Dateline: Weds, 2am
Well, I'm sure ALL of you watched the convention yesterday. It's very late
right now & I can't type for long as we have to get up waaaaay early to go
on a breakfast boat ride. We're calling it our, "Three Hour Cruise." Anyway,
above are some articles & videos.
- What you probably didn't know is that very important people on the Rules
Committee were kept on buses that circled around the convention center for
hours, so those members could not get in & argue against the new, horrible,
blasphemous rules - which passed, in a nanosecond. The Teleprompter even said,
“The ayes have it!” so the vote was scripted, just like ALL of the convention.
- Earlier, Ron came on the floor at 1:30pm & made his way around the
states that supported him, shaking hands & posing for photos. I stayed with
Ron for most of his circuit & talked a bit with Doug Wead. He's always been
very kind to me & given advice when I've asked. He took my photo w/Ron. But
“stayed” with Ron really doesn’t describe what I was doing. Remember that “Mary
Tyler Moore” show when the clown had died & the office gang were all crying
with their arms around each other, & they shuffled over to the kleenex box
on Mary’s desk? That’s what Ron’s tour around the convention hall was
like. Inch-long shuffles down between chair rowss, up and down aisles. There
were about 527 people trying to walk with Ron in a space for 2. When Ron got to
Texas, Dan Rather was on the periphery & I talked with him for awhile. He
found out I was on the Platform Cmte & asked me if a Definition of Marriage
Amendment had been in there. I said it was & told him how I’d argued against
it several times & asked that it be stricken. He thanked me very sincerely
for that, & even though I’m no Dan Rather fan anymore, I told him how much I
appreciated his bulldogging of Nixon back in the 70's & that he too was
responsible for bringing Nixon to justice. Dan lit up that I remembered that,
and he gladly asked his grandson to take a photo of me with him when I asked if
that was possible.
- But the rest of the day - what can I say? It was absolutely horrible to
hear the Nay vote on credentials & rules get positively bulldozed into the
rafters. They would NOT hear ANY dissent! We called for “Division,” to have the
vote counted, but we might as well have voted for Santa Claus to ride in on a
sleigh. Then, the music came up, & those morons danced to GE Smith’s band’s
excellent music. Can you believe it? GE Smith of Sat. Night Live fame? His band
is GREAT & too good for these schmucks. I doubt any of them could even tell
you the name of any blues artist. GE’s band looked like they burned one before
they came in, & they probably did to have to sell themselves out to gig for
the RNC.
- So, I was upstairs when the Credentials & Rules votes were called.
Did you hear me yellling? Boy, my friends/family from Texas were MAD & I
could see Jeremy Blosser on the monitors, furiously yelling, “Point of
ORDERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
- After that, I ran down to the floor as I thought I hadn’t missed Rules
& wanted to be down there. While I was running down the warren of stairs in
the center (The place is absurd & it’s incredibly confusing trying to get
from one floor to the next, in fact to get to the 4th floor, if you’re on the
6th, you have to go to the 2nd & then walk up. I just wondered how many
would die if there was a fire, as the hall definitely held more than its maximum
& was filled with carpet, cardboard signs, curtains & all kinds of
flammable stuff.) Anyway, by the time I got to the floor, the Rules vote was
over!!??
- The Roll Call vote for nominations had begun & I made my way over to
Nevada. Dr. Wayne Terhune, our Delegate Chair, was already at the mic, waiting.
As the states counted down, I wondered what was going to happen. Would we be
thrown out? Jim Ayala stood next to Wayne in his black “Oathkeepers” t-shirt
& hat. Jim’s a big guy, & he was acting as Wayne’s bodyguard, but we
also wanted to send a msg out to the country that we knew our Constitution. The
aisle with the mic was PACKED, but the neo-cons had their orders: walk up &
down in an already maxed aisle & disrupt Nevada. Back & forth they
squeezed past us. One guy with a hat, you probably saw him on tv, actually stood
right in front of Wayne to block the camera from seeing him.
Earlier, when Ron had come on the floor, I’d pulled my “zip” RP banner out
of my shirt where I stashed it before our convention entrance frisking. We’d been told that we’d be checked for EVERYTHING, but the inspection was minimal. When
our host buses took us from the Doubletree to the center, we traveled on
freeways that were totally devoid of traffic, except us! The freeway on-ramps
were closed & there were Secret Svc checkpoints at ea. one. When the agent
on the bus & the ground exchanged their codes to let us in the perimeter, I
jokingly said, “We’re just Bozos on this bus!” but no one got the reference.
