Thread: Ron Paul on the Issues

It's all a distraction folks. The talking heads babble to divide people into ideologies, pet issues, and gimmick current events and it distracts you from the cages you were born into.

Hot Mic Catches Republican Praising Censorship of Ron Paul

“Well done! Whoever controlled the microphone did a great job”


Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Wednesday, August 29, 2012

During a roll call of states at the Republican National Convention yesterday, an attendee was caught on a hot mic praising the moment where Ron Paul’s delegate result was accidentally censored as a result of an audio failure.



As representatives of Georgia read out their delegate results, Ron Paul’s name and result was lost as a result of a microphone failure.

“Well done! Whoever controlled the microphone did a great job,” one of the RNC attendees standing nearby was caught saying as others around him snickered.
The results were repeated, proving that the act of censorship was not deliberate, but the attitude of establishment Republicans in welcoming the sidelining of the Texas Congressman is emblematic of how Paul and his delegates have been treated by the GOP establishment at every turn.Paul-nominated delegations were intentionally seated in the bleachers and on the fringes of the convention center so as to limit their vocal influence as much as possible in Mitt Romney’s home city.

“Delegates from U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Marianas Islands get better seats than Ron Paul’s supporters,” reported the Houston Chronicle.

Ron Paul’s campaign manager Jesse Benton, who many have accused of sabotaging the Paul campaign in order to advance his own political career, failed to kick up a fuss and in fact all but welcomed the situation, stating, “I am glad so many of our delegates get to sit close together.”
Representative Justin Amash (R-Mich.) reacted somewhat differently, calling for an audit of the Republican National Committee.
However, Paul supporters were not to be completely silenced, expressing their fury at a last minute rule change which greased the skids for an unchallenged anointment of Mitt Romney by chanting “let him speak” and “point of order” during the convention, while others walked out in protest.
As the New American explains, “The RNC’s rule change effectively disenfranchised Republicans supporting anyone other than the Establishment’s man and left 10 of Maine’s 24 delegates locked out of the process, preventing them from casting votes for Ron Paul.”
This meant Paul was robbed of a chance to speak at the convention in a move that will effectively nullify any future effort for any grass roots candidate to influence the GOP.
The rule change now forces delegates to side with the winner of the popular vote cast at state caucuses or primaries.
“It’s a disgusting, disgusting display of a hostile takeover from the top down,” Maine delegate Ashley Ryan told the L.A. Times.
“If they vote for Romney and he’s democratically elected, then he’s democratically elected. We just want a choice,” said Minnesota delegate Gary Heyer, who confirmed that his state along with Nevada, Minnesota, Iowa, Oregon, Alaska, and the Virgin Islands had all submitted documents nominating Ron Paul.
*********************
Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.

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RNC Disenfranchises Paul Delegates; Rigs Rules to Nominate Romney

Joe Wolverton, II
New American
Aug 29, 2012


Drowning out shouting Ron Paul supporters is not an easy thing to do. Republican delegates voting for Mitt Romney found this out Tuesday as Paul’s contingent chanted “Point of Order” and “Let Him Speak” as they witnessed the re-writing of the GOP rules, clearing the way for the unchallenged coronation of the now-official Republican nominee for president — Mitt Romney.



The RNC’s rule change effectively disenfranchised Republicans supporting anyone other than the Establishment’s man and left 10 of Maine’s 24 delegates locked out of the process, preventing them from casting votes for Ron Paul.

Railroaded and rejected, the unseated Maine delegates walked out of the Tampa Bay Times Forum, leaving the convention in the hands of the predetermined winner and his proxies.

“It’s a disgusting, disgusting display of a hostile takeover from the top down,” said Maine delegate Ashley Ryan, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times. “It’s an embarrassment,” she’s quoted as saying.

Maine wasn’t alone in expressing its displeasure and disgust at the RNC’s pro-Romney rule manipulation.

Wayne Terhune, chairman of the Nevada delegation, reported that his state joined at least four others in submitting to the secretary of the convention, Kim Reynolds, valid and timely documents nominating Ron Paul.

“We are excited to get Dr. Paul nominated,” Terhune said. “Congressman Paul’s message of limited, Constitutional government, sound foreign policy, and personal liberty needs to be heard on this convention floor.”

Minnesota delegate Gary Heyer confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that his state joined Nevada, Minnesota, Iowa, Oregon, Alaska, and the Virgin Islands in submitting the forms to Reynolds.
The Los Angeles Times also reported:

Gary Heyer, a delegate from Minnesota, confirmed that his state was among those submitting papers showing a majority of delegates favoring Paul. Their goal, he said, is simply “to get him into nomination, so everybody here has a choice. If they vote for Romney and he’s democratically elected, then he’s democratically elected. We just want a choice.”

