Topic: Ron Paul
Ron Paul Supporters Accused of Hijacking Delegates Ron Paul Supporters Accused of Hijacking Delegates! Is this the kind of headline that you would want to see? Yet, this is almost verbatim to the headline WorldNetDaily used in a post on April 6th titled "Ron Paul backers 'hijack' delegates."by Freedom Writer
(libertarian)
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Ron Paul Supporters Accused of Hijacking Delegates! Is this the kind of headline that you would want to see? Yet, this is almost verbatim to the headline WorldNetDaily used in an article posted on April 6th titled "Ron Paul backers 'hijack' delegates."
The article states "There was controversy at Minnesota's 6th Congressional District Convention. Paul supporters were accused of dirty tricks."
Andy Aplikowski, the vice chairman of the 6th District in Anoka County said "I had people coming up to me saying that they wanted to ensure that Ron Paul has a chance to speak at the convention. These people hid what their intentions were and that's deceptive."
Jeff Johnson, who currently serves as Minnesota's Senate District 15 co-chairman said "They hijacked the convention".
So far, the article claimed that Ron Paul supporters used dirty tricks and deception to hijack a few conventions in Minnesota. The article goes on to say that at one of the conventions "Two out of three national delegates elected were Ron Paul supporters and all three of the alternates supported Paul."
Imagine, Ron Paul got two delegates. That's going to send a ripple throughout the RNC! Those tricksters and hijackers! But, to make things worse, they were hiding intentions, now that's a real crime!
The article states that the candidates being considered as national delegates were screened by a nominating committee. They were then asked two questions. They were asked if they were Republican. (I suppose they passed that one). And the candidates were asked if they would support John McCain at the national convention. This question is the one where the ship hit the sand.
The article continues "When it was discovered the elected national delegates were Paul supporters despite saying they would support McCain, the convention erupted in debate. A motion was made by Andy Aplikowski to ensure the delegates supported McCain at the national convention. The motion passed by a slim margin, but not without harsh words and harsh exchanges. The feeling among many of the congressional delegates who voted was that the Paul supporters had been dishonest."
The "Thought Police" caught these so-called dishonest and deceptive tricksters trying to hijack the convention. So, now what's next? Bind the elected delegates so that they can only vote for McCain?
Here is what Aplikowski said "The intention was to identify people and who they were going to support. It wasn't to keep out Ron Paul supporters but to present that information to the body of delegates to vote on, which is one of the purposes of the nominating committee... The RNC was contacted by phone while the debate was going on, and, according to party rules, the national delegates must endorse John McCain or their votes won't count. That left some angry."
The RNC (gestapo) headquarters was contacted by phone. Keep in mind, according to Aplikowski, the purpose of this phone call was not to keep out the Ron Paul supporters. So, when the Ron Paul people were being manipulated and forced by the NeoCons (RNC gestapo) to go against their own principles, they were justifiably angry. Maybe it was because they were elected as delegates by a caucus and they were being told how to think.
Ron Baert was one of the elected national delegates and a Ron Paul supporter. He disagreed with the NeoCons story about the deceptive tactics that they were accused of using. Ron Baert said "I don't recall the exact wording of the question (about McCain). I said that the endorsement hasn't even taken place yet, but that if McCain were endorsed I would support him, however I did not say I would vote to endorse him at the national convention."
This sounds like a reasonable explanation. Render unto Caesar what is Caesars. Ron Baert continued "Some Paul supporters wanted to know why the pre-screening questions were asked in the first place. Baert said he and other Paul backers felt intimidated... what was the purpose of the questions?"
According to the NeoCons, the purpose of the questions was not to screen out Ron Paul supporters. But, when the elected delegates were told that their votes would not count (unless they voted for McCain) the purpose of the screening questions became very clear!
Another Ron Paul supporter Jim Sutton added "If they intended to bind candidates to vote for the presumptive nominee (John McCain), they should've announced this at the beginning. This convention has never bound delegates to a candidate before. It was a torpedo job against us!"
It sounds like the NeoCons are the hijackers of the GOP by forcing elected delegates to vote for McCain.
The Ron Paul Revolution continued in Minnesota's 4th and 5th districts. In these districts, many Ron Paul supporters were chosen as delegates and alternates to the national convention. According to the Minnesota Chairman Ron Carey "...the delegates' decision to not unite behind McCain only hurts the Republican party".
And may I ask, Mr. Chairman, can you explain how the Ron Paul supporters opposing the real hijackers (the NeoCons) of the GOP is such a bad thing?
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