A Red Herring vs the Rule of Law

There are numerous e-mails and messages floating around on the Internet, all carrying the same basic message: "A small group of Ron Paul supporters has viciously attacked the Party and is trying to overthrow the rules that our grassroots passed and has been using for years, all because they want to create enough chaos to take over the Party." This is hardly the case. First of all, I voted for Mike Huckabee, as did several of the plaintiffs in the suit against the RPT (Republican Party of Texas). Gary Polland, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, supported John McCain in the Primary.

It is true, however, that the RPT has for several conventions used the same agenda, that of not finishing the business of organizing the convention until after the election of permanent convention committee members, SREC (State Republican Executive Committee) members and nomination of Chairman and Vice Chairman. That practice began in 1998 and has been challenged on the floor of the convention on many occasions, as well as to the SREC itself, all to no avail. So what do Republicans do when party leaders continue to violate party rules and state law? They go before a judge to seek injunctive relief as prescribed by law.

I would submit that we are not the ones "throwing stones and spewing venom." In fact, one writer went so far as to call us "... hyper-libertarians, anarchists, the less responsible and the irresponsible ..." That is name-calling at its worst, rather than a discussion of the issues at hand. The same writer says, "I have found absolutely no truth to the allegations of impropriety, knowingly violating Party rules or any other manner invidiously discriminating against properly elected delegates to the 2008 state convention by Party leadership. I HAVE FOUND THE ACCUSATIONS TO BE IRRESPONSIBLE AND FALSE IN THEIR ENTIRETY."

Let me state again the issue for my friend. The current RPT Chairman has denied that the RPT rules and Texas Election Code (TEC) require the state convention to seat delegates and elect permanent officers (i.e., organize the convention) before delegates elect permanent members of convention committees, elect SREC members, and nominate the Chair and Vice Chair of the RPT. How do they square this with the TEC (sections 174.094 and .095) which requires official business to be done AFTER the convention is organized? They argue that the election of the SREC, convention committees and nomination of Chair and Vice Chair is "not convention business." Those elections are part of THE MAIN business of the convention!

Furthermore, the Thirteenth Court of Appeals, in its ruling that the county chairman of Nueces County was required by RPT rules and the TEC to provide a copy of precinct convention minutes as public record, noted that the RPT had filed a brief with the court calling the suit for relief "frivolous," asking the court to deny the request and make the person who filed the suit pay court costs and legal fees. The court refused to do so and ruled in favor of the delegate seeking those minutes.

The RPT, under the direction of the current chairman, went to court to defend the illegal actions of the rogue county chairman and sought to punish the delegate seeking relief. The current state chair advised this county chairman and others that they were not required to release convention minutes, contrary to RPT rule 22b and the TEC.

The minutes proved that the county chairman had fraudulently added to the list of county convention delegates over 100 delegates who had not been elected at precinct conventions. The audio of that convention makes clear what was taking place at the county convention and that the chairman of the convention refused to recognize all attempts by delegates to challenge this violation of RPT rules and the TEC.

One thing is clear. Name calling against those seeking to require RPT leadership to follow the law and RPT rules is not the solution to the current chaos. Those who believe the RPT should follow the law and RPT rules should contact their SREC representatives and insist that, at their Wednessday 4PM meeting, they amend the agenda of the convention to comply with the rules by handling the seating of delegates and the election of convention officers at the first general session.

The RPT needs new leadership; I have endorsed Paul Perry for that job. Perhaps we will need new SREC members who will function as a board of directors rather than as a rubber stamp.