Tag: Ron Paul

Yesterday Demonstrated Why Nothing Will be Achieved Using the Political Means

Yesterday, the Republican National Convention (RNC) demonstrated why nothing will every be achieved using the political means. Big wigs in the Republican Party finally demonstrated the extent they’re willing to go in order to keep out influence from “unpure” sources. Everything came apart when the rules were unanimously passed, and by unanimously I mean not at all unanimously. The rules, which prevented the entire Maine delegation from voting among changing other things to the establishment’s favor, was performed by a voice vote. I was listening to the convention via C-SPAN (yes, I have the C-SPAN app on my phone for these extremely entertaining events) and there was no way one could tell whether the yays or nays were in the majority but the Chairman declared the yays victorious and ignored all calls for division.

Slamming through rules in such a manner is made easier when you are able to keep a large portion of your opposition away from the convention. According to an e-mail sent out by the Ron Paul campaign, the entire Virginia delegation, which was planning to make a move against the new rules, was delayed when their bus was “lost”:

Morton Blackwell, a longtime conservative activist and RNC Rules Committee expert, found himself indefinitely detained – along with the rest of the Virginia delegation.

The RNC’s bus driver responsible for transporting delegates somehow “got lost” for well over an hour until a critical Rules Committee meeting adjourned.

Blackwell and the Virginia delegation were heading up the efforts to defeat new RNC rules proposed by Washington, D.C.-based insider attorneys.

This news was also reported elsewhere.

Calling it a nominating convention would be inaccurate, it was really a crowning of an already chosen king. As I noted previously, Ron Paul wasn’t allowed to speak at the convention because he was unwilling to endorse Romney (probably because Paul was running for the nomination himself). It seems nobody from Paul’s camp was allowed to speak because every speech was basically a talk about how great the Republican Party’s messiah, Romney, is. I think the terms religious experience and circle jerk would be fitting descriptions.

Needless to say the RNC went exactly as I expected. Rules were ignored, dissidence was crushed, and Romney was crowned emperor. Some lessons can only be learned the hard way, and yesterday’s crowning of Romney was one of those lessons. The lesson was simple: nothing can be changed through political means and if one does want to achieve change they must work through other means. Politics is made up primarily of sociopaths who want to hold power over their fellow man. These people are willing to go to any extent to obtain and hold onto that power. Thinking you can play fairly against them is naive.

It’s painful to see friends learn lessons the hard way but I think better things are in store now that the pain is over. Instead of wasting time campaigning for sociopaths, instead of donating absurd amounts of money to people who merely want to rule you, it’s time to ignore the state and use economics to achieve change. Start living free today, join the agorist “revolution.”

Huckabee is a Funny Man

During an interaction with the press Huckabee demonstrated that he has quite the sense of humor:

“I don’t think they’ve been disrespected,” Huckabee told a gaggle of reporters as we walked through the convention center here near the Tampa Bay Times Forum. “Elections are about—you get numbers. I lost four years ago, and I didn’t feel disrespected as much as I felt defeated. You have to accept that the voters make a choice and the voters made a choice.”

He cracks me up. Elections are about votes? You just have to get the numbers? I guess that is true in a roundabout way. After the Republican Party threatened Nevada’s delegation with banishment if “too many” of them were Ron Paul supporters, had Ron Paul supporters arrested at a convention in Louisiana, invalidated Ron Paul delegates in Massachusetts, and prevented Ron Paul supporters in Maine from participating the vote certainly are in Romney’s favor.

It’s good to see that Huckabee isn’t bitter over his severe loss last election cycle and can still find the time to crack a joke or two at the expense of the political process.

Ron Paul Remains Principled

Rand Paul and Kurt Bills both ended up endorsing Mitt Romney for president. Rand Paul, as Ron Paul’s son, demonstrated his willingness to betray family in order to make a political gain. Kurt Bills, as one of Ron Paul’s endorsed candidates, proved his principles are easily set aside for a political gain. Thankfully Ron Paul hasn’t followed in their footsteps and refused to endorse Romney:

Mr. Paul, in an interview, said convention planners had offered him an opportunity to speak under two conditions: that he deliver remarks vetted by the Romney campaign, and that he give a full-fledged endorsement of Mr. Romney. He declined.