Lisa Marie Johnson & I were sitting up front so we could dash to our
committee meetings first thing. Platform turned out to be a waste of time
because all we did was vote the final Platform up or down. What else could you
do? It was all printed & the Chairs were busily autographing copies. I’d
brought my anti-NDAA language just in case there was a final chance, but I was
crazy to think it could ever get in.
Anyway, I pulled out my trusty, “I AM Ron Paul!” sign & held it over
my head as I followed Ron around the room, then a thug/security stepped up &
told me in no uncertain terms to hand over the sign. I meekly said, “I’ll put it
away, sir.” and stuck it back in my shirt. “NO, GIVE ME THE SIGN!” so I had to
hand it over. When we were at the mic with Wayne, Victoria happened to have
another zip sign, so she passed it over. We unfurled it, and the same thing
happened. Our sign was taken, BAD LIBERTY LOVERS, BAD! But, we had another zip
sign, reloaded & held it hidden until the last minute, when Wiz raised it
over his head. I asked Jim Uprichard if he had the length of RP stickers I’d
given him that morning. He did, & I peeled one off to put on my cheek at the
last minute.
“Nebraska......” We would be next! The tension mounted. The glares from
Nevada’s neo-con delegates lasered in on us & especially Wayne. Heidi Smith,
out-going National Committeewoman, who had her marching papers handed to her by
us at our state convention, held up her Mitt sign. It didn’t matter. I stuck the
RP sticker on my cheek, turned my head, stood on my tiptoes & looked at
Wayne. He began to read his pencil-written notes and the hall erupted into
screams as we nominated Ron with 15 votes from Nevada, 5 abstained votes, and as
an afterthought, 5 for Romney. We did it!
I’ll tell you later about how underhanded & rotten just getting that
nomination form in, was. Former Gov. Bob List (who had called RP supporters
“Angry Bees” in a television interview a month ago) marched up to Wayne, “YOU
SON OF A BITCH!” Wayne’s daughter, who stood to his right during the nomination
widened her eyes, “Is that the language that a former governor of Nevada should
be using on a national convention floor?” List sputtered out more angry
rhetoric, and the video Jim Uprichard took will be up on youtube soon with the
entire altercation documented. In fact List got right in Wayne’s face & spit
flew out of his mouth as he stridently attacked Wayne. Jim touched List in the
shoulder, warning him to step back. List turned to a reporter and snarled, “He’s
had his 15 minutes of fame and THEY’RE UP!”
Meanwhile, the press swarmed in & got what they wanted, but most of them did not have the whole story.
Meanwhile, the press swarmed in & got what they wanted, but most of them did not have the whole story.
- Nominating paperwork had to be in to the convention Secretary, an hour
before the roll call. Six states had the majority they needed to nominate Ron
according to the rules requiring five states. If we had five, Ron would be
nominated & get some speech time, with one extra state, -- lagniappe! The states he
had were: NV, OR, IA, MN, and the Virgin Islands. So, just go to the Secretary
& submit the paperwork, right? Well, that Secretary just couldn’t be found.
She was here - somewhere. Yeti would have been easier to find than that
Secretary. She was “wearing a red dress.” No one of that description could be
found. “Oh, she changed her dress!” Doesn’t everyone change their dress midday?
Then when found, she wanted to call EVERY person on the six states nominating paperwork to
verify their signatures in LESS THAN AN HOUR!!
Well, it all was moot anyway, as when those Rules were passed in committee,
they had raised the six state minimum to EIGHT!!! A nomination rule passed EX
POST FACTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hello? Are we in the United States still, or
some banana republic? Later we joked that if we’d gotten eight states, they
would have wanted 50, or SIXTY, or even Canada & Tasmania thrown in.
Whatever it was, the RNC WAS NOT ALLOWING ANYONE TO BE NOMINATED, ER -- CROWNED
BUT THEIR FAVORED CLOWN!!
- Okay, so we’d thrown ourselves on the barbed wire, were bleeding and
needed a drink. Wayne wanted to go en masse, and throw Monday’s credential
badges (we needed to keep that day’s badges for our own security) on the stage
& march out. I said we needed to stay to provide solidarity for the other
states trying to nominate Ron. He agreed. Rhode Island came over & asked to
borrow our sign, “Sure!” I noticed two piles of Romboid signs on the floor -- one
pile mass produced, the other their faked-up homemade signs. Disgusting.
