Republican National Convention - show of force. Isn't this a little... much?

@Seek_Kolinahr, did you take those photos?

You have to keep the unwashed masses at bay.

Is there a rally or opposition group planning a protest?

Not at all. Gotta keep those well armed, organized, and highly trained Occupy protesters at bay…

Aren’t there a small group of women protesting while wearing vagina costumes?

Code Pink,, @gailcalled. NSFW

Apparently they’re expecting trouble.

@gailcalled Republicans fear nothing more than vagina!

It looks like it’s almost all men. The Sheriff called for a few volunteers to help control some vaginas and all these guys showed up.
Edit: At least they’re all wearing protection.

They are prepared in case the need arises. Some 3000 law enforcement personnel in a region with over 2 million residents, not too many IMHO.

They look extremely camp, I wonder if Romney is going to strut down the road singing show tunes & those guys are merely his dance troupe.

There are extremists on both ends of the spectrum vowing to disrupt either the Republican Convention, the Democrat Convention or both.

If LE did not take the threats seriously and prepare for them, if something happened they would be catching holy hell. Probably from the same people ridiculing them for being prepared. My guess is they are hoping a show of force early will prevent some violence later in the week.

Given the rioting that can happen at unpopular political functions (I’m thinking of the fun and games at G-20), I can’t say that I’m all that surprised.

I thought the photos were awesome, @Seek_Kolinahr.

Well, gosh. We need something to compare that to, don’t we?

What does downtown Tampa look like on a putatively normal day? And why are people talking about plural “photos”? All I saw was one still photo in the OP, and one video clip in a response.

She must have changed the photos, @CWOTUS. There were six photos attached to her Face Book account. The FB account may be the reason for the change.

I had it attached to my facebook (/seek.kolinahr)

When I tested it it didn’t seem to be working. The album is public, so you’re more than welcome to look. There are six, as stated. It’s insane. I’m just glad I’m on the other side of hurricane-proof glass.

The photos were taken by a workmate who went out to lunch afew hours ago. As far as protesters, in the nine hours I’ve been in the office I’ve seen one person in a “Romney Sucks” t-shirt and four people from the Huffington Post at a diner across the street.

The photos were really good. How did you know the people are from the HuffPo? There are designated areas for protesters.

They were wearing HuffPo t-shirts. The MSNBC pavilion is right outside the front door of my office, so it’s kind of a safe haven

It seems a bit over the top. Whose paying the bill?

We are, the taxpayers, and doubly so, we Tampa residents.

Riot gear is hot, heavy and uncomfortable, so those men are also probably cranky and won’t take a lot of monkey business.

Wow. That does look intimidating. It will be interesting to see if the DNC is similarly inclined.

They will have more security, @augustlan, and rightfully so. They are hosting a convention for a sitting POTUS.

I think it’s silly. There is no one out there violently opposing the Republicans like the republican’s are violently opposing Obama. I bet they bring that picture out in a few days with a tag, “See how necessary this was?” without mentioning that there was not a single instance of protest. Silly.

The GOP is the law and order party after all. They wouldn’t be living up to their reputation if they weren’t carrying big guns and wearing lots of body armor – all at your expense @Seek_Kolinahr. My condolences.

Truth is, the “force” is not really strong with them. It is with Obama Skywalker.

And Princess Michelle!

Update: The protesters stayed exactly where they were allowed to be – at a park over a mile away. There were absolutely ZERO RNC related arrests.

And now we go into day two of a very expensive, frightening expression of “dare you to dissent”.

I think @Dutchess_III just accused the President of incest. I might be wrong.

I tried to find the exact costs, @Seek_Kolinahr. How much is the extra security costing?

Oh, hell if I know.

Here we go. The direct spending impact for the Convention will total approximately $175 – $200 million. This does not take into account the economic “multiplier” effect which can equate to 2.5 times the actual amount of hard dollars spent.

Here are some good photos of the protesters.

@Seek_Kolinahr Think of it as stimulus! XD
@bkcunningnham March of the Drama Queens, in some of those photos. ‘Specially the ones with the imitation bloody sheets.

@Seek_Kolinahr Oh crap! I forgot about all the intertwined relationships there! Well..maybe I’ll piss the president off enough that I really WILL get to meet him…even if it’s from behind bars! Not quite the birthday party bar-b-que I was hoping for.

@bkcunningham Does the woman in that picture have, like, 4 or 5 arms??

@Dutchess_III, the woman in what photo? The Code Pink protester with the handcuffs? LOL I think there are other pinkies around her holding the handcuffs.

It was a discombobulating photo is all! Yeah…they needed the whole Miami National Guard out because of those old ladies in pink.

Tampa, @Dutchess_III. Yeah, Code Pink is going to rock the convention in Charlotte too. I hope the DNC learns from Tampa and doesn’t waste all that money on security. ~

@Dutchess_III Keep scrolling through those pics and you’ll see that Code Pink is, in fact, one of those bands that they put on the stage before the headlining act. It looks like a rogue filament of the Occupy bunch wound up on the streets of Tampa.

There was a protester flash mob in Ybor yesterday. Completely swamped by riot cops.

Liberals can’t even dance in the streets. Fucking DANCING isn’t allowed.