Follow Today's GOP State Convention Chaos in Real Time

In Oklahoma, where the convention is going on in a parking lot after a supposedly illegal adjournment. The chat stream on the right-hand side of that feed features some on-the-ground comments. Just as with the Occupy Movement, Paulistas are buying pizzas for their brethren from across the land.

And in Arizona, where I can't say I'm sure what's happening.

See the comment thread in this Daily Paul piece, which has lots of ongoing commentary re: Oklahoma.

The last page of a long Ron Paul Forums thread full of reports from the ground about Oklahoma. Helicopters have arrived, they say.

There is much Facebook chatter involving physical fights between Romney and Paul supporters at the Oklahoma convention floor, and the Romneyites just shutting down the convention (as happened in Nevada in 2008 when Paul people got too close to taking over),

Paul folk supposedly boo Josh Romney in Arizona.

#OKGOP on Twitter brings much gossip, etc.

Updates likely as more reports come in. Please feel free to us the comments thread for same as I won't be able to mind this all weekend.

Ron Paul's Revolution, my out-soon book on how the Paul movement got to where it is today.

UPDATE: From Oklahoma news site "Red Dirt Report":

"Not for sale! Not for sale!" and "Follow the rules! Follow the rules!" That is what was being chanted by Republican delegates and attendees of Oklahoma Republican State Convention, as it moved out into the parking lot of the Embassy Suites in Norman late Saturday afternoon

In a voice memo [Red Dirt photograper Maria] Mentesana sent to us, one attendee explained to her that the convention was adjourned illegally and proper protocol was allegedly not followed by the party leadership. 

"We had to move it outside and adjourn it … we were electing delegates for president," explained one man.

In the background chants of "Ron Paul, Ron Paul, Ron Paul!!" filled the air. ….

Axxiom for Liberty's Kaye Beach also kept us up-to-date on developments as day turned to night and a civil rump convention was conducted in the hotel parking lot…..

Red Dirt Report attempted to reach Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell Saturday night and we were unsuccessful. If we do hear from Pinnell, we will be sure to add his comments as well

…..The rump convention adjourned at a little after 9:30 p.m. Freedom and liberty is alive and well in Oklahoma, despite the actions of some at the convention. The Daily Paul and UStream audiences really came through on this one. Thanks so much!! We have learned that Scott Mitchell on News 9's Sunday morning program Your Vote Counts will be discussing this incident and showing pictures taken by our crack photographer Marie Mentesana.

What actions of what meeting will end up being treated by the national GOP as the "real" results in Oklahoma remains to be seen.

Cross-posted at dedicated blog for Ron Paul's Revolution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Republicans have their own PUMA problem. It worked out just fine for the Democrats last time around.

[Sevo]

"The Republicans have their own PUMA problem."
What mean?

[Rich]

I believe Fist means "Party Unity, My Ass!"

[Sevo]

In which case, 'feature, not bug'.
If 'party unity' means Obama-lite, well, the 'Pubs get what they deserve.

[Mr. FIFY]

I thought Fist was referring to this:

http://www.urbandictionary.com.....?term=puma

[Sevo]

Still, 'feature'.

[Mr. FIFY]

Oh, hells yeah it's a feature.

[JeremyR]

And yet, most right wing bloggers are convinced that Paul was in cahoots with Romney to cheat Santorum and/or Gingrich out of being the nominee

[JeremyR]

At least among those that supported Santorum and/or Gingrich

[Sevo]

As if either of those troglodytes had a chance of winning other than the 'god is my co-pilot' vote.

[David_TheMan]

I wonder why Paul waited so late to attack Romney.

If he was intelligent, they would have been going at Romney early and trying to take him out and deal with the likes of Newt, Perry, and the Sants later.

[Mr. FIFY]

Oh, for a bioengineered virus that only attacks ultra-rightwing Republicans and renders them comatose for life...

/sigh

[Mr. FIFY]

"and socialist scumbag uber-liberals"

Squeeze that into the message above. Bipartisanship, yo.

[Groovus Maximus]

Thank you. This mess is not entirely the fault of ScCons.

[Mr. FIFY]

Oh, I never blame just one Team.

[Brandon]

True, Groovus. Tony and John both suck.

[Cytotoxic]

I logged in just to tell you to fuck off. John>>>>>>>Tony. If the GOP were all John clones, our world would be better off.

[Proprietist]

Yeah, Tony and John are incredibly different.

John is generally libertarian (except for his misguided Team Red foreign policy.)