Disregarding the nominating rule and the Ron Paul delegates’ adherence thereto, when the roll call was read only the votes for Mitt Romney were announced. The nomination of Ron Paul was ignored in open and hostile violation of the RNC’s rules governing the presidential nomination process. No explanation. No chance for appeal. No recourse.
According to RNC Rule 40(b) in effect until Tuesday’s revisions:

Each candidate for nomination for President of the United States and Vice President of the United States shall demonstrate the support of a plurality of the delegates from each of five (5) or more states, severally, prior to the presentation of the name of that candidate for nomination.

Ron Paul unquestionably qualified for nomination under this rule, but he was denied placement on the ballot — and an opportunity to address the convention on behalf of his nomination — in what amounts to a total takeover of the Republican Party by the RNC and Mitt Romney.

Additional rule changes all but guaranteed that in the future the RNC will not allow itself to be embarrassed by “grassroots” candidates.

Not only did the RNC rob Ron Paul of delegates he won fairly at the Maine state convention, it prevented any who follow in his footsteps from winning any delegates in the first place.
According to the revised Rule 16, every state must amend its nominating process to ensure that their delegations are bound to vote in accordance with the winner of the popular vote as cast at state caucuses or primaries.

Another newly adopted rule — Rule 12 — empowers the RNC to bend the rules to suit their needs at any time without having changes approved at the quadrennial convention. This unprecedented revision places the control of the GOP in the hands of the Establishment candidate without suffering the inconvenience of listening to dissenting voices.

Prior to the roll call that would formally confirm the nomination of Mitt Romney for president, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus announced the results of the voice vote on the accepting of state delegation credentials as Paul supporters chanted “Seat them now! Seat them now!”

A Reason magazine blog reports that “boos rained down on the floor,” but the wheels were in motion and nothing would slow their roll toward Romney’s nomination.

Having successfully rammed the unseating of the Maine delegation down the throats of party members, House Speaker John Boehner than called for a voice vote on the revised RNC rules that will govern the party’s nomination process in 2016.

Despite what many report as an equal volume of “ayes” and “nays,” the parliamentarian announced the acceptance of the rules. Fait accompli.

Dailypaul.com reported that the final delegate vote count was 2,061 for Mitt Romney; 190 for Ron Paul; nine for Rick Santorum; one for Buddy Roehmer; one for Jon Hunstman; one for Michele Bachmann; and 18 abstentions.

At least one delegate from each of the following states voted for Ron Paul: Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The Virgin Islands cast one vote for Dr. Paul, as well.

Although the events at the Republican convention were reminiscent of the electoral practices of the Soviet Union, circa 1980, where premiers were routinely re-elected by 99.9 percent of voters, Ron Paul told Fox New’s Neil Cavuto that “we knew what to expect.”

At his “We are the Future” rally held at the Sun Dome on Sunday, Paul expressed the same opinion of the party’s predetermined presidential nomination.

“They’ve learned how to bend rules, break rules, and now they want to re-write the rules!” the icon of the liberty movement told the nearly 10,000 devotees gathered to hear him speak.

Finally, regarding the Romney-Ryan nomination, Ron Paul reaffirmed that he has “not endorsed the ticket,” adding “I endorse the principles I’ve been talking about for a long time.”

Sadly, in the wake of the RNC’s disregard and dismantling of party rules and disenfranchising of duly elected delegates, there seems to be little room in the Republican Party for Dr. Paul, his principles, or the millions of Americans who cherish them.

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Ron Paul Supporters Disrupt The Republican National Convention

Brett LoGiurato and Grace Wyler | Aug. 28, 2012, 4:28 PM

Courtesy of C-SPAN

TAMPA, FLA. — Things got very heated on the floor of the Republican National Convention Monday, as Ron Paul supporters burst out into protest, shouting "point of order" to call for a vote on new rules aimed at curbing the power of grassroots supporters, and on the question of whether the convention would seat Maine's delegation, which has a high number of Paul supporters. "Point of order! Seat them now! We've been robbed!" Paul fans, led by a raucous Texas delegation, shouted at Rules Chairman John Sununu and House Speaker John Boehner.
The Paul supporters' chants were countered by Romney supporters chanting "U-S-A!"
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, who looked rather bewildered throughout the entire ordeal, repeatedly asked for calm banging his gavel on the podium.
But his efforts had little effect on Paul's supporters, and soon after, the Maine delegates walked out of the convention, chanting "As Maine goes, so goes the nation!"
"They passed the Credentials Committee report with over half of the convention shouting a resounding no," one Texas delegate, a Paul supporter who declined to be named, told Business Insider. "Some people argued that there were people shouting over here — but any convention would have had a standing vote to find out — they didn't even try to double check the vote."
Another Texas delegate dismissed the protest, saying that Paul supporters "have some delusion that he could win the nomination. And they don't have nearly the numbers."
The Paul supporters are protesting the RNC's decision not to seat the Maine delegates, as well as future 2016 rules changes that conservatives have warned could significantly deteriorate the influence of grassroots members of the Republican Party.
Watch video of the Ron Paul supporters below:





This post has been updated.





