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Cleveland braces for the Republican National Convention with a rude coloring book


Trump emulating King Kong on Cleveland’s landmark, Terminal Tower
 
I moved to Cleveland three years ago, and as a Cleveland resident, I think of the impending Republican National Convention, which hits the city next week, with a substantial amount of dread and foreboding. Cleveland has been gearing up for this event for many, many months, and the news that Donald Trump’s odious political platform has given a great many prominent Republicans cause to spend the week elsewhere is a bit of a bummer for the city’s powers that be.

Of course, Cleveland is a solidly Democratic city, and so it’s going to be bizarre to have Trump and his cohorts here all week. It’s hard not to entertain visions of liberal protesters being beaten down by riot police or violence-prone Trump supporters. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that liberal activists will see that the better part of valor is to let Trump hang himself on his own idiocy and not play to his supporters’ worst instincts, but I do understand the impulse to register dissent on the ghastly policies Trump would impose.

The bulk of the week’s activity kicks off on Sunday night, for a massive opening night party at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Science Center on Sunday, and will conclude with Trump’s speech on Thursday night—hopefully with a minimum of damage to human tissue and inanimate property. I’ve heard countless friends tell me that they’re going to “stay away from downtown” all week, and I certainly intend to follow suit.

Cleveland Scene is the city’s leading alt-weekly, and this week they ran several pages of a would-be “Republican National Convention coloring book” that features various Republican, ah, “dignitaries” (Trump, Cruz, Christie, etc.) juxtaposed with Cleveland sites such as the oversized FREE stamp in Willard Park, the weekend hangout known as Whiskey Island, and the “Guardians of Traffic” on the Hope Memorial Bridge.
 

Ted Cruz, a.k.a. the Zodiac Killer, making friends on the shores of Lake Erie
 

Trump enjoying his update to Claes Oldenburg’s iconic FREE stamp
 
More after the jump…

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Posted by Martin Schneider
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07.13.2016
04:57 pm
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