“It wouldn’t be my speech,” Mr. Paul said. “That would undo everything I’ve done in the last 30 years. I don’t fully endorse him for president.”

Ron Paul’s unwillingness to put politics before principles is why he’s one of the very few politicians I will support (the other person on my short list is Vermin Supreme because I want a free pony damn it). Needless to say I congratulate him on refusing to endorse Romney for political gain. It’s too bad his son and endorsed candidate couldn’t have done the same.

Ensuring Romney’s Presidential Candidacy

More evidence is leaking out that the Republican Party is entirely rigging their presidential nominee. Let’s run down the current list of shenanigans the Republican Party has pulled to prevent Ron Paul’s nomination. First the Republican National Committee said they may not allowed Nevada to seat any delegates of the state sent “too many” Ron Paul delegates. Then Paul delegates in Louisiana were forcefully removed from a convention by the police acting on orders from the Old Guard. If that wasn’t enough the state party in Massachusetts invalidated 17 Ron Paul delegates because they refused to sign an oath of loyalty.

What else could the Old Guard do to further guarantee Romney’s nomination? How about threaten to invalidate the 20 Ron Paul delegates from Maine if they refuse to sign an oath to Romney:

In the state of Maine, it is well documented that 21 of the 24 delegates are strong supporters of Congressman Ron Paul.

Those 21 delegates plan to go to Tampa later this month and cast a vote for Dr. Paul to receive the nomination.

A little over a week ago, 20 of those 21 delegates were told that their credentials were being challenged by Mr. Peter Cianchette (who headed the Romney campaign in Maine).

[…]

This weekend, the RNC, via Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster offered a “compromise”… take a look:

1. A majority of the delegates sign a statement agreeing that, if Ron Paul is not on the ballot, they will vote at the Convention for Mitt Romney.

2. Instead of Brent Tweed, Charlie Webster or Paul LePage would serve as the spokesperson for the delegation and announce the votes cast for president. That spokesperson would also handle all media on behalf of the Maine delegation.

3. There will be nothing negative said about Mitt Romney or positive said about Obama (especially to media).

4. The Delegation will be admitted to the Convention, and to all committee assignments, without barrier.

5. The Contest brought by Jan Staples and Peter Cianchette will be withdrawn.

I emphasized point one because it is the most incriminating point. Notice the wording, if Ron Paul isn’t on the ballot the delegates will vote for Mitt Romney, not any other potential presidential nominee. On top of that the delegates must agree to be good little slaves and let their masters do all the talking during the convention.

I’m sure the people who concocted the idea of hijacking the Republican Party had the best of intentions. They weren’t stupid, just naive. They made a common mistake, they believed that the Republican Party was a political organization run by the members. Instead they found out that the party is run by a handful of elites who will pull every trick in the book to ensure their desires are fulfilled. If it appears as though things won’t go their way they merely rig it. As soon as it appeared like Paul would stand an actual chance against Romney the elites made their move, ensuring there wouldn’t be enough Paul delegates to threaten Romney’s ascension.

This is why I want the Paul delegates who make it to the convention to turn it into a circus. Why should Paul’s delegates act professional when the Republican Party hasn’t? Why should anybody be expected to treat the Republican National Convention (RNC) as anything other than a parody? It’s a sham, the entire thing is rigged.

If you want to continue down the political road abandon the Republican Party and move to the Libertarian Party. It’s unfortunate that the presidential election is just as rigged against third parties as the RNC is rigged against Ron Paul otherwise the Libertarian Party may stand some kind of chance. Even though they stand no chance your time would be better served working for them than working for a party that flat out rigs their nominations.