Tony is a Team Blue technocrat who likes to vigorously destroy the libertarian straw men he builds and run away when we point out that he's fighting against a scarecrow.

[Cytotoxic]

Hmmm...I always got the impression SoCons didn't like Romney. It was always the Milquetoast crowd that vouched him.

[Fatty Bolger]

Your impression is correct.

[Warty]

I have no idea what's happening, but it appears to be pretty funny.

[Mr. FIFY]

I'm not keeping track of it either, but it's likely going to involve a bunch of puckered-asshole so-cons bickering with Ron Paul supporters.

[Groovus Maximus]

but it's likely going to involve a bunch of puckered-asshole so-cons bickering with Ron Paul supporters.

There are some, no question; I would say the majority are so-called "moderates" and "independents" that skew Flopney.

[Mad Scientist]

puckered-asshole so-cons

Is there another kind?

[Mr. FIFY]

Well, it may sound unpossible, but I have met one or two so-cons who aren't hell-bent on the right-wing version of jihad... but they're extremely rare.

[Sevo]

"but they're extremely rare."
I was told that a friend had an uncle who knew someone....

[Mr. FIFY]

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?

[Mr. FIFY]

Seriously, it's like meeting deeply-religious people who aren't interested in more laws based on deep religious shit... there again, though, there aren't that many deeply-religious people who AREN'T that way.

[Mr. FIFY]

Or... liberals who don't jack off to Mao's Little Red Book.

[R]

Are they really SoCons, then? I thought the label applied to what people want to do politically; after all, there are a lot of libertarians who don't drink, do drugs, use prostitutes, etc. and find that behavior distasteful or abhorrent, but still don't want the state to be involved in regulating any of it.

A SoCon, by definition, is someone who WANTS the state to regulate behavior they consider to be immoral. Or at least, that's the way I've always seen it.

[Groovus Maximus]

This distinction is lost on many people, not just libertarians, R.

[Mr. FIFY]

It's possible; the people I alluded to, didn't get involved in politics - they viewed politics as "earthly stuff" and even went so far as to not watch TV, which is pretty damn serious if you ask me.

[shamalam]

R, count me amongst that category of libertarians. I think drug use is a pretty dumb pass-time but prison for dumb pass-times is at least an order of magnitude dumber. Prostitutes, well, they are just engaging in simple trade, which interests me, but $500 for an orgasm with somebody who looks at me as a "wallet" leaves me a bit cold.

[Francisco d Anconia]

My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious.

[Groovus Maximus]

So, what does that make me and Darth Vader?

[Ted S.]

As gay as R2D2 and C3PO?

NTTAWWT.

[Chen Kuan Tai]

Right wing jihad? Yeah, because expressing opposition to abortion and gay marriage via the ballot box is EXACTLY the same as slaughtering people who disagree with you. Christ, what a fucking joke. Did you just finish reading the laughable "American Taliban" by Markos Moulitsas, or are you actually him?

[Mr. FIFY]

Oh, shut the fuck up. I have no more use for Daily Kos than I do for Freeperville.

Take your concern trolling elsewhere.

[Mr. FIFY]

While you're at it, get some reading-comprehension skills, "Chen".

[Sevo]

"Yeah, because expressing opposition to abortion and gay marriage via the ballot box is EXACTLY the same as slaughtering people who disagree with you."

Hey, Chen, meet Moonbeam:
"Now, however, the lies are trotted out as proof that taxes must be raised, or the childrunz will be barbecued and eaten in the streets!
Moonbeam promises those are the only alternatives! He PROMISES!"

Yes, your so-con false dichotomies are exactly as you claim they aren't.
Want to use government coercion to support your sky-daddy bullshit? Yes, you are every bit as despicable as that asshole Stalin.
Do you understand that? EVERY BIT as despicable.

[Mr. FIFY]

We may have another Tony, but with right-wing sympathies.

[Fatty Bolger]

Perhaps this is the one who will bring balance to the Blog.

[Cytotoxic]

I hate SoCons, but please Stalin killed millions. Curb you enthusiasm.

[mad libertarian guy]

And the church hasn't?

Religion/philophy and government teamed up has been the worst force(s) devised by humanity.

[Cytotoxic]

Not with nearly the power or efficiency of communism/fascism.

And a government without philosophy is a very dangerous thing. Government needs the philosophy of The Founders (sans slave-owning hypocrite Jefferson).

[sloopyinca]

I know plenty of ardent atheists and some other secularists that are for outlawing abortion because they believe in a fetus' personhood. Lumping that in with gay marriage is bullshit, sevo.