Read more: Republican National Convention Floor Dissent From Ron Paul Supporters - Business Insider


The I's have it..more like the mud in your eye has it

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Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Obama 46%, Romney 45%

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Ron Paul Won

Submitted by Robin Koerner on Wed, 08/29/2012 - 09:12
Bio | Blog | bluerepublican.org | watchingamerica.com

Robin Koerner is the original "Blue Republican", a term he coined in this article. He also runs WatchingAmerica.com. He is a British permanent resident of the United States.


In all fields of human endeavor, winning by cheating is losing.

In a competition, when someone cheats, he gets disqualified. The disqualification does not make the runner-up the winner. Rather, it reveals that the man who appeared to be the runner-up had in fact been the winner all along.

In the race for the GOP nomination for President, therefore, Ron Paul won.

As the New York Times wrote yesterday,

Delegates from Nevada tried to nominate Mr. Paul from the floor, submitting petitions from their own state as well as Minnesota, Maine, Iowa, Oregon, Alaska and the Virgin Islands.

That should have done the trick: Rules require signatures from just five states. But the party changed the rules on the spot.

Henceforth, delegates must gather petitions from eight states.

When Mr. Romney and the RNC cheat so blatantly, they make the game no longer about politics: they make themselves ineligible for the vote of anyone who cares about his own morality, his own honesty or his own integrity – regardless of his politics. And from a purely practical standpoint, they invite Americans to ask if they want to live in a nation governed with the same contempt for those who don’t toe the party line as has been displayed both in Tampa and throughout the primary process.

But as a Ron Paul supporter, I can’t remember feeling so invigorated and empowered in my cause.

Not only did my candidate win: the GOP has given the Liberty movement a greatest gift it could have given us. It has induced a righteous indignation will ensure that there will be no lull in the Liberty movement post-convention or post-election. It has educated us; it has brought us together like only a common hurt can, and it has freed us to do whatever needs to be done for the cause we love, wherever we need to do it.

To those in the Liberty movement who in the first flush of anger are saying they will never vote GOP again, I would humbly suggest that there is no better revenge than success, and that success, therefore, is a dish best served cold.

Ron Paul has been fighting for the cause of freedom for 30 years. Even if Romney were to win the election in November – a possibility now massively reduced by the disenfranchisement of a large minority of Republicans who comprise its most energetic activists – eventually he’ll be just another ex-President.

But the GOP’s behavior has just about ensured that Liberty will never be just another ex-movement. Thanks to GOP, a hardened, indignant and wiser Liberty movement will be as much “here” in four years or eight years as the Constitution will be.

And each time one of the main parties blatantly chooses power over honesty and fairness, it opens the unconverted to one of the most important messages of the Liberty movement: that the answers to our problems may not be found in the platforms or most of the people of the main parties that created them.

When I was observing the GOP caucuses in Seattle, I was able to ask a number of caucus goers who they voted for. Everyone I asked who was under 40 was there for Ron Paul. Everyone I asked who was over 65 was there for Mitt Romney.

The younger adults would explain why they liked their candidate with passion, conviction, excitement and an unusual understanding of issues – in other words, the stuff that victories are made of. The senior citizens – every one of them – gave as justification for their support of Romney, “He’s the man who can beat Obama”. (The logic didn’t work so well for John Kerry, as I recall.)

I wanted to help them see the flaw in their answer by asking why they’d want to replace a large bank-funded, Patriot Act-supporting, NDAA-supporting, interventionist who doesn’t have a plan to reduce government spending in the foreseeable future with a …

You see, of course, why I couldn’t ask the question.

More to the point, the people who “like Romney” are the outgoing seniors. The future of the party will comprise, out of simple biological necessity, those younger, liberty-loving, peace-mongering Constitutionalists, the likes of whom the RNC has worked so hard to put down.

That’s exciting.

But things are even more exciting if I am wrong.