The Illusion of Dissidence to be Maintain at the RNC

While Ron Paul wasn’t granted a speaking position at the Republican National Convention (RNC) his son will be allowed to speak:

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul will be among the top Republicans giving speeches at the Party’s National Convention in August, GOP officials announced Tuesday.

You see, Rand is willing to play the game. When he endorsed Mitt Romney, and proved his neocon tendencies, he was given a higher position within the party:

[Rand] Paul — unlike his father, who ran for president this year — endorsed Romney after he won the primary and is said to have higher political ambitions in carrying the Paul family mantle forward.

This is the catch-22 of politics, in order to get something one must be free of principles. Ron Paul is a man of principle, he was unwilling to give the Republican Party an inch and was thusly punished. The Republican Party maneuvered to ensure Paul wouldn’t be given a fair chance at the presidential nomination. Rand, being more concerned about power than principle, was more than happy to endorse Mitt as it would improve his position within the Republican Party and increase his chances of being granted a future presidential nomination (and I hope he negotiated an ironclad guarantee of a future presidential nomination, it would be such a shame to see his betrayal go unrewarded by the Republican Party).

Obviously this is a smart move on behalf of the Republican Party. The party doesn’t want to see Ron Paul’s supporters flee the sinking ship after their man was thrown under a bus. In the hopes of keeping Paul’s supporters onboard they are offering them Rand, who many of Ron’s supporters still support and is willing to play the political game. I find it unfortunate that this offering may actually be enough to prevent Ron Paul’s supporters from making a complete mockery of the RNC (but I still hold out hope).

Dissent Won’t be Allowed at the Republican National Convention

What does the Republican National Convention (RNC) want? Romney. Not only that but they want it to appear as though Romney has the support of the entire Republican Party, which is probably why they aren’t giving Ron Paul a speaking position:

In a political move that defies logic, CNN is reporting that presidential challenger Ron Paul has not been asked to speak at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Instead, the Romney team has invited Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Ohio Governor John Kasich, Arizona Senator John McCain and Florida Governor Rick Scott will also have prime time speaking roles.

I’m guessing the RNC made this move in the hopes that Ron Paul’s delegates won’t shot up without Paul present. The RNC wants to make it appear as though there is unified support for Romney throughout the Republican Party. After all, if you can’t get your own party to show support for your presidential candidate how are you going to get the general public to support him? Paul’s supporters are very expressive of their support for the good doctor and would make a lot of noise during Paul’s speech, likely far more noise than Romney would receive during his speech.

I’m hoping that Paul’s supporters will make a circus out of the RNC. Nothing would amuse me more than seeing Paul’s supporters booing Romney and the other neocons, giving speeches on television denouncing the RNC, and tossing glitter everywhere inside the RNC (glitter is such a pain in the ass to get off of clothes that people would be walking around with glitter covered suits for the entire convention, lulz would be had by all). Some people are probably shaking their heads at that last statement and want the Paul supporters to act professional. In response to such a statement I would be forced to ask why anybody should take a rigged election seriously.

Audit the Fed Bill Passes in the House

Persistance does pay off as Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed bill has finally passed in the house:

At long last, Ron Paul has his day.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the Texas Republican’s bill to increase the transparency of the Federal Reserve. With bipartisan support, the measure passed 327-98.

For Paul, the path to getting his bill approved in the House has been a long, and often lonely one. He first introduced the bill to a skeptical House a decade ago. While his efforts were ignored at the time, the call to audit the Fed” has gained support from mainstream Republicans and Democrats.

While this is good news and there is obvious massive support for the bill Harry Reid has made it clear that he intends to block the bill from being voted on in the Senate:

While Wednesday’s passage in the lower chamber is a victory for Paul and his supporters, the bill is considered dead on arrival in the Senate. Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader and Nevada Democrat, has vowed not to put it to a vote.

Needless to say I’m not surprised. The last thing the state wants to do is audit the organization that makes the endless wars and entitlement programs possible.

