Nobody thought it would be easy. 

Inertia.  Political parties are deliberately organized to retain their status quo so long as it is not acted upon by an external force.

Well that external force has started to act, and the establishment Republicans in charge of their party are quite perturbed about it (11) (12) (13) (14) (15).

Ron Paul's supporters have apparently been a well read bunch.  They have read the laws, bylaws and rules governing GOP delegates to the county and state conventions throughout the United States (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (16) (17), and have been upsetting the anointing plans of John McCain's forces in several venues.  But the latest and biggest of the Ron Paul upsets occurred this past weekend in Nevada where Ron Paul's supporters (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) apparently captured a majority of delegates.  I say apparently because before all the ballots could be counted, the Nevada Chairman (29) gaveled the convention into recess halting the counting as the mounting Paul victories were becoming apparent (30).

This is why I am so cynical of the elective process.  It is a process alright (31).  And a bunch of already angry voters are getting to experience a whole new dimension to how officials get elected in this nation (32) (33) (34) (35).   The process is always structured to favor a few in charge to maintaining their control over the process.  Elaborate parliamentary procedure generally intimidates, steam rollers and dictates the outcome of such conventions, but this time people read the rule book and came prepared.

So after using parliamentary maneuvers to delay the counting with the expressed purpose of running out the clock, the Chairman gaveled the proceeding into suspension.  Then walked out.  And apparently hung around in a secret room with other McCain supporters waiting to see if the Paul forces could muster a quorum to continue the process.  They could not (36).

Dirty tricks are no stranger to such events.  I have attended conventions that went on long after their scheduled ending when two sides were in conflict.  Whomever controlled the gavel invariably won that day.  But the end results were often ambiguous and the next meeting would see either a recommencement of the hostilities or the losing side would go its own way.

What do I see for the GOP (37)?  The Republican Party for years proclaimed their fiscal conservatism as a cornerstone that embodied their actions.  If only they were in the majority, what good works they could do. 

1994 came and went.  And so did any pretense that after being put in charge of the purse strings the Republicans were any different than their Democratic colleagues.  If anything, the Republicans showed remarkable ability to be even more irresponsible with your confiscated tax money.  Oh, they didn't raise your taxes.  But they sure ran the national credit card up to a level your great grandkids will be paying off.  The Democrats now salivate at their turn with this credit card.

Ron Paul pissed the establishment off by being all they claim to be (38) (39) and having the vulgarity to point out their hypocrisy.  No wonder he doesn't get invited to those Washington cocktail parties. 

He has openly wondered at whatever happened to the claim that Democrats started wars and Republicans finished them.  Besides deriding runaway spending he questioned why the Republicans had abandoned their championship of the Bill of Rights, indeed civil rights.  The establishment GOP clearly wishes no return to concepts that would limit their power and money any more than the Democrats would. 

So we have the poster boy of the new GOP, John McCain, who has violated the very laws he championed to continue his campaign after falling into bankruptcy.  Who runs his campaign using lobbyists that he has decried.  Who cries more war as a foreign policy position.  Who states he knows little of economics after 22 years in the U.S. Senate...alright this is believable.  This is who the GOP puts forward as the best it has to offer.  And the way the Democratic Party's offerings are going, McCain stands a good chance of winning the presidency.

So why does the establishment want to silence Ron Paul?  Because he makes them look like what they are.  And that is the value that Ron Paul brings to the health and life of the GOP.  There is something terribly wrong with it.  Many a Republican knows it.  And you cannot fix problems until they have been identified.  Ron Paul has attracted fresh blood who have a pretty good idea of what is right and what is wrong, and this terrifies those in charge of the party.  Those who support a presidential candidate who says one thing but does the opposite -- even in violation of his own law -- because laws don't apply to men such as these.  They apply to the little people --- you.

God bless Ron Paul's supporters.  I know many of you want nothing to do with the GOP.  But for those who haven't given up your efforts are bearing fruit and it is a delight to watch the harvest.  Thank you.

[I will be updating this as I wanted to add some links and quotes.  But I wanted to get this out now.]

 

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-- Ed Vallejo