They have to provide homemade signs because no one even makes their own signs
for Romboid. Whereas we lovingly make our signs, design gorgeous graphics, make
bold, innovative youtubes, write stirring songs, fly blimps, erect bill boards,
organize Ronvoys, etc., all because we love our Constitution, and its defender,
Ron. We stood at the back of our delegation (we were seated on the sides, the
layout is rectangular, way at the very back, on purpose by the RNC, giving
favored status up front to those states that are better-behaved than we rowdy
Nevadans), & roared for Ron every time his name was heard. I made a point of
screaming “Ron Paul” every time there was the momentary gap in commentary
between states. I didn’t care about looking disruptive or looney. The woman who
repeated the vote counts for each State wouldn’t even SAY Ron’s name or the vote
count. You only heard it from the Delegation Chair’s report at the mic. What is
this, the USSR? Four legs good, two legs bad?
The roll call was coming to an end & I said, “Wayne, I don’t think the
badge deal is a good idea. I think they’ll laugh at us & no one’s going to
see us anyway. They won’t point the cameras at us.” He agreed. So we split up to
get something to eat & meet for our official delegation group photo
upstairs.
As I’ve mentioned, getting around in that center is a challenge. I knew the
lay of the land from traversing the levels to find my Platform mtg, so I grabbed
a hunk of pizza & a water & went to the photo site to wait. Delegates
trickled in, some were in tears, others were fighting mad. It took a while to
wrangle us as we’re such a contentious lot :0) ...but finally we all assembled on
the risers. No, make that “some” of us assembled on the risers. There were
members of our delegation that now found us untouchable & didn’t want to be
in our official photo. Fine, just makes the photo nicer!
Meanwhile, out on the floor, the neocons were grooving & frugging to
GE Smith & his band. All the scene needed was a Golden Calf on the stage,
and Moses striding out to break the Ten Commandments over their heads. These
sheeple have obeyed their masters & voted for the WORST party rules in the
history of democratic vote. Hey!
Time to PARTEE’!
ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
What was the plan? I decided to throw in with Sherry & her husband, with Ann & Jim, walk to their car & drive back to the Doubletree. Off we went. First, was about a mile of tented walkway, which passed by CNN’s HUGE official studio, bar, grill & dancefloor -- a general den of media hedonism. We thought, “Hey, I’ll bet they’d like to interview some of those BRAVE, liberty-loving Nevadans, right?” Knock, knock (you needed the special Communist News Network badge to get in), “Hello, we’re part of the Nevada delegation that nominated Ron Paul, is there anyone in there who might want to interview us? Piers Morgan? Wolf Blitzer? Maybe Anderson Cooper? We DO have that champion of Individual Rights, Cynthia Kennedy, with us, who argued so strenuously for Individual Rights in the Platform, and oddly enough was defeated - along with the rest of us. We happen to have enough time for a short interview with CNN.”
Remember that scene in the “Wizard of Oz” where Dorothy knocks on the door of the Emerald City & is told to go away. Well, that was our response. We were already old news. In the space of an hour, we were fish wrap. Now, Ann Romney & her saga of painful existence in the millionaire’s milieu in which she found herself after marrying Mitt, was of more interest. Screw that fair elections & fair representation crapola when we’ve got another Barbie (potential) first lady to promote.
So, we walked, a mile this way, a mile that way. About two miles out we
passed three guys holding Ron Paul signs and happily greeting delegates as they
walked by. It must have been 90 degrees with 90% humidity, but there they were,
in ties, spreading the RP Love. We stopped & chatted, took a few photos. A
woman w/a media badge walked by & asked, “What happened in there today?” I
responded,” Haven’t YOU been watching the news?” She: “No.” Me: “Well, then I
can’t begin to tell you, just that the cheaters won.”
Then we walked another few miles, all this time passing 100's of National
Guards, State Police, Secret Service, Ho Chi Minh’s Red Army, Buckingham Palace
Guards, Czar Nicholas’ Royal Cavalry, and a couple of mountain men with black
powder rifles. None of them were doing anything. Milling seemed to be the order
of the day. We ran into another group of Paulistas on a corner & they were
beating a drum & waving signs. Trucks circled the permitted area with RP
signs, & EVERY street crossing button had a RP sticker above it.
Finally, we reached the car!! Sherry had dropped off her husband at the
center earlier that day & then found a parking space in Georgia. At least
that’s the state I think we were in, it might have been Alabama. I’m
directionally challenged here & have already gotten in fights over going
south when I know we’re going west. If it’s one direction I know, it’s WEST -
dammit!! All this time, I had to pee, but I couldn’t have. My pants were so
drenched with sweat that I couldn’t have peeled them off anyway.
