07/20/2016 Fear and Loathing in Cleveland - 9:22am, First day in Cleveland @ Denny's...

Bad coffee and overly friendly staff, the perfect start to what already appears to be a helluva 48 hours. GOP delegates sit anxiously in brown leatherette booths discussing today's schedule, barely containing their working class anger. It hangs in the air like humidity. One woman, two booths down from me, berates a customer service rep at the Quicken Loans Arena for not having the exact time Mike Pence will be speaking tonight. "I have to catch a goddamn greyhound tonight, what don't you understand about that???" She blurts out in a particularly irritating tone. The CS rep sounds remarkably calm from what I can here from her flip phone speaker. 

Not the best time I've spent hovering over a grand slam.

07/20/2016 Fear and Loathing in Cleveland: 11:41 AM - 
Public Square (couple of blocks from RNC)...

Tempers are rising alongside the heat index. The typical liberal freak show is at max throttle complete with diaper clad grown men writhing on the ground. Make no mistake, these folks mean to raise the blood pressure of the Trump crowd. Swarthy looking men, with more than a weeks stubble and large American flags are surrounding the man babies now. I watch from a cafe window while drinking a local IPA. It seems the best course of action at this point.

07/20/2016 Fear and Loathing in Cleveland. 1:37pm @ public square - 

Very bad vibes. Completely surrounded by cops on 3 sides and pro trump protesters on the 4th. Many death threats being uttered. Ugly times.

07/21/2016 Fear and Loathing in Cleveland Day 2 - 1:58pm, Winking Lizard Bar -

I checked into my hotel around midnight last night. Woke the desk clerk who panicked and jumped up from his chair very awkwardly but relaxed when I shoved my reservation print-out in his face. I was not in a mood to be messed with. Limping, sunburnt, and exhausted from faux cheering and jeering alongside the staunch republicans that were huddled around a large, HD, television screen watching the convention speeches while I ate the largest (regular) sized sandwich ever. But then, Ted Cruz walked onstage. 

07/21/2016 Fear and Loathing in Cleveland Day 2 - 4:49pm, Rebol Cafe -

Very hot and humid, tempers seem raw. I was here 30 mins and a large brute of a police officer shoved me, hard. I was standing on one side of a yellow line that the police designated as a boundary point for media. I was at least a foot in from it but when the blue line wants to flex, it flexes. No use arguing with the rubes, they have no concept of civility when they are annoyed, you simply comply or suffer the pounding that follows the insubordination. It's no secret that the police view one side as far more dangerous than the other. They are correct in this, the side that thinks for itself the least is the easiest to work with, but for those that question... Well, they must be contained. Who knows if the murder of yet another unarmed black man at the hands of a cop is weighing on the minds of the police here. They can't let this get out of control. The corrections will be swift and without mercy.

07/21/2016 Fear and Loathing in Cleveland Day 2 - 10:28pm, Winking Lizard Tavern -

In a below average tavern now attempting to drown out the noise of the day. Unfortunately, Donald J Trump is screaming from 7 different television screens. Clusters of men, resembling slightly less sophisticated versions of Bevis and Butthead, slam their palms against the bar at the end of every sentence their leader utters. It's simply astonishing. Interestingly, they espouse the same views as the Bernie bros, albeit with just a slightly less poisonous hate. My guess is many of the Bernie Bros will vote for Trump. Misogynistic opportunist that saw a chance to use the vehicle of political change only because their opponent is a woman. They are the worst of men, a breed that just won't die out.