Cleveland is a city on near lockdown in many areas despite what you may see on television or hear on the radio. From my perch on the seventh floor of an historic downtown building I can see with ease gunboats patrolling the river and the coast of Lake Erie. In the sky the occasional Blackhawk flies by. The weapons of war are not quite on full display but this is just the beginning of a tension filled week in which Republicans are set to nominate for President possibly the most talked about, controversial candidate in my lifetime.

I’m told by those familiar with security briefings over the last few days that just out of site of downtown there are staging areas with Bradley Fighting vehicles, Humvees and hundreds of members of the Ohio National Guard are in staging areas just waiting in the event that somehow the steel ring of security is breached.

I can assure you that from very good sources- if anything happens- Cleveland will quickly become a city under what would essentially be Marshall Law. There is no sense of humor when it comes to law and order this week. The response will be instant and overwhelming.

In the mix of all this however are those that are openly carrying firearms under Ohio law. Governor John Kasich denied a request from an Ohio police organization for him to stop people from carrying guns in public around the event.

I saw myself people open carrying firearms. It must be confusing for those on all sides- especially those in law enforcement.

The chant in the street “What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want them? Now!” has now played itself out time and again in this nation. Sadly our President has fueled the flames of hate focused at police officers. Obama rushed to judgement in the Travon Martin case, in the case of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri and in the case of Freddie Gray in Baltimore.

“Pigs in a blanket, fry em like bacon”, is another refrain from the front lines of Barack Obama’s Hope and Change revolution rippling through America. The blood is all over the ground as a result, from the Big Easy to the Big Apple.

So as I look at the scores of police officers swarming the streets of Cleveland- I wonder, where are we America? More importantly, where are we going? It is time to heal the nation, teach the truth about America’s greatness, teach our kids what is great about this country, teach respect for who we are and where we came from. We certainly need to admit our shortcomings but not by casting ourselves onto the sword!

I certainly don’t want to live in a country where gunboats in the river and blackhawks in the sky are normal. I don’t think any of us want that.

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