Back we went to the Doubletree, and soon the rest of our delegation joined
us. They had found a cab that had just about enough seats for all of them, so
they tied a few on the roof (that’s why they are called “bound delegates”) and
took off. “Air conditioning, PLEASE,” they begged the driver. We’d done the same
thing when we found our car. Wayne’s cabal though, had been captured again by the
RNC (they’re always trying to get us down) & when the air was turned on, it
was HEAT!! After walking to Kentucky to get a cab, they had to ride like slaves
on the ship Amistad with no air, and their Moroccan driver confusing “air” with
“hair” or some other North African phrase that means, “I’m as hot as I’ve ever
been in my life and am about to explode, would you please make it
HOTTER?!”
BUT, we had been oh so smart to blow Dodge by our own means. When the buses
came to take the delegates back to their host hotels, it took at least THREE
HOURS for them to get thru their security gauntlets -
nanananananananaaaaah!
Meanwhile, WE Defenders of the Constitution, were defending our right to
put copious amounts of rum, vodka, coconut liquor, maraschino cherries,
pineapple, and paper umbrellas in OUR bodies at Whiskey Joes, the site of Ron
Paul’s GIGANTIC blow-out after his festival Sunday. Texas had organized this
(Long Island Ice) TEA Party, and we met some of their stalwarts on the deck
selling “Remember the Alamo” t-shirts that had the battleships from all the
states that didn’t get seated, on them. BTW, did you hear the crescendo of “SEAT
THEM NOW!!” that went out? WOW, we rocked that place with our shouts. But, the
rino’s went into gear & countered with “USA now!” which you heard in greater
force on tv, as they engineered it that way. Can you believe that? They PLANNED
on drowning out any of our cries with pre-recorded audio, and a trained choir of
the Vienna Boy Rinos.
I ran for the bar & got a Mai Tai & then joined our peeps & got
a salad & some fried calamari. It was so good, that Sherry & her husband
are going back just for that. Meanwhile, the Texans were having a summit. While
Nevada sat in their booths scarfing fish tacos, Louie salads and other viands,
and drinks coming by the score, Texas kept making impassioned speeches about the
days’ events & what they had spawned. Boy, we were called “Angry Bees” by
our former Guv, but Texas was like an enraged hornets’ nest. That’s what the
neocons never thought of, of course, they think of mean & nasty things they
can do to us, like a h.a.a.r.p. hurricane, and airconditioning that doesn’t work
in cabs, but they don’t not squat about:
BLOWBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BLOWBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, Ron would have smiled. The blowback that night made Isaac look like a gentle breeze, faintly tosseling a young child’s curls, on a spring day with bluebirds singing, and rabbits hopping about in nature’s sleepy reverie.
This blowback was Wagnerian, and I could hear the choppers blades’
whirling as Jeremy Blosser and his gang stood on chairs and entreated the four
winds, all the seas, and God’s archangels to join in our fight for justice. Then
Richie Havens walked in, pulled out his guitar & began to sing, “Freedom.”
No, not really, but that was the atmosphere in the room. This guy I didn’t know,
Richard Engle, from Oklahoma (Are you a parking lot delegate, or a bathroom
delegate, a convention hall delegate, or a deli delegate? I only mention this
because lots of Oklahomans were parking lot delegates & they had a VERY cool
t-shirt which I tried to buy, but many RP people will NOT sell you the shirt off
their backs because they intend to wear it until the day they die & be
buried in it as they WILL NOT FORGET, NOR WILL THEY LET ANYONE FORGET & they
want to let everyone know THEIR ROLE IN THE FIGHT FOR OUR CONSTITUTION (and
don’t you forget). Our neighbors at the villa/dump, at Saddlebrook are also
parking lot delegates. I’ve told them I’m a Big Lots delegate just to have some
parity, though I’m actually one of those ordinary State Convention birthed
delegates. I mean, I didn’t even get socked in the nose once to get elected, or
have a mic bashed over my head (did I mention how the Zitt people were banging
their signs over the heads of the Paulistas on the convention floor? Boy, did
that make people mad, esp. the Texas women with their big hair. Hell doth not
know the fury of a Texas woman who has had her carefully-sculpted big hair
beaten down by a campaign sign. Oh, but all the RP woman aren’t of the big hair
sect. They mostly have long braids, wear Birkenstocks, and roach clip earrings
dangle from their lobes. “Those RP people, they only want to end the War on
Drugs so they can get stoned - stoned? STONE THEM!!!” But honestly, the
Zittsters were hitting Paulistas with their signs. “You square peg get in that
round hole -- NOW!”