[Sevo]

Oh, and just for the heck of it (if I can find a way around the squirrels)
"California's budget deficit has jumped to $16 billion"
Seems the projected revenue increases somehow didn't come about, meaning a projected $9B deficit has turned into $16B. Quelle surprise! The supposed 'increases' were nothing other than a hope used to (supposedly) balance the CA budget; lies from the start.
Now, however, the lies are trotted out as proof that taxes must be raised, or the childrunz will be barbecued and eaten in the streets!
Moonbeam promises those are the only alternatives! He PROMISES!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....Descending

[Almanian...still]

This right here? This is my "shocked face".

[Mr. FIFY]

I'm surprised it's only $16 billion.

[Paul.]

No shit... Where did all this fiscal responsibility come from?

[Groovus Maximus]

It's a red herring to distract from the state debt hole in which America's Greece(tm) finds itself.

[Groovus Maximus]

Now, however, the lies are trotted out as proof that taxes must be raised, or the childrunz will be barbecued and eaten in the streets!

They have to feed all the bums and hobos in The People's Republic of Santa Monica and other soc commie hamlets somehow.

[Butts Wagner]

Foreseeable consequences are not unintended.

[np]

and that's despite the fact that:

http://dailyreckoning.com/taxi.....e-economy/

In 1970, the top 10% of California's taxpayers paid 28.2% of all the personal income tax in the state. Who complained? They were pulling their weight. Paying their fair share.

Now, 78% of all California's personal income tax comes from these "rich" people.

[Groovus Maximus]

It is interesting what is happening in Okieland WRT to the delegate situation. The big argument is, since Santorium, who won Okieland pretty handily, has "suspended" his campaign, what happens to the delegates? Does Santorium stay on the ballot at the RNC convention in Tampa, even though he is no longer a declared candidate? I would imagine not. The big brouhaha is that Paul supporters at the delegate assignment meetings essentially won the game of musical chairs for most of the delegate spots so, at a brokered convention, would cast ballots for Santorium first, and then would be free to vote for whomever at a brokered convention. Paul finished near dead last in the OK primaries (even Newcular Titties beat him) and what has people in a tizzy is the conventional wisdom would be that Shit Flopney gets those delegates, since he was a somewhat distant second place, but still beat Paul.

It's seen, rightly or wrongly, as a vocal minority imposing it's will on the rest of the State of OkieHomie as voting delegates who will vote for a candidate that did not carry the state and nullifying the will of the majority. This would be true if Santorium was still a candidate; since he is not, chaos and hilarity has ensued. And most people in OK to whom I have spoken still have no idea who Gary Johnson is.

[Groovus Maximus]

Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell Saturday night and we were unsuccessful. If we do hear from Pinnell, we will be sure to add his comments as well

You're not likely to hear from Pinnell, Doherty. He has been in the tank for Flopney from day one. If you do, be prepared to get typical canned TEAM hackery responses about, "protecting the integrity of the delegate selection process." Feh. The guy is a tampon.

[Sevo]

"And most people in OK to whom I have spoken still have no idea who Gary Johnson is."

Sorry, my first response that that is laughter.
I should probably be crying.

[Groovus Maximus]

Oh, and Doherty, if you pimp the book any harder, you'll wear out the covers before they even print them. To say nothing of pixel degradation of the Kindle and other E-Reader versions.

Is it possible to have one, just one, post without reference to your book?

[Nando]

Well I'm convinced

[Sevo]

Convinced of what?

[Nando]

If Obama's good enough for a 90 year old celebrity, he's good enough for me.

[Mr. FIFY]

Concern tard is tarded.

[Groovus Maximus]

F. That is the worst trolling I have ever read.

[Mr. FIFY]

Nando has low standards.

[Sevo]

Nando|5.13.12 @ 12:15AM|#
"If Obama's good enough for a 90 year old celebrity, he's good enough for me."
That's GREAT!
Did you copyright that or can I use it to show the level of ignorance posting on the web?

[Mr. FIFY]

A whole mess o' stoopid:

http://pandodaily.com/2012/05/.....verything/

[Fatty Bolger]

Typical BS, conflating America with its government, as if they were one and the same.

I wonder if they realize that they make "America" sound like it's a mafia organization.

[Ken Shultz]

Why can't people who are fighting for liberty--within a party that treats them like pariahs--just play within the rules their superiors in the Republican Party set for them?

Jiminey Christmas, it's like they really have conviction in their ideas about freedom or something!

[Mr. FIFY]

Well, lookee here!

