Ron Paul Delegate News Roundup: Members of Maine Delegation File Injunction Against RNC

The Maine Sun Journal reports on the lastest in the brouhaha over seating Maine's Ron Paul-dominated delegation to the Republican National Convention in Tampa later this month has some members of the delegation trying to get the RNC's dithering over the question declared over and the already-selected Paul delegation to just take its rightful place: 

Friday delegates Stavros Mendros, Brent Tweed and Matthew Mcdonald filed a request for an injunction with Belfast Superior Court.

It asks that the court rule against the Republican National Committee  and stop its process of investigating whether 21 Paul delegates from Maine were elected legally during the party's state convention in Maine.

Mendros said the injunction notes the RNC was suppose to rule on the issue last Friday but instead asked for more evidence against the Paul delegates.

"We filed an injunction that basically states the RNC has no authority at this point," Mendros said. "We were duly elected."…..

"They have to rule based on the evidence given to them in the complaint," Mendros said. "They didn't do that, they asked for more evidence. They can't do that.  By asking for more evidence they are admitting they didn't have enough evidence to rule against us which means the contest is over, they don't get a second chance to bring in more evidence."

The story sums up the complaint against the delegation:

In their complaint Jan Staples, the committeewoman and  Peter E. Cianchette alleged:

• The failure of the credentialing process at the state convention led to illegal votes being cast and counted.

• There was not a quorum when votes for at-large delegates and alternates were cast.

• Widespread credentialing irregularities and lax floor security led to illegal votes being cast and counted.

• Convention officials repeatedly violated party and parliamentary rules.

But Mendros and other Paul delegates have said the state convention was conducted legally and within the rules. Other prominent Maine Republicans including Gov. Paul LePage have said the Paul delegates deserve to be seated.

Maine's Gov. Paul LePage says he'll boycott the RNC convention if the delegation is not seated.

My blogging from last week on the Maine delegate conflict.

In other Paul delegation news and commentary, The Oklahoman tells Paulites challenging the delegation results of its hotly contested convention to give up. My blogging on the Oklahoma state GOP chaos as it unfolded. My new book, Ron Paul's Revolution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired.

Bonus Ron Paul: U.S. News notes he still hasn't endorsed Romney/Ryan.

Comments

[Spokanite]

It is pretty clear that Paul is getting screwed over in the Republican Party.

This ex-libertarian never understood the attraction of libertarians to the Republican Party in the first place. Sure they are ostensibly anti-government--but the don't MEAN it, any more than the Democrats do. And they are even more hostile to civil rights than the Dems.

Particularly now that the religious right is so very strong in the Republican party ("driving the bus" in Huckabee's words), there is no place for someone of a libertarian bent. The idea that Ron and Rand are going to take over the Republican Party is absurd.

A Libertarian third party is the still the best way to get the message out there.

[T o n y]

Democrats don't claim to be anti-government. So Republicans are liars, authoritarians, and religious fundamentalists. Agreed, not the most obvious choice to form a coalition.

[Hyperion]

And Democrats are liars, authoritrians, and other vile things who do not claim to be anti-government. What is your point, Tony? Oh yeah, you don't have one, you partisan fuck head.

Sorry, nothing personal. But this is reason and all is fair game. I guess if you can't take it, you could go to Huffpo where more people agree with your retarded ramblings.

[Brandybuck]

The attraction is that a third party can't win, so you work within one of the two major parties. Both of whom, by the way, are coalition parties. Republicans at least have the rhetoric of liberty, while the Democrats are so clueless you have to explain the concept of limited government slowly and with words of few syllables.

That doesn't mean we expect to win in this election, or the next, or even ever. What we are trying to do is to change the party. And that is actually happening. Slowly and in very minor ways, but it's happening.

[T o n y]

The GOP is the best vehicle for destroying the welfare state. It's not just rhetoric. They want to do it. They just have to keep current seniors from revolting. And they come with a fully formed media machine that will be more than happy to blame the ensuing disaster on the nearest Democrat.

[Emmerson Biggins]

You give me hope.

[Professor Booty]

We should be so lucky.

[Hyperion]

And that is bad, because no way can Tonytard can imagine a world where there is more than enough for everyone and everyohne contributes to that success. No. Greed, envy, and hatefulness is all that Tonytard can imagine.

[Brandybuck]

Go sit in on a local county meeting of the Republican and Democrat parties. Listen to what the actual rank and file are talking about. You will hear goofnuts at both parties to be sure, but at least at the Republican meetings you will hear about limiting the power of government.

As the DEMOCRAT mayor of San Jose told the county Republican Party, presenting his plan to address the police pension crisis, "at least with Republicans I can assume they know basic arithmetic".

[Lost_In_Translation]

If you think a libertatian third party is the best way to get the message out, why are you an ex-libertarian?

[Hyperion]

ex-libertarian = LIAR

[ShagNasty]

Hey spokanite, how do you like living in a tweaker-infested shithole?

[Hyperion]

The idea that Ron and Rand are going to take over the Republican Party is absurd.

It is absolutely not absurd. Was it absurd that the progressives took over the Democratic party?

ex-libertarian? I have never heard of such a thing. WTF? You go full on anarchists or something?

[Proprietist]

I kinda hope Ron Paul does get screwed over and leaves the GOP for good with his whole coalition. And Rand on the podium at the GOP Convention endorses Johnson and announces he's leaving the GOP because they aren't serious about anything. Would be awesome.

[JD]

Brian Doherty seems to know a lot about Ron Paul. Does he have a newsletter or something I can subscribe to to learn more?

[Spokanite]

Of course there are ex-libertarians. There are ex- everythings, right? People change their minds.

I grew up with Ayn Rand, read through the novels as a teenager and found the journal in my 20s. I was never a complete libertarian because it was the Cold War and I thought we needed an aggressive foreign policy to hold the line with the Russians. I voted Libertarian when there was someone on the ballot through my 20s. PJ O'Rourke was like a rock star to me.

I moved left partly because of a love of nature and the needs to protect the environment, partly because the Cold War was over, partly because the Clinton Democrats took their party to the center (and I'd argue that Obama is a centrist Democrat.)

Back to my point--the Republicans might want to crush the welfare state but it is to replace it with a police state. Those two are equally far from the libertarianism I remember.

The marriage of libertarianism and the Republican Party is changing the former far more than the latter.