Think for a minute what happens to all these excitable young people if the GOP old-guard stick around for long-enough to succeed in thwarting every effort the Paul supporters make to take over the party. In that case, the GOP will achieve something that no third party has: it will make third parties credible and their support significant. We may even look back at the 28 Aug. as the day when the seed of a brand new party was sown. Stranger things have happened.

Whichever way it goes, the GOP’s failure to integrate its liberty wing will seriously endanger the duopolistic political system on which they have depended for so long because the liberty movement is now simply too large to disappear.

Whether this liberty movement of critical mass changes the mainstream of US politics by controlling the GOP, or by becoming the philosophically coherent minority that swings elections is, in the long-run, a choice for the Republican party to make. However, for this election cycle, the GOP appears to have made its choice.

It doesn’t really matter: a paradigm shift is already under way. As I wrote in "Ron Paul Can Win", the best piece of evidence that this is so is that the means used to by those with an interest in the old, prevailing paradigm to maintain it become more contorted, and increasingly dependent on ignoring large chunks of reality – like the social and cultural phenomenon of hundreds of thousands of the nation’s youth filling stadiuns to hear an old conservative politicians talk about even older philosophers and economists; the brute fact that the number of non-supporters of the main parties is unprecedented, or the simple expectation of fair play in competitive endeavors.

To my liberty and peace-loving friends, I urge that our responsibility in November is to put the mainstream on notice that the Independent, post-partisan middle is now liberty-dominated and large enough to turn elections.

If the mainstream knows this, they will be forced – out of shear self-interest and love of power - to give civil rights, peace and real markets more than lip-service. Remember, in a two-party system, the candidate who wins over the median swing voter wins the election. Controlling the “politics of the middle” therefore offers disproportionate political influence.

To that end, write in Ron Paul if a write-in vote will be counted in your state. If Ron Paul endorses someone, vote for him. Otherwise, vote Gary Johnson (or your favored third party candidate).

Just remember that we wield influence by demonstrating to the GOP and DNC that we are the group that swings elections from now on. Therefore, a vote against Obamney is not enough. Even a vote via write-in for Paul is not enough if no one will ever see it. Constitutionalists, libertarians, Blue Republicans, down-the-line pro-peace progressives, protest voters etc. must vote for Paul’s principles and get that vote counted.

I remain a Ron Paul loyalist. I suspect that the most principled politician of our time would consider a vote cast in good conscience for his values to be a vote for him. In fact, if you’ve come this far as a supporter of Dr. Paul, however you decide to vote in the November in support of his values, you can probably say without too much of a stretch, “I voted for Ron Paul in 2012”.

But for sure, you can already say that you supported him when he won the GOP nomination, because that, by any honest measure, is just what he did.

The Republicrats only have their duopoly if we give it to them. And you know what you get if you vote for the lesser of two evils, don’t you?

Hint: the answer is in the question.

Ron Paul Won | Peace . Gold . Liberty | Revolution

November Results Predicted: Obama: 46% Romney: 38% Johnson: 16%

Submitted by C_T_CZ on Wed, 08/29/2012 - 09:33
DP Original

The GOP establishment apparently has a really, really difficult time understanding the term "blowback". I think it's a great opportunity for a lesson.

I hope the Liberty Movement can now put aside minor differences and throw all support behind Gary Johnson. Is he Ron Paul? Nope. Will he win? Maybe! But is he a good guy who deserves the sincere consideration of Liberty minded Americans- and importantly someone who respects and admires Ron Paul and his policies? Resoundingly, Yes!

The BEST thing that can happen in the November election is that Obama beats Romney, by a margin covered by Johnson.

The GOP establishment will spend the next 4 years bitching about Ron Paul supporter blowback - they will undoubtedly find our tough love medicine difficult to swallow.

This will serve two critical functions.

One, politicians only respect what they fear, and our votes snatching victory from Romney's hands will give them cause to reconsider their positions to gain our support.

Two, if the GOP continues to spiral down the neocon hole of destruction, it gives the Liberty Movement a positive, constructive, and credible alternate path forward outside of the GOP, should we choose to take it.

----------------

edit: I changed the headline and also updated the post to say he may win in November, per feedback.

November Results Predicted: Obama: 46% Romney: 38% Johnson: 16% | Peace . Gold . Liberty | Revolution

Tuesday, 28 August 2012 13:10

Rep. Amash Calls for Audit of RNC Over Treatment of Paul Delegates

Written by Raven Clabough

During an August 26 rally for Ron Paul in Tampa, Florida, with nearly 10,000 supporters in attendance, libertarian-leaning Representative Justin Amash (R-Mich.) called for an audit of the Republican National Committee after it seated delegates from states with a great deal of support for Ron Paul at the edges of the convention floor.

