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Surreal, Take Two—The High-tech New Age Is Here

Many lobbyists and consultants would retreat each day to what I called the Tech Schmoozfest at Politico,the politics web site. They (never was sure who “they,” Politico, were?) set up on the 21st floor of a downtown office building. After “checking in” an elevator was set aside to zoom you up to 21. Upon exiting your eyes were treated to a wall of balloons spelling out Politico. On the other wall were glass encased memorabilia boxes of past and present political campaigns…moving to the next room was an open bar, and everything was free. There were displays by Microsoft and Lyft and in the corner was an oxygen bar run by a Trump voter who goes around the country setting up oxygen bars for corporate events. She told me she’s voting for Trump “because he can get things done.” In the next room, the largest, were two more bars and a long food table, a vodka punch bar, lots of white couches, and a TV studio where daily panel discussions took place on the economy or prison reform or foreign policy and were broadcast on the internet. There were tons more freebies too: notebooks, sun glasses, magazines, glasses and my favorite, caffeine-loaded candy. But the best thing for this reporter was the Free Wi-Fi, a place to file a story and check my email. Thank you Politico!

Surreal, Take Three—The Tools of Street Combat

The new weapon of urban warfare is not new at all, it’s the mountain bike. The first time I saw the mountain bike used as a way of controlling large groups of people was at the RNC in Minneapolis in 2008. The plastic orange wrap at the RNC in New York in 2004 got them into multiple law suits because they rounded up too many people who weren’t involved in demonstrating. The bicycle police are more discriminating I guess. In Cleveland, literally hundreds of cops were put on bikes and they often acted as fencing by aligning their bikes, circling random groups of demonstrators and closing the noose. They use the bikes to chase people too through narrow alleyways or across busy plazas. The bicycle police often close down streets and trap protesters by setting up ten or twenty bikes at either end trapping protesters, delegates, and vendors and stopping them from exiting an area until the police deem the security threat ended.

Surreal Take Four—The East 4th Street Media Circus

MSNBC set up two studios, a glass enclosed one and an open air studio on E. 4th Street leading toward “The Q,” where the actual convention was held. There was Chuck Todd going one-on-one with a Republican about whether there’s a “liberal bias” to the news(Anybody want to ask Bernie Sanders about “liberal bias?” Seems like some of Todd’s emails were among the Wiki-Leaks DNC take-down of Bernie releases last Friday.); over there is Chris Matthews talking to passersby like he’s lonely and there’s not much news to report; and, there was always a dozen Code Pink members around singing, dancing and shedding light on Trumpmisogyny, Republican war-like politics, and general GOP incivility. Those women attracted a lot of right wing anger, but their creativity turned more than a few heads. At one point they passed out 500 tennis balls and had people playing catch, but tennis balls are prohibited in Cleveland this week, deemed a (dangerous?) weapon. They were all confiscated by heavily armed police. When this was happening, just a few blocks away I was interviewing members of the West Ohio Minutemen who were “open-carrying” AR 15 and M-16 automatic weapons, all legal-like. Go figure! And just in case anyone thinks Homeland Security or the Secret Service will make us safe, how is it that Code Pink sent protesters into the convention on three of four nights to chant and unfurl banners? Even Medea Benjamin, whose face must surely be known by “the authorities” was able to get in on the final night and briefly disrupt the Trump coronation.

Surreal, Take Five—Event Choreography

Day one saw the “Never Trump” forces put on some junior political fireworks in trying to round up support for a stop Trump movement (Bernie’s movement of the “rigged system” at the DNC in Philly this week is proving to be much more widespread). It was real and maybe unexpected by some, but there were many anti-Trump people present, but not enough to make a dent on the orange hair, probably because most of the Never Trumpers stayed home including the Bush’s, John McCain, Marco Rubio and even Sarah Palin who endorsed Trump early in the campaign was nowhere to be seen at the RNC. Then we heard Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, offer a very well-received and well-crafted speech only to find out later that some paragraphs had been hijacked from Michelle Obama’s 2008 own “wife” speech at the DNC. At one point, during the damage control phase, Melania did say she quite admired Michelle.

On night three the scene was bordering on pugilistic pandemonium. The lights over Ted Cruz suddenly dimmed, and on the second level towards the stage left back of the Arena, it’s him.The orange hair is a dead giveaway.He’s upstaging Lyin’Ted, and it’s working. Ted would not seal the deal and endorse”the Donald” and the crowd finally sensed it and they let fly with loud boos and hisses. Lyin’ Ted paused waiting for HIM to take his seat. Cheers all around for HIM. Then Lyin’ Ted started in again and the crowd would have none of it. When the booing becomes deafening, Lyin’ T offers that smarmy smile like he knows more than his audience does, so the audience boos louder and he finally gets off the stage.

