We've been listening to the plots of "Never Trump" Republicans to somehow stage a floor fight at their party's upcoming national convention to strip the nomination from the man with the most delegates and give it to, well, anyone else. We've had the announcement from white nationalist groups that they'll be "defending" the convention from troublemakers, and white nationalist groups are white nationalist groups because they have very specific and detailed notions about who the "troublemakers" in society might be.
The only thing that could up the chaos ante at this point would be a quasi-organized-ish movement to make sure the pro-Trump delegates bring their guns!
"There are a whole bunch of things happening: You go to various events, receptions, whatever, outside the convention hall," says Ash Khare, a delegate from the northwest corner of [Pennsylvania] who applied for a concealed carry permit in preparation for Cleveland. "And you walk on the streets and, you know, people know that you are a delegate, and who knows what the crazy people are going to do? So you've got to be vigilant about what's going on and prepare yourself."
I'd say the crazy people are going to be wandering downtown Cleveland with Donald Trump pins and loaded guns strapped to their hips—and yes, we're all trying to "prepare ourselves" for that.
But the dangers are greater than even that. What if, say, ISIS ATTACKED CLEVELAND?
Sure, you'll already have Secret Service and the FBI and local and state law enforcement all loaded for bear in preparation for one of the nation’s most prominent national political events, but what if it turned out that the only thing that could really prevent ISIS FROM ATTACKING CLEVELAND RIGHT NOW is some guy who just flew in from Pennsylvania with his trusty personal bangstick and a tube sock of ammo?
A lifelong member of the NRA who carries a gun every day, Klein notes he is particularly concerned about the threat of international terrorism. "I'm not a terrorist, okay,
Noted.
but I'm an academic and a theorist, and I would think that if I were an ISIS guy that I might want to attack the Republican National Convention," he says.
Klein continues: "People will attack you at your weakest, at your softest."
So it's important to stay armed and jittery. Even more important, however, is that you need to have proper training in order to properly react if the convenience store or mobile brothel you find yourself in is suddenly ATTACKED BY ISIS and/or a backfiring motorcycle and/or a hotel roommate who has just discovered a sheet of unpopped bubblewrap. But don't worry. America has that covered.
Khare expects to receive his concealed carry permit in a few days. Then he plans to obtain training from the local sheriff's department before buying a gun. But he stresses that having a concealed carry weapon is not about stirring up trouble: "You gotta have a proper mindset and the proper training. [...]
All of which can be accomplished in the next two weeks-ish, after which our new protector of the homeland here will have all the training he needs to wander the streets of a major American city during a tense, anger-fueled, politically chaotic few days, perhaps at some point popping off a few rounds if his several hours worth of sheriffin' training suggests to him that now might be a pretty good time.
So now we've got furious anti-Trumpers trying to scuttle things inside the convention, furious protesters outside, furious white supremacists protesting those protesters, and furious but paranoid pro-Trump delegates strapping on loaded guns. As we keep saying: What could go wrong?