The Houston Chronicle reports, “Delegates from U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas Islands get better seats than Ron Paul’s supporters.”

According to a convention seating chart obtained by Politico,

“the delegations from Nevada, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota and Oklahoma all located on the outer fringe of the convention floor. Each are states with significant Paul followings.”

Paul’s campaign manager, Jesse Benton, who has been accused by Ron Paul’s supporters of being a neoconservative saboteur, did not consider the RNC's seating choice for Paul delegates an issue. “I am glad so many of our delegates get to sit close together,” he said.

The GOP and Romney’s campaign have seen to it that Paul’s supporters are denied a place on the convention floor, even though Paul has five states — Louisiana, Oregon, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Maine — enough to grant him official recognition on the floor. Convention rules permit a candidate who controls five state delegations to make a motion on the floor; however, Romney’s lawyers successfully stripped away Paul’s delegates, thereby limiting the power of Paul’s supporters to seek to amend the party platform or nominate Paul.

Ron Paul’s supporters have complained about the treatment by the Romney-controlled convention officials.

"I think it may be time we audit the RNC," Amash said at the Paul rally, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Amash, an outspoken supporter of Paul, had this to say about his choice for the Republican presidential nominee: "There is no next Ron Paul. He is one of a kind. No one can replace Ron Paul."

Despite his support for Paul, however, Amash decided to endorse Mitt Romney, as has Paul’s son Rand.

There have been numerous cries of foul play as Romney and the GOP have strong-armed the convention and rewritten the GOP rulebook. The New American’s Joe Wolverton noted:


The RNC Rules Committee voted 63-38 to create a new party rule granting the ruling cabal — and by extension their candidate, Mitt Romney — unchecked power to change the party’s rules.

At the urging of the Romney campaign’s chief attorney, Ben Ginsberg, the new rule allows the RNC to rewrite the party's rulebook without the approval of the full Republican National Convention.

The new scheme is an unprecedented power grab that gives the GOP’s presumptive nominee power to control the party and to effectively prevent any dissenting man or message from penetrating the thick veil of control draped by the Establishment over the nominating process.

Remarking on this, Paul told his supporters, “They’ve learned how to bend rules, break rules and now they want to rewrite the rules! But then again, maybe they’ve been paying attention to what’s going on in Washington. [The RNC has] been bending the rules and breaking the rules and rewriting the rules for too long, and that’s what we have to stop from happening.”

On that same day, the Republican Party voted to strip Ron Paul of half of his Maine delegates. The 10 unseated Maine delegates would have been able to preserve their seats had they agreed to support Romney. But the delegates told Romney’s campaign that Romney would “have to steal it” from them, and so they were unseated.

Ron Paul referenced the dispute over his unseated delegates to the massive audience of wildly cheering supporters at the “We are the Future Rally” held on the campus of the University of South Florida.

“People at the RNC were worried about just how much trouble we would cause,” Paul said. “There is a big fight going on … and they overstepped their bounds.”

Likewise, state Republican Parties have been working overtime to silence Paul’s supporters at the RNC. GOP delegates from California, for example, promised to drown out “any uprising” by Paul’s supporters on the RNC floor.

“The state delegation, marginalized in most matters because of California’s heavily Democratic electorate, could be significant in drowning out any chants supporting Paul: The 172-member delegation is the nation’s largest, and unlike some split delegations is fully committed to Romney,” the Sacramento Bee reported.

Senior Romney adviser Jeff Randle has indicated that he directed 16 delegate whips to lead pro-Romney chants.

Meanwhile, Ron Paul was invited to speak at the convention, but rejected the invitation because of the strings attached.

The New York Times writes,

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.”

Still, despite some of the major disappointments surrounding Paul’s campaign and the mistreatment of his supporters at the Republican National Convention, there is much for Paul to celebrate as well.

“We used to say most people found libertarianism by reading Ayn Rand,” said David Boaz of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization in Washington. “In the last five years, most people have found libertarianism by listening to Ron Paul."

And as noted by Benton, Paul’s constant rhetoric against the Federal Reserve has finally forced the Republican Party to draft a platform plank calling for an audit of the central bank.

According to Brian Doherty, senior editor at Reason magazine and author of Radicals for Capitalism, Paul “normalized” a movement once considered to be kooky.

Ron Paul has remained optimistic about the future of the movement he has been leading, and asserts that the libertarian arm will eventually become the base of the GOP.

“We’ll get into the tent, believe me, because we’ll become the tent eventually.… Once they know we are the future they will know about us,” he declared.

^{Photo of Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.): AP Images}

^{Rep. Amash Calls for Audit of RNC Over Treatment of Paul Delegates}