The first two real days of the RNC were filled to the brim
with speakers….not only from well known and lesser well known politicians,
senators, congressmen, governors but also from retired military, religious
figures, business leaders, Trump coalitions and rally groups, Trump children –
at least one a day, mothers of slain soldiers and policemen, an actor, a police
sheriff (David Clarke- he was fabulous), several veterans, youths, a great
speech from Linda Lingle, an inspiring and “well” crafted, albeit controversial
presentation from Melania Trump, and the most thrilling and motivating speeches
by Rudy Giuliani….who seized the first night, and by Donald Trump Jr and Chris
Christie who seized night #2. Night 3 was polluted by the likes of Ted Cruz,
but partially rescued by Newt Gingrich and Mike Pence.
Night 4 is still forthcoming. And more on
these aspects in my next chapter.
But first this blog
will highlight a little about the ambience.
Security was high everywhere.
Indeed, I would not be surprised if there was
a security guard planted in the bathroom of my hotel room!
There were cops, federal agents, secret
service, strong looking military types that you would have to be crazy to f….
with, men, women of all sizes, shapes…..legions of them all over the place…in
the air, on the ground, in their cars…..everywhere.
You could not go ANYWHERE without seeing an
ARMED officer of the law or secret service staffer with that signature plastic
ear piece wired down under his/her collar - to protect your safety and your
right to participate in this most American of constitutional traditions.
And they were all friendly and kind and
conversant and appreciative of the signs of gratitude from those passing by. I
never felt as safe and protected in my entire life….thank YOU US law
enforcement!!!! But their job was overwhelming in scope.
Protestors filled the assigned areas far from the reaches of
the Q, and were peaceful until day 3 when 18 were arrested.
For some reason, one protestor tried to burn
the American flag and instead set his trousers on fire – nice job guy!
The police had their own strategy for
containing protestors with lines of policemen on horses, followed by lines on
bicycles to contain those that slipped by the procession of horses. If the
protestors somehow squeezed by the barrier of oncoming bicycles, they had to
contend with hundreds of officers on foot.
Quite an elaborate plan; one that has been heretofore very successful.
Inside the Q, in the inner sanctum of the RNC, it was a
little like being thrown into a pinball machine. Chaos, noise, and thousands of human bodies
moving haphazardly vying for the same space…..at the assigned seating area,
buses, street lined pathway to the Q, communal food concessions, elevators, bathrooms,
etc. I found the only way to navigate
this human infestation of living bodies was to transform into my New York
persona. So I moved forward with purpose
and found that the faster and more direct I moved, the quicker others would
skirt my path to avoid collision. It was
truly beautiful to experience such navigation strategy…only if I could navigate
so well on the dance floor.
 |
| Rita with the Newt! |
There were many famous people passing by, not only the
obvious high ranking republican politicians that were there by obligation or
free will – many chose not to attend.
Check out the picture of Newt Gingrich taken in the elevator next to one
of our Hawaii delegates and another one of Chris Wallace (Mike Wallace’s son)
with Hawaii delegate, Miriam Hellreich.
 |
| Miriam Hellreich with Chris Wallace |
I also had my own adventure.
From the chaos of the crowd passing from one area to the next, I just so
happened to pass shoulder to shoulder with Wolf Blitzer of CNN news while
waiting for an elevator on my way to one of the RNC Special VIP Lounges.
At first I was not sure whether it was truly
Wolf, and it took a second look to confirm his identify.
Well, instead of the stunted, squirrelly
looking TV persona that he inspires, he looked younger, well groomed and oddly
handsome in person.
I was so impressed
that I put my hand on his shoulder and whispered to him that he looks much
younger in person than on the news!
He
thanked me and quietly walked away in the opposite direction…. probably
disgusted from these types of comments voiced uninvited from the public riffraff.
But when not navigating the crowds getting from place to
place, there was a lot of sitting going on during the convention. As mentioned, we were assigned seating in the
upper section of left field bleachers.
On the first full day, we left the hotel at 11am and returned back at
midnight. Subsequent days were a little
more tolerable. Either way, the lion’s
share of time was spent stuffed into a reasonably cushioned chair with little
to no legroom. My legs were spewing out
over the side of the aisle begging for freedom and my butt was flattened and
numb. My body cried out for uncoiling,
but none was forthcoming. And there were
several more days of this imprisonment to endure.
As the saying goes, it’s not what you know but whom you
know.
And so through a very good friend
who seemed to know everyone at the convention, we were able to garner a few
passes to the RNC lounges generally reserved for VIP’s and beautiful women who
seem to gain entrance to the most exclusive venues everywhere in the world.
The Q was like a maze and the number of
lounges and special reception areas were too numerous to count.
I was privileged to have daily access to one
but we also ventured to two others that were somewhat crowded but worth
experiencing.
One private lounge was the
domain of the assistant RNC convention director.
There we sat and ate and drank and watched
the last few presentations of the RNC on night number two and three. There was
so much schmoozing in this lounge, eating and drinking, with guests making lots
of noise rather than listening to the presentations that folks were ostensibly
there to hear.
It was quite disruptive
as it made it difficult to hear the speakers over the cacophony of the nearby
chatter.
Naturally, being at the RNC was much different than watching
it on TV.
For sure, it is would be much
easier to watch it from afar but the experience was much less personal.
For one thing I felt warmly patriotic throughout
the proceedings.
This was a powerful
sense of nationalism that most of us just take for granted or maybe even
trivialize or outright reject.
