sailingaway
09-07-2012, 03:32 PM
If you know anything about politics, watching the mistreatment of my friend and former House colleague, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, and the several hundred Paul delegates to the Republican National Convention in Tampa, you may have wondered whether the current Romney Republican Party bosses have a death wish.
As one who made a name for himself in the U.S. House of Representatives as an expert on the House rules, parliamentary procedure has always been one of my interests. With some variations, those same rules govern Republican National Conventions.
So imagine my surprise, when viewing on TV the roll call for Romney’s nomination, I saw that the convention secretary at the podium hastily (and rather nervously) announced the votes from each delegation for Romney, but not the votes cast for Ron Paul — as if Paul did not exist and the Paul votes had not been cast!
Then it dawned on me what had happened; the back room GOP bosses had stacked the convention Rules Committee, even holding votes when several Paul delegates were late to the meeting because of traffic.
Rigging the Votes
The Romney operatives changed the number of state delegations required to nominate and second a nomination from five states, (which Paul and his delegates had achieved) to eight, thus denying Paul the right to have his name placed in nomination for president — and his right to speak to the convention with a traditional withdrawal speech.
To add insult, Paul had been offered time to speak to the delegates, but was told bluntly the Romney folks would vet what he intended to say and he would have to stick to their script. Paul, a man of honor, rightfully declined. Nobody tells Ron Paul what to say, I can promise you.
The Credentials Committee refused to seat some duly elected Paul delegates, especially from Maine, in order to stack the votes. At one point during the convention many of the Paul delegates staged a symbolic walk-out, marching out through the arena entrance halls and chanting, “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.”
more at link: http://sovereign-investor.com/2012/09/07/ron-paul-and-the-bourbon-republicans/
As one who made a name for himself in the U.S. House of Representatives as an expert on the House rules, parliamentary procedure has always been one of my interests. With some variations, those same rules govern Republican National Conventions.
So imagine my surprise, when viewing on TV the roll call for Romney’s nomination, I saw that the convention secretary at the podium hastily (and rather nervously) announced the votes from each delegation for Romney, but not the votes cast for Ron Paul — as if Paul did not exist and the Paul votes had not been cast!
Then it dawned on me what had happened; the back room GOP bosses had stacked the convention Rules Committee, even holding votes when several Paul delegates were late to the meeting because of traffic.
Rigging the Votes
The Romney operatives changed the number of state delegations required to nominate and second a nomination from five states, (which Paul and his delegates had achieved) to eight, thus denying Paul the right to have his name placed in nomination for president — and his right to speak to the convention with a traditional withdrawal speech.
To add insult, Paul had been offered time to speak to the delegates, but was told bluntly the Romney folks would vet what he intended to say and he would have to stick to their script. Paul, a man of honor, rightfully declined. Nobody tells Ron Paul what to say, I can promise you.
The Credentials Committee refused to seat some duly elected Paul delegates, especially from Maine, in order to stack the votes. At one point during the convention many of the Paul delegates staged a symbolic walk-out, marching out through the arena entrance halls and chanting, “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.”
more at link: http://sovereign-investor.com/2012/09/07/ron-paul-and-the-bourbon-republicans/