Notes from RNC: Day 3

As is my natural time clock, without the interference of my bizarre work schedule, I was up and out of my hotel room before the dawn. I love to explore in the stillness of the morning and I was not disappointed today! Cleveland is a wonderful, "smallish" city with BIG city amenities. Again, being jaded as a native New Yawka', I often feel that anything between the coasts is a vast wasteland. But, the more I explore these "second tier" American cities, the more that I realize that there IS life beyond the Hudson River. I walked from one end of downtown to the other in about 20 minutes. My goal was to reach Lake Erie - mission accomplished. Along the way, I saw beautiful buildings, wonderful attractions like the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, and breathtaking natural beauty. Given the opportunity I would gladly return.

Work on the convention precedes without interruption. No matter how many of these I participate in, it always amazes me how much work goes into them! Million of dollars are spent on the preparation and even more is spent on the actual event. I used to think what a waste of $. Shouldn't our leaders be looking to spend more money where it is needed most? But, I've changed my thinking. These conventions pump million of dollars into not only the local economy but nationally, as well. Set designers and builders, electricians, musicians, reporters, technicians, policemen, hotel workers, and many more all benefit from these events. In other words, it's call an ECONOMY. People need to make money in order to spend it. This is a splendid example: I'm making money working here and I'm spending it here, too. Kind of makes sense, doesn't it?

Now for the politics of it all.

The city is gearing up for whatever Trump and his minions will bring. One of the biggest issues confronting most of us, in particular the police, is that Ohio is an "open carry" State. That means that people here are legally allowed to openly carry weapons! We just saw the devastating effect this law has on the public and police with the carnage in Dallas. It's more than foolish, it's just plain stupid. Perhaps, people will come to their senses - eventually.

While we were setting up our studio we had the TV on and I managed to catch President Obama's speech at the Dallas memorial. I found it a brilliant mixture of pathos, grief, AND anger. In MY plain English (not his) he said this shit has got to stop - both sides in this argument have legitimate beefs. But, pulling further apart is NOT the answer. Acknowledging these difference is the first step in resolving the problem. Until we can do that, we are doomed.

And, yet, there were those who COMPLETELY missed the point and, as is their custom, bashed the President for his candor. Contraries like Allan West spew their hateful, narrow-minded views to the benefit of no one but themselves. Shame on him! To me, he is among a group that not matter what the President says, it MUST be wrong. Really.

In line with what the President said, I offer this observation: During my dawn walk this morning, I was approached by 4 panhandlers. All of them were desperately poor AND black. I don't know about you, but I am left asking WHY???????????????

More tomorrow.