If we get beer, the terrorists win.

The News Tribune

More on the alleged McCain walk-out
Posted by Niki Sullivan @ 04:45:40 pm

I got my first e-mail from a McCain delegate about the alleged orchestrated walk-out at the state Republican convention last weekend. I've posted a few comments (and videos) from Paul supporters (scroll down), so I'm glad I've now got at least one commentary from the other side.

Here goes:

Well, there are a lot of ways of looking at the "walk out."

It happend in that there eventually wasn't a quorum, and the convention had to adjourn. But was it an orchestrated "walk-out" or were people just tired? I'm not sure I can say for sure. On one hand, it was orchestrated in that some folks were urging others to leave. On the other hand, it was not orchestrated because plenty of people were leaving on their own because it was late and the Paul people were dragging out the convention.

I'm going to say it was not orchestrated. Because if it was orchestrated, it was orchestrated very poorly.

Plenty of counties stuck around during the quorum call, including McCain counties. Even some McCain whips (the folks carrying the giant YES and NO signs) stayed on the floor. The McCain people were pretty well organized considering the Paul people were incredibly organized and the McCain people were able to beat them back on most of their motions. Since the McCain people were so organized about everything else, it would make sense if they were organized in regards to a "walk-out." But based on how many McCain people stayed during the supposed "walk-out," I'd have to say that the walk-out was not actually planned or orchestrated.

People get tired of these things. In fact, that's how Paul won the counties he did. Paul never had more than about 30% of the delegates at any county convention, but they would drag the business along while supporters of McCain and other candidates would slowly leave. In Clark, Spokane, Thurston, and Whatcom counties, by the time county conventions would finally vote on delegates, enough folks had left that Paul delegates made up a majority. So it's ironic, not to mention petty, that Paul folks are now bemoaning the WSRP convention when they used the same tactics (assuming there WAS an organized walk-out, a sentiment I don't agree with) at county conventions.

Lastly, it's also unfortuante that Paul backers are saying the McCain folks cheated by walking out or passing the set of rules they did. At the open of the convention, Paul delegates tried to remove the entire Skagit County delegation from the floor. They lost at least a dozen procedural votes while trying to make this happen. They never once explained why Skagit County should be expelled (they only said there were "questions" and "abormalities," but never explained what they actually meant), they hoped to just generate enough confusion on the floor to get their way.

If all it takes is more than half of the convention to remove a delegation, the McCain camp would have had easily enough votes to take out Spokane, Whatcom, and Clark. But the McCain folks played very fair and never used parliamentary procedure to unfairly exploit their majority. So to answer your last question, I'm not sure I do see anything wrong with an orchestrated walk-out, if that's really what happened, given how the Paul people were trying to play the game.

Revolution Broadcasting

Give it a listen by clicking on the "click here to listen now" button. Support independent media!

www.RevolutionBroadcasting.com

Bribery at WA State GOP Convention

Chet Dow (Chairman) Abandons Whatcom Delegation

And some news from Iraq

Revealed: Secret Plan to Keep Iraq Under US Control
Thursday 05 June 2008
by: Patrick Cockburn, The Independent UK

Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors.

A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November.

The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.

But the accord also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the US. President Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated. But by perpetuating the US presence in Iraq, the long-term settlement would undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw US troops if he is elected president in November.

The timing of the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate, John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of victory in Iraq - a victory that he says Mr Obama would throw away by a premature military withdrawal.

Entire Article: Click Here


DOD Contracts Out Contractor Oversight
Wednesday 04 June 2008
by: Maya Schenwar, t r u t h o u t Report

The Department of Defense (DOD) now employs contractors to keep contractors in check in Iraq, under a new framework for war industry management solidified last month.

In April, the Pentagon split its largest military contract in Iraq - formerly belonging to the Houston-based corporation KBR, Inc. - among companies Fluor and DynCorp, in addition to KBR.A fourth company, the British-American service provider Serco, is responsible for managing and overseeing the other three, according to its contract, signed last year and now in effect.

Based on the contract, Serco's duties include planning activities, managerial work, performance reviews, training and budget recommendations. According to an Army Sustainment Command news release last year, Serco is responsible for "analyzing performance contractors' costs," "working with the Army to measure contractor performance" and "recommending process improvements." The company also serves as a liaison between the other three contractors, and between the contractors and the government.

Entire Article: Click Here

Huckabee: Washington State is Like Soviet Union

This is a few months old but I thought that it was worth posting since it mentions Luke Esser (pictured below) who if memory serves me right, also appeared in the film Owning Mahowny (insert sarcasm).
Great flick by the way.

2008 Washington State GOP Convention McCain Delegation Mutiny

Battle at Spokane II & III

Battle at Spokane II



Battle at Spokane III

Ron Paul Delegates at WA State Republican Convention

Part 1


Part 2

Battle at Spokane 5-30-08

McCain supporters dominate WA state GOP convention

Information from: The Spokesman-Review, www.spokesmanreview.com

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Supporters of Sen. John McCain's presidential bid got what they wanted at the Washington State Republican Convention on Saturday, with a "unity" slate of delegates to the national convention supporting the Arizona senator.

Supporters of Texas congressman Ron Paul mounted a sizeable presence at the convention, but in the end an agreement was reached with supporters of Paul and other GOP presidential hopefuls, leading to a slate of 33 delegates for McCain, four for Paul and three for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The national convention this summer will be in St. Paul, Minn.

McCain supporters among more than 1,500 delegates at the state convention used their majority to quash debate on most controversial platform issues.

Jon Wyss, Eastern Washington coordinator for the McCain campaign, told The Spokesman-Review newspaper of Spokane that he was "extremely happy with how things went."

Their main goal was to elect their chosen slate of delegates to the national convention, where McCain will be nominated, he said. Debate over stacks of resolutions were only a sidelight to the McCain campaign's real concern, which was the national platform, he said.

McCain supporters, armed with red "NO" cards and green "YES" cards for voting, generally had a numbers advantage over Paul supporters, who had their own color-coded flags.

Some delegates asked that signaling be banned, which prompted the "NO" cards to come out.

Delegates never got to debate their support or opposition for the war in Iraq in the platform. McCain voted to give President Bush authority to send troops into Iraq; Paul voted against it.

After a significant number of McCain delegates left the hall, the convention adopted a resolution that calls for the House of Representatives to vote on a declaration of war for any military operation. That's something that didn't happen for Korea, Vietnam or current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is a major bone of contention between McCain, who supports continued U.S. presence in those countries, and Paul, who opposes them.