Will the Republican convention turn into the Wild Wild West?
By Roger Caldwell
As the candidates in both parties get closer to the presidential nominating conventions, anything could happen, because the 2016 campaign is unprecedented and unpredictable. The Democratic presidential campaign was a traditional affair, where the candidates showed respect and integrity toward each other. But, the Republican campaign was nasty, disrespectful, and ugly.
The Democrats can stand tall and hold their head up high, because the party is uniting around a progressive platform, which will move America forward. On the other hand, the Republicans are disorganized, and it appears that there will be a contested convention in Cleveland.
For the past few months, the front-runner Donald Trump has sought to operate a campaign that was based on raw emotions of hate and human anger. Trump has sought to raise the blood lust of his racists’ supporters by advocating violent acts and threats of violence against minorities. As the ringmaster and the leader of this hate filled rhetoric, no one should be surprised at what could happen during the Republican convention.
Andrew Tobias of Cleveland.com says, “Cleveland is seeking to buy 2,000 sets of riot gear, including riot-control suits and collapsible batons, as part of the city’s latest move to spend a $60 million federal security grant for July’s Republican National Convention (RNC). The city also has sought to rent about three miles of interlocking steel barriers, each 3.5 feet high, and buy another 3,250 feet of interlocking barriers that each would be 6.5 feet tall for the convention.”
The RNC is scheduled for the week of July 16, and 50,000 visitors are expected to attend a contested convention. The violent ringmaster, Trump has predicted to the media, that there may be public riots; if the Republican leadership does not follow the rules to the letter of the law. Trump has effectively done more to damage the image of the Republican Party to suggest that the leadership is out to break the rules of the convention.
The city of Cleveland seems to be preparing for a war, as opposed to a political convention. Everyone in the country knows that the Republican Party is big supporters of carrying their guns, but there has been no discussion or position taken on this issue.
In the last two weeks at Trump’s campaigns there has been overt violence, and in Fayetteville, N.C. a 78-year-old white man, John McGraw, was arrested and charged with assault and battery. There has been in-creasing frequent acts of Trump supporters attacking protesters at his rallies, and the situations are getting out of hand. Trump has refused to accept any responsibility for the violence, and his hate-filled rhetoric continues.
“You bet I liked it, knocking the hell out of that big mouth. We don’t know who he is, but we know he’s not acting like an American. Yes he deserved it. The next time we see him; we might have to kill him. We don’t know who he is. He might be with a terrorist organization,” says Trump supporter John McGraw.
These are the type of individuals who are preparing to attend the RNC, and they are ready to dispense hate and violence. These are dangerous times and Trump’s hate-filled supporters will probably have their guns and the Bible.
As the Republicans get ready for their conventions, protestors can turn it into a Wild West show, where the convention goers shoot first and ask questions later. Since Trump’s campaign has created a “fight club” mentality at his rallies, he is setting the Cleveland convention up for an explosion where anything goes.