Let’s see....I was talking about Richard Engle....he made a REAL good speech, talked about how this was his fourth convention & he WAS NOT going gently into that good night. Such rousing stuff.
Let’s see....I was talking about Richard Engle....he made a REAL good speech, talked about how this was his fourth convention & he WAS NOT going gently into that good night. Such rousing stuff.
Jeremy came over & wanted to hug in case we didn’t see each other
again. I told him I wanted to kiss him instead, and remarked about how GREAT he
looked on tv, yelling, “Point of ORDER!” You can always tell the measure of a
man by the intensity of his Point of Order. I ribbed that he looked like Kinky
Friedman’s son in his Stetson hat & state of Texas shirt. He said the press
had a field day with their states’ outfits & they did look like a Broadway
cast of “Oklahoma,” or an Olympic squad that had made a right (faaaaaaaaaaaaaar
right) turn to Florida, and missed London.
Boy, I could have (pretended) to dance all night, but we had our “Three
Hour Cruise” tomorrow & had to be at the docks at 8:30am. Whose idea was
THAT! We drove home to the villa, where the unit of Sheriff’s patrol cars stood
sentry, protecting the compound of golf courses, tennis courts and delegation
digs.
Even though it was TWO A.M., the lure of the internet was too strong & laptops were snapped open & we poured over the reportage of the days’ events. Gee it’s fun to be the object of scorn & derision, and then loved & practically deified.
Even though it was TWO A.M., the lure of the internet was too strong & laptops were snapped open & we poured over the reportage of the days’ events. Gee it’s fun to be the object of scorn & derision, and then loved & practically deified.
Nevada REPRESENTED!!!
I wanted to transcribe Kurt’s speech to the Rules committee, but the lights
had to go out. At 7:30, when the alarm went off, I hurriedly dressed & was
ready, and in the minutes left before we got in the car, I transcribed Kurt’s
notes & added beginning & ending paragraphs & sent the article off
to my editor.
The “news” had reported that Ron didn’t get enough states for the
nomination. Nothing I saw explained that he DID have enough states, THEY just
CHANGED the RULES!
Our progress to the pier was impeded by traffic, broken down cars & a
guy pushing his car. We laughed at all the things the RNC had done to keep us
from our boat ride. Yesterday, I’d left a msg on Carol Paul’s phone, inviting
the family to join us. We thought we’d have a lot of room as the neocon faction
of our delegation surely wouldn’t show, & they didn’t. Below is her
response:
“Thanks for the breakfast invitation - after the storm warning and cancelling of Monday - the bus wanted to get them (the family) back so they have already gone to Texas. Ron and I will also be returning earlier than planned. We know nothing about the video (the “tribute they’re going to show Weds. night) or where the pictures came from, etc. We will listen to Rand on the TV -- I think he has 8-10 min. Thanks for all the messages and updates. Carol”
(Stuff in the parens is my addition -- CK)
“Thanks for the breakfast invitation - after the storm warning and cancelling of Monday - the bus wanted to get them (the family) back so they have already gone to Texas. Ron and I will also be returning earlier than planned. We know nothing about the video (the “tribute they’re going to show Weds. night) or where the pictures came from, etc. We will listen to Rand on the TV -- I think he has 8-10 min. Thanks for all the messages and updates. Carol”
(Stuff in the parens is my addition -- CK)
The boat ride was nice, but we couldn’t stop talking politics. It’s so
wonderful to be with people who can never get enough. It’s all we talk about.
We’re just totally manic.
Now, back at the Doubletree, I wanted to interview Wayne &
Jennifer about yesterday, and how everything went down, but they got by me &
I think are taking naps. That’s fine, they needed sleep. I’ve only been able to
write in this casual format about a small percentage of this experience, but
when I get home, I’ll try to fill in the gaps. Meanwhile, I’m bivouacked here at
the Doubletree & we’ll head out on the buses, or take a cab, to get to the
convention in time for Ron’s video & Rand’s speech at 7pm. After that, I’m
sure we’ll split, and maybe go back to Whiskey Joe’s for more calamari &
Hurricanes!
Love,
Cynthia
Cynthia
PS: Thank you to everyone who has sent me such kind messages (and $$!) of
support!
