National security

Heavy handed security at the party conventions is actually one of the very few things where "both sides do it" for real. But even here, there's a clear difference between how it's handled. My nightly news tells me just about every spare cop with 50 miles of Charlotte was patrolling around the Democratic convention. But aw enforcement around these parts still looks pretty much like Mayberry:

[Ed Pilkington photo]

Outside the Republican convention the jackbooted storm troopers looked a bit more intimidating.

So yeah, both sides do it from the streets of America, to the cities of the Middle East, to the drones in the skies all over the world. The difference is clear to me. I mean, if there's no way to stop it --and there isn't in the next two months-- then I'm going to try to stop the guys who scare me the most from being in charge of the guys who are pointing the guns at unarmed people.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]