not only the presidency, but it's going to be the Senate, and it could even be the House. It's going to be absolute destruction." He didn't repeat his prediction of "turmoil" today.

Blogger Tim Russo Is Running For Office In Cleveland-- And He Has Nothing To Hide

A morality tale is playing out in Cuyahoga County, where voters will soon construct a new form of government for Ohio’s most Democratic region.  

Last fall, a silent coup d’état was orchestrated by the architects of Cuyahoga County’s Issue 6, a new county charter that replaces the three county commissioners (one of whom is currently the target of an FBI corruption investigation) with 11 county council members and a county executive. The new charter also makes many elected positions (auditor, treasurer, recorder) appointed positions.

For the first time in a century, real change is possible in Cuyahoga County, where incestuous relationships between many elected officials and a handful of powerful local businessmen who donate to their campaigns have been used to advance their own agendas.

A candidate for the downtown seat, County Council District 7, lifelong Clevelander Tim Russo, would seem like a safe bet for anyone craving effectual leadership for a change. The 42-year-old former lawyer’s resume reads like a who’s who of liberal celebrities. Russo’s college internship was with Dennis Kucinich in 1988. In 1996, Russo was Ohio’s get-out-the-vote director for the Clinton-Gore re-election. He was a Labour Party Visits Coordinator for all three Tony Blair election victories in the UK, in 1997, 2001 and 2005. In 1998, he was Al Gore’s hand-picked New Hampshire Democratic Party coordinated campaign state director. Russo was the top strategist for Congressman Tim Ryan’s first run for Congress in 2002-- perhaps the Buckeye State’s most promising future Democratic leader. And for many years he helped seed democracy in places like Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Armenia and half a dozen other countries.

Russo has the sort of leadership experience Cuyahoga County desperately needs at this dangerous, hopeful crossroads. But local media are doing their best to scuttle his campaign before it really begins. Why? Because in November 2001 he solicited sex from an FBI agent posing online as a minor and was made Pervert of the Day for an entire 24-hour news cycle. Local media want him to pay for that for the rest of his life.

“It’s time to no longer be defined by our mistakes,” says Russo. “This new legislature, in my own hometown, needs precisely the experience I can deliver, and I’m not going to let a stupid mistake I made almost a decade ago stop me from trying to deliver it. Not for one second.”

Anyone tuned into Rust Belt politics learned about Russo’s conviction long ago-- if not on the day of the arrest in 2001, then years later when Russo posted honest, revealing and specific details about the event and his life after it on his blog. He has never hidden from the charges, admitting it was the biggest mistake of his life. He never bothered to have it expunged.

Instead, Russo took some old Kennedy advice and hung a light on his problem, remaining transparent about it and trying to make up for it in his actions, in his efforts to make his city, country, and his world a better place in which to live.

Media coverage of Russo’s candidacy in Cleveland has focused almost solely on the titillating nature of Russo’s 9 year old “news.”  On March 1, Channel 3/NBC investigative reporter Tom Meyer called his story, which was essentially based on Russo’s own blog, an “exclusive.” Cleveland’s daily paper, the Plain Dealer, ran an article several days later that again rehashed the circumstances of his arrest nine years ago-- they even published the original prosecutor’s notes and transcripts from the case online, a decision which led to persistent death threats.

“I’ve paid for this mistake, I’ve apologized, and I’ve made amends, for years,” Russo says, noting the conviction is so minor, he doesn’t even have to register or report as a sex offender. “I’m done paying and apologizing,” says Russo of the incoming flak. “And frankly, all this tells me I must be getting somewhere.”

Russo never let the conviction keep him from staying involved. Three months after the arrest in 2001, he worked to put his good friend Tim Ryan in Congress. In 2003 he trained activists for elections in Latvia, Croatia and Kosovo. He recruited and trained election-day precinct challengers for the 2004 Kerry-Edwards campaign, trained election observers in the West Bank and Gaza in 2005, and continued to consult on local campaigns, all after his conviction.

He became Ohio’s most prominent political blogger, currently writing at Plunderbund. Russo emerged as a Youtube phenomenon in 2008, with the world-famous McCain-Palin Mob, and his YouTube videos of Tea Party teabaggings have been featured repeatedly on the Rachel Maddow Show.
 
Still, try as he might, every time Russo started to get a life back, his enemies found a new way to toss out the salacious details of his conviction, to a media environment frothing at the mouth for sex.  Even then, they have to sex it up, because the details of Russo’s bust aren’t really that exciting. An FBI agent posing as a minor conversed with him about sexual acts, and a meeting was arranged. Only, Russo didn’t stop at the pre-arranged stop; he continued driving past. The police picked him up anyway. It would be the most boring episode of To Catch a Predator ever-- one where the perp shows a conscience, some second thought, and drives by the house instead of going inside. 

Still, local media can’t resist it.

“My friends, family and supporters have watched me deal with this for nine years,” says Russo.  “Another series of bottom-feeding stories in the media isn’t going to be news to them.”

Russo is putting this experience to work in his campaign too, advocating for a new law in Cuyahoga County forbidding discrimination in employment and public services based on criminal record unrelated to the job or service. “Ex-offenders are forced to be more transparent about themselves than anyone else, and even that doesn’t help them find work,” Russo says, having walked this walk himself. “It’d be nice if your government was this transparent, wouldn’t it?”

At the moment, Russo is more concerned with distancing himself from Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo, who is also a target of the ongoing FBI investigation. Russo used to be the best name in Cleveland politics; now if your last name is Russo, every voter asks if you’re related to Frank. 

“No relation,” he says, laughing.  Russo’s even made a parody ad out of the issue, calling himself "The GoodRusso.” “Guess we’re gonna put that last name to the test, aren’t we?” he says.

If elected, Russo will also be the first openly bisexual elected official in the history of Ohio.  “We’re going for a lot of ‘firsts’ in this campaign,” he jokes. And he plans to make county government transparency his top priority-- a frightening proposition for those who seek to control Cuyahoga County again.

No doubt they will try to make Russo’s nine-year-old mistake news yet again as the September primary draws closer. But Tim Russo’s the only one with nothing to hide.