Who’s to Blame if Obama Gets Reelected

The presidential election is fast approaching and that means everybody is setting up their list of people to blame if their guy isn’t occupying the White House next year. Even though the Republican Party has tried everything in the book to prevent Ron Paul from getting on the nomination list at the National Convention (RNC) he managed to get enough states to be listed:

The Republican National Convention is quickly approaching (August 26th). For over the past year, avid Ron Paul supporters have won delegate spots in various state conventions across the country. Through this hard-work, Ron Paul will officially be allowed to be nominated for the nominee of the Republican Party.

As I’ve been pointing out the Republican Party’s shenanigans many drones in the party have been making excuses for the party’s actions. The most common excuse has been the claim that Ron Paul is unelectable and that allowing him to be the presidential nominee will give Obama the election. What if Obama manages to get reelected, who will be to blame? Party drones are already trying to blame the Paul supporters but the truth is the responsible organization will be the Republican Party itself. Why? Because they’ve managed to pick the one presidential nominee that even hardcore Republican drones hate, Mitt Romney.

Paul is a dividing figure in the Republican Party but not nearly as dividing as Romney. Listening to Paul’s words and looking at his voting record leads one to realize that he supports many of the things the Republican Party claims to. Paul is pro-gun, he opposes the Affordable Healthcare Act, he wants to secure the borders, and he’s fiscally conservative. Romney, on the other hand, has a history that opposes the ideals many Republican Party members uphold. During his time as governor of Massachusetts Romney signed a permanent ban on “assault weapons” and state-wide legislation that Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act mimicked . It’s easy to see why many hardcore members of the Republican Party have expressed hatred of Romney.

While the drones within the party are getting behind Romney because that’s who their masters want, others are looking away in disgust. The most scorn members of the party are those who wanted Rick Santorum. I’ve let me absolute hatred of Santorum be known but I must admit that he’d get wider support inside of the Republican Party than Romney. There would have actually been a chance of uniting the party with Santorum whereas no such chance exists with Romney. I’ve heard numerous hardcore Republican Party members say they won’t vote for Romney but would have gladly voted for Santorum and begrudgingly voted for Paul. Romney is poison and everybody knows it. When hardcore party members won’t support the candidate he’s truly sunk. With such a wide fissure within the party it’ll be possible for Obama to win even though his approval rating is almost zilch.

What if Paul wins the nomination? Would the Republican Party still be at blame if Obama ended up winning the election? Yes. In their zealous crusade to get Romney picked as the nominee the bigwigs in the Republican Party have entirely demonized Paul. This presents a problem because a Paul victory could alienated the drones. The drones are in it to win popularity contests. It’s not ideology that motivates their current support of Romney, it’s their desire to be on the winner’s side so they can brag about how all their hard work paid off. When the bigwigs in the Republican Party say they want Romney the drones support Romney because they believe whoever is picked by the bigwigs is destined to win (and the drones are probably right about that). Their support for Romney is most publicly displayed by their hatred for Paul and their hatred of Paul is most publicly displayed by their regurgitation of anti-Paul talking points given to them by their masters. Needless to say if Romney loses the drones lose and if the drones lose they’re likely to get up and leave. They wanted to win, they obeyed their masters because their mastered guaranteed victory, and if they aren’t victorious they’ll storm out. Their vanishing act won’t be due to ideological differences with the nominee (as with the Paul supporters) but due being sore losers.

The Republican Party has done this to themselves. They managed to split the party through their zealous attempt to ensure Romney’s victory. Obama’s approval rating is in the toilet, somebody could probably run an openly racists drunk womanizer against him and win. Yet the presidential election result isn’t known because the Republican Party managed to create division within their party. If they can’t even manage to unite their party there is almost no hope of uniting enough of the nation to get their guy into office.

Oh well, whether Romney wins the election or Obama is irrelevant, we the people lose either way. When the choice is between a fascist or a fascist the only possible outcome is getting a fascist.