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/.....37519.html

Ya got what you deserved, France.

[A Serious Man]

Socialism is food shortages and inflation for the little people. That's like the number one rule of socialism.

[Mr. FIFY]

But... but... it's for teh chilruns.

[A Serious Man]

How do you expect Monsieur President to plan a revival for the French economy if he is stuck being bored in ONE vacation home on the Riveria? That's like expecting him to be content with just one mistress.

Damnit man, he's doing it for the greater good!

[Res Publica Americana]

This is a modern Western nation we're talking about here. A modern Western nation elected an outright socialist to the office of its presidency. How much farther along the road to wholesale degeneracy can these people travel?

I hope the pinko fuck turns France into a second-world shithole pronto. I really fucking do. You want socialism? Have it. See what happens.

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

Hell, they were already well on their way to having all of it except for the name.

[np]

They had better start building a fence around France to keep the people they're going to rob in.

[Brian D]

The fleeing has already begun.

[Mr. FIFY]

From that Bloomberg article:

Hollande's 75 percent levy on high earners would come on top of his proposal to create a tax rate of 45 percent for people making 150,000 euros or more. ...

THAT, is wealth envy.

[db]

I hope France enjoys the glut of $300k-$700k homes that pop on the market when their occupants can't afford the mortgages anymore. Does france exempt mortgage interest?

[T o n y]

France has had several presidents from their socialist party. Hollande is a moderate, while you are an idiot.

[Mr. FIFY]

And you... are a cunt.

[rsi]

aka Francois Hollande-Kennedy

[pmains]

I was a delegate representing LD-22 in CD-5 yesterday. Ron Paul won the CD-5 and CD-2 delegates to the National GOP Convention. We lost the vote in the other 7 districts.

I did not hear definitive results for the at-large delegates. Our meeting was also illegally adjourned.

Our nominee for GOP National Committeeman lost by roughly 40 votes out of 1000 or so cast. Our nominee for GOP National Committeewoman won by roughly 100 votes in a four-way race, but the chair announced that a runoff will be held by mail.

This is despite the fact that we had a quorum and, according to our understanding of the rules, that was sufficient to keep the meeting in session. Every time the chair tried to get a vote to adjourn, the nays had it easily. (Most of the Romney folks had left by this time.)

[Mr. FIFY]

Political thugs using shady parliamentary trickery... no surprise, unfortunately.

[pmains]

Also, AZ had half of its delegates stripped by the national committee. So, we voted for A delegates, 2 B delegates. (Why not 1 B delegate? Probably, there are fewer At-Large B slots.) Ron Paul did well in scooping up B delegates, which may be seated if the National GOP relents.

A lot of commenters on SeeingRedAZ are accusing us of giving Nazi salutes. We were certainly pumping our fists, but to suggest that we are anti-Semites or Neo-Nazis is just outrageous.

Last time around, the GOP adjourned improperly as well. They (I wasn't there) continued the convention in the parking lot under David Fitzgerald. However, the results were not respected by the state GOP as binding. The whole purpose of adjourning and running away in the manner that our chair did is to deny the delegates on the floor the power to make decisions.

[Juice]

I wish people that were there would give their stories to local news so more people can hear about these sorts of shenanigans. Very few people actually have any idea how these things work and would be shocked to learn.

[RingoHungo]

OK wow so sho comes up with all that stuff??

http://www.Privacy-Folks.tk

[Proprietist]

Somewhat on topic: FUCK RAND PAUL. He sounds like motherfucking Rick Santorum here.

My whole view on Rand (and my whole enthusiasm for voting for him in 2016) has changed from this one speech. He should know that going on an unnecessary homophobic diatribe is going to piss off many of his libertarian fans.

[Cytotoxic]

Relax for Christ's sake. Rand has a propensity for saying off-putting/weird things like this. He's just fluffing. If this changes your enthusiasm for Rand 2016 then you are what's wrong with Libertarianism today.

[Proprietist]

Right, I'm the problem, not the politicians who are flicking off an ideal audience to join the libertarian movement and trying to tie libertarianism with antiquated and backwards social values and retrograde views on homosexuality.

Historically, bigots almost always wanted government to enforce their discriminatory beliefs, and Rand is catering to those people. People have the right to preach whatever idiotic ideology they want in their churches and homes, but I'm ashamed that the Pauls sometimes show their social smallmindedness and people and the media jump quickly to equate libertarianism with their ignorance.

I didn't say I wouldn't vote for him (I likely would). I would have to be a closeted supporter and will have a strong taste of puke in my mouth when I do vote.