Martha Bayne

Clowns To Trump: You’re Giving Us A Bad Name

Donald Trump is a clown; a buffoon; a fool. The 2016 election in general and the RNC in Cleveland in particular is a circus. Just ask Comedy Central, which has trucked in its own Daily Show sideshow for the occasion, and whose alum, Steven Colbert, crashed (or “crashed”) the stage of the Q Sunday evening tricked out in his blue fright wig. But a circus is supposed to be fun, and clowns are supposed to be funny. And as a group of Cleveland clowns maintain, in this instance, none of this is the case.

Martha Bayne2016-07-20T08:22:37-04:00July 19, 2016|

How To Make Your Own Billboard: A Clevelander’s Homegrown Anti-Trump Sign

“If you walk down any protest line, there’s no discourse. It’s just yelling,” says Eric Helms, plausibly the only Clevelander to put up his own billboard in anticipation of the arrival of the Republican National Convention. “No one is listening to each other. Discourse is dead.”

Martha Bayne2016-07-19T15:35:26-04:00July 19, 2016|

Walking to Cleveland: Part four of four

"I don't know, it's just crazy here now it seems," Rick Matisak said as he sat outside a coffee house in Gordon Square in Cleveland. A gentle unease had settled over the city in the days before Donald Trump arrived to claim his nomination.

Martha Bayne2016-07-20T08:30:43-04:00July 17, 2016|

RNC Watch: A Belt Guide

It's here. The National Security Event known as the Republican National Convention kicks off Monday, July 18, and more than [...]

Martha Bayne2016-07-18T22:07:56-04:00July 15, 2016|

Remembering Hough, Fifty Years Later

On a humid Thursday night, Clevelanders packed into The Happy Dog, a bar and hot dog joint on the east side of city. They ordered beers and searched for stools.

Martha Bayne2016-07-17T12:25:00-04:00July 14, 2016|

Walking to Cleveland: Part three of four

I stayed in Toledo an extra day to attend a Black Lives Matter rally but I wasn't sure I was going to make it. I thought I might be spending the night in the hospital.

Martha Bayne2016-07-17T11:25:25-04:00July 12, 2016|

Walking to Cleveland: Part two of four

I want to believe people are good. And for the most part, as I walk from Detroit to Cleveland, they have been good to me.

Martha Bayne2016-07-17T11:29:37-04:00July 11, 2016|

When Cleveland Became a “Convention City”

In June 1924, thousands flocked to Cleveland as visitors and delegates to the 18th Republican National Convention. The newly-built Public Auditorium echoed with speeches and rousing patriotic tunes led by John Philip Sousa.

Martha Bayne2016-07-11T15:07:07-04:00July 11, 2016|

RNC Watch

It has been an awful week in the U.S. -- a week of murder, anger, anguish, fear, and a [...]

Martha Bayne2016-07-08T15:22:32-04:00July 8, 2016|

Walking to Cleveland: Part one of four

"I'm walking to Cleveland, the city, so I can talk to people along the way about what their hopes and dreams are for the country. There's a big gathering of people there, called the Republican National Convention, and they are about to elect Donald Trump to be their presidential candidate. He's said some real nasty things about some people and I want to know if they're true and if other people believe them too."

Martha Bayne2016-07-17T11:27:36-04:00July 6, 2016|