What Happens When You Play by the Rules

It seems that the Republican National Convention (RNC) is pissed that the Ron Paul supporters have figured out its rules and procedures and are planning to use them to their advantage. Even though the RNC has selected Romney as their candidate the Paul supporters are planning on using ever rule, procedure, and trick to fight the good fight, which has made higher ups in the Republican Party very nervous:

Security at the state Republican convention has been tightened this summer in case turmoil breaks out as it did in other states where Ron Paul and Mitt Romney supporters clashed over control.

[…]

The executive director of the state Republican Party, Jordan McGrain, told Nebraska Watchdog in addition to its usual sergeant at arms committee, the party hired additional security for the first time in convention history, to his knowledge. Party officials are preparing for potential for trouble caused by Paul supporters.

[…]

McGrain said Paul’s supporters are trying to “take by party rules what they couldn’t on election day.”

He has been warned by Republican officials in Nevada and Louisiana to be prepared for “Paulistas” to try to seize control of the convention through endless votes, amendments, re-votes and parliamentary delays aimed at wearing out establishment Republicans.

I love the last part where they say the Paul supporters are planning to “take by party rules what they couldn’t on election day.” In other words the Paul supporters are planning on playing by the very rules setup by the Republican Party itself. The only obvious way for the establishment to fight this is to go outside of the rules. Of course they can’t just blatantly do that and maintain their appearance of a democracy. I’m betting the RNC hired additional security, not because they’re afraid the Paul supporters will become violent but, because they want to demonize the Paul supporters. Look at how they’re justifying the additional security, they are implying the Paul supporters warrant such a response because of their potential for harm. With such a justification in place the establishment in the Republican Party can easily have the Paul supporters removed if it appears they’re gaining an advantage and public opinion will side with the decision. If you can’t win by the rules you need to build public support for your side so you can play outside of the rules.

This is why I believe the strategy of “reforming” the Republican Party is foolish. The Republican Party doesn’t want to be reformed, they’re quite happy promoting war, cronyism, and destroying any rights listed in the Constitution. Anybody who believes the Republican Party is run by the people is entirely mistaken, it’s run by a few power players who generally rely on their sheep mindlessly going where they’re told but have no issue playing outside of the rules if some of the sheep begin dissenting. When such hostilities to change become openly apparent it’s time to move on to something else.

Some Lessons are Hard to Learn

Last month news came from Massachusetts that an attempt would be made by the local Republican Party to unseat Ron Paul delegates. They made their move:

But earlier this month, Kenney was one of 17 delegates and alternates disqualified by a Republican committee deciding who gets to represent Massachusetts Republicans at the national convention in Tampa. Kenney and others had failed to deliver in time an affidavit swearing, under the penalty of perjury, that they would support Mitt Romney’s nomination for president.

An affidavit is never mentioned in the Republican Party’s rules for selecting delegates and has never been required of delegates in the past, GOP critics say. Suspicions are steep this year because Kenney and the others are supporters of Ron Paul, the libertarian candidate whose quixotic campaign for president culminated in an effort to take over state caucuses nationwide. The delegates must vote for Romney, based on his strong primary win in Massachusetts, but Paul’s supporters hope to use the convention to draw attention to his agenda, including auditing the Federal Reserve and requiring wars to be declared by Congress.

What can I say? This was the only outcome I was expecting. The Republican Party, like any political entity, has a long list of forgotten rules that can be pulled out whenever the need to suppress an attempted party hijacking occurs. While it sounds like the signing of these affidavits hasn’t been enforced previously it was likely a convenient rule to pull out at this point in time as it stood a high likelihood of unseating some Paul delegates. Some good has come out of this, more people are starting to realize what politics really is:

“I’ve been rudely awakened to the realities of politics,” Kenney said. “I feel I’ve been cheated.”

Welcome to politics son, it’s the art of cheating, stealing, and using force. This is why libertarians suck at politics, we generally have little interest in forcing others to obey our decrees so we’re not familiar with the processes needed to accomplish such goals. Politics is similar to Global Thermonuclear War, the only winning move is not to play.