Every
meeting day was greeted with reciting the pledge of allegiance, singing the
national anthem and listening to a preplanned invocation. The American flag was
everywhere!
It made me truly feel proud
to be an American.
 |
| Sheriff David Clarke |
Another difference was that the presentations of the first
two days seemed more personal, inspiring, emotionally effective, and real-time
when visualized in person.
TV has a way
of impersonalizing everything, distorting reality into fiction and biasing
reporting to satisfy the ideological predisposition of the liberal left media.
It was nice to be able to witness the
proceedings in person and to interpret for myself the quality and impact and
crowd reaction without a surrogate and biased explanation from the media.
It was also nice to compare my own notes with
theirs and uncover major discrepancies.
I had the opportunity on Day 3 to meander around the
convention floor after borrowing a floor pass from one of the members of the
Hawaii delegation.
What a treat!
That’s where all of the action was, the
delegates moving haphazardly around like in an ant colony, chanting and yelling
during the speeches, dancing with the music, sitting attentively to some of the
more inspiring of presentations.
They
frequently interrupted the speakers with cheers of joy, boos of anger (more on
that in the final installment), yelling USA, USA, or LOCK HER UP, LOCK HER UP –
of course referring to Hilary R. Clinton who was the subject of continuous ridicule.
This RNC for me was an interesting and enlightening
experience. The Hawaii delegation was
warm and friendly and there to do a job which they did well. I experienced a historic event that will be
documented forever in history.
Unfortunately, I’m not certain how history will judge the event when it
is said and done but I will offer my own interpretation of the overall
successes and failures in the last installment that I hope to complete in short
order.
The first two real days of the RNC were filled to the brim
with speakers….not only from well known and lesser well known politicians,
senators, congressmen, governors but also from retired military, religious
figures, business leaders, Trump coalitions and rally groups, Trump children –
at least one a day, mothers of slain soldiers and policemen, an actor, a police
sheriff (David Clarke- he was fabulous), several veterans, youths, a great
speech from Linda Lingle, an inspiring and “well” crafted, albeit controversial
presentation from Melania Trump, and the most thrilling and motivating speeches
by Rudy Giuliani….who seized the first night, and by Donald Trump Jr and Chris
Christie who seized night #2. Night 3 was polluted by the likes of Ted Cruz,
but partially rescued by Newt Gingrich and Mike Pence. Night 4 is still forthcoming. And more on
these aspects in my next chapter.
Security was high everywhere. Indeed, I would not be surprised if there was
a security guard planted in the bathroom of my hotel room! There were cops, federal agents, secret
service, strong looking military types that you would have to be crazy to f….
with, men, women of all sizes, shapes…..legions of them all over the place…in
the air, on the ground, in their cars…..everywhere. You could not go ANYWHERE without seeing an
ARMED officer of the law or secret service staffer with that signature plastic
ear piece wired down under his/her collar - to protect your safety and your
right to participate in this most American of constitutional traditions. And they were all friendly and kind and
conversant and appreciative of the signs of gratitude from those passing by. I
never felt as safe and protected in my entire life….thank YOU US law
enforcement!!!! But their job was overwhelming in scope.
Protestors filled the assigned areas far from the reaches of
the Q, and were peaceful until day 3 when 18 were arrested. For some reason, one protestor tried to burn
the American flag and instead set his trousers on fire – nice job guy! The police had their own strategy for
containing protestors with lines of policemen on horses, followed by lines on
bicycles to contain those that slipped by the procession of horses. If the
protestors somehow squeezed by the barrier of oncoming bicycles, they had to
contend with hundreds of officers on foot.
Quite an elaborate plan; one that has been heretofore very successful. 
As the saying goes, it’s not what you know but whom you
know. And so through a very good friend
who seemed to know everyone at the convention, we were able to garner a few
passes to the RNC lounges generally reserved for VIP’s and beautiful women who
seem to gain entrance to the most exclusive venues everywhere in the world. The Q was like a maze and the number of
lounges and special reception areas were too numerous to count. I was privileged to have daily access to one
but we also ventured to two others that were somewhat crowded but worth
experiencing. One private lounge was the
domain of the assistant RNC convention director. There we sat and ate and drank and watched
the last few presentations of the RNC on night number two and three. There was
so much schmoozing in this lounge, eating and drinking, with guests making lots
of noise rather than listening to the presentations that folks were ostensibly
there to hear. It was quite disruptive
as it made it difficult to hear the speakers over the cacophony of the nearby
chatter.
Naturally, being at the RNC was much different than watching
it on TV. For sure, it is would be much
easier to watch it from afar but the experience was much less personal. For one thing I felt warmly patriotic throughout
the proceedings. This was a powerful
sense of nationalism that most of us just take for granted or maybe even
trivialize or outright reject. Every
meeting day was greeted with reciting the pledge of allegiance, singing the
national anthem and listening to a preplanned invocation. The American flag was
everywhere! It made me truly feel proud
to be an American.
I had the opportunity on Day 3 to meander around the
convention floor after borrowing a floor pass from one of the members of the
Hawaii delegation. What a treat! That’s where all of the action was, the
delegates moving haphazardly around like in an ant colony, chanting and yelling
during the speeches, dancing with the music, sitting attentively to some of the
more inspiring of presentations. They
frequently interrupted the speakers with cheers of joy, boos of anger (more on
that in the final installment), yelling USA, USA, or LOCK HER UP, LOCK HER UP –
of course referring to Hilary R. Clinton who was the subject of continuous ridicule.
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