The nominated vice president, Mike Pence the Indiana governor is next. “I’m a Christian, a Conservative, and Republican in that order.” This seems to be all you need to know, although his speech was one of the best of this convention, the Lyin’ Ted’s non-endorsement upstaged the entire night. The last night in leading up the the BIG speech and the balloon drop was marked by war cries of “Lock her up,” and “build the wall,” and then Ivanka Trump reeled off a bunch of liberal social issues “that my father supports” included universal childcare and gay marriage. Trump’s 76-minute speech is, well, 76-minutes too long. Trump people lamented the previous night’s Vince McMahon moments of walking through the fog and lights were not replicated for the main event.

I couldn’t get out of Cleveland soon enough. Although the RNC confab was enormously entertaining it was just a tad overdone. Only really took one day to get their message: the economy is really fine, but the debt is too high, Michelle Obama might be okay but Hillary Clinton is right up there with Pol Pot and Idi Amin, and we must gut anything Obama touched, especially that Obamacare’s gotta go since so many of the Republicans got theirs already.

On Our Way to Philly

Sitting in the back of an old Mazda flying down I-76, putting distance, lots of it, between us and the Republicans. Philly and the Democrats are just ahead.  It’s a seven-hour drive “so get comfy,” says my Math teacher friend who taught at Santa Cruz High until recently, having to move to the central valley to take care of his mom as so many of my middle-aged friends seem to now be doing. I’m content to be jammed in the back of the car typing away. We’re talking over an Observer story about a Wiki-leaks document dump. They are DNC official emails about how senior DNC officials sought to undermine the Bernie campaign and support Hillary.

We’re passing around slices of olive bread topped with almond ricotta while also eating last night’s Thai food take-out. Signs for Pittsburg, Gettysburg and Reading fly by. Just passing Lititz, Pa., only 77 miles from another corporate-named convention center where the DNC will be meeting. Unlike Cleveland’s downtown arena, Philly is an old school car-centric one on the outskirts of town where all the freeways cross. Several convoys of Pennsylvania state troopers have been passing us, presumably filled with at least one “important person” each, and then an enormous Fox news truck goes shooting by, their “Fox five” news people emblazoned on the side. I go back to typing this. It’s one hundred degrees outside our air conditioned traveling bubble and the heat wave is here. Funny, never heard a word about climate change in Cleveland, but the West Virginia delegation held up signs reading “Trump Digs Coal.”

On Monday morning, a breakfast was held for the California Delegation. That delegation is being housed in the Philadelphia Downtown Marriott, at about $700/night, which means most delegates are sharing accommodations. I am rooming with Alan Haffa, a Monterey City Council Member and Bernie Delegate. Alan is also a coordinator of Bernie Delegates from the Central Coast Region.
The breakfast was unexpectedly raucous. Many Bernie Delegates booed or otherwise showed their dislike for Hillary Clinton, whenever her name was mentioned. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is not a favorite of progressives, and was attacked during his time at the podium. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla drew the most negativity, with chants from the floor of “Count Our Ballots,” and “Do Your Job.” Many Bernie Delegates truly believe that Bernie “won” the vote in California, and that ballot fraud was prevalent. The fact that the breakfast and the Convention was partly sponsored by oil companies, with that fact being advertised, probably put the more progressive delegates in a cranky mood, even before the speakers showed up to stir their ire. Nancy Pelosi was really the only major speaker who didn’t draw down anti-Hillary Clinton reactions, laughing off an effort by one Bernie supporter to put a “Bernie Sanders For President” sign into the video screen with her. By the time she ended her terrific address, I felt like starting a chant, “Pelosi for President!”

In my opinion, the problem that the Democratic Party has had with the Sanders’ Delegates, right from the start, is that the official Party apparatus has acted as though Hillary was inevitably going to be the official candidate, thus sending the message that the actual “election” process was a sham. The revelations that led to the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Shultz, and to the rancor that has accompanied her appearance here in Philadelphia, show that this attitude was present from the start of the primary season, and it still persists. The Convention is organized in a way that “presumes” that Hillary Clinton is the Democratic Party candidate; however, Hillary has not yet been officially voted into that status, and doesn’t have enough “pledged” delegates to claim the nomination. When the “Super Delegates” all vote, Hillary should, indeed, have more than the necessary numbers, if they vote for Hillary as they say they will, but until that happens, the theme of “Coming Together,” which all the Party officials deployed, rings hollow in the ears of Bernie Delegates who want to vote for their candidate, and who truly believe that Bernie would have a much better chance than Hillary to defeat Donald Trump.

On Sunday evening, all the Bernie Delegates from California got together, and talked about how to communicate and coordinate as the Convention gets underway. Bernie Sanders has called a meeting for today, for all his pledged delegates. There was a real debate about whether to go to that meeting, since many Bernie Delegates were afraid that the meeting was scheduled so late that they would miss the opening of the Convention, and that their absence might then allow adverse rulings to be made, without their objection and opposition. Bernie moved his meeting earlier, to eliminate that problem. I am finishing up this posting at about 11:00 o’clock on Monday morning, Philadelphia time”. Go to Gary’s website to read his daily comments on the convention and to see his photos.

BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.