Plans set in motion for the removal of Bob Barr as the Libertarian Party’s U.S. presidential nominee
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Saturday, September 13, 2008
Former Congressman Bob Barr
Image: Commissioned by Bob Barr.
2008 US Presidential Election stories
Controversies surrounding Libertarian U.S. presidential nominee and former congressman Bob Barr rose to new levels on Friday afternoon.
There is now a serious effort by some in the Libertarian Party to remove Barr as its presidential nominee. In order for this to happen, the matter must be voted upon by members of the Libertarian National Committee. A motion has been written calling for Barr’s removal and at least one representative has expressed a willingness to make it. If and when the motion is seconded, it will be brought to voting. The motion can be read in its entirety below.
Barr has been decreasing rapidly in voter popularity since his last minute refusal to attend former Republican presidential hopeful Congressman Ron Paul’s third party unity conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Wednesday.
Barr instead decided to hold a press conference of his own two hours after Paul’s at the same location.
“I’m not interested in third parties getting the most possible votes,” Barr told reporters. “I’m interested in Bob Barr as the nominee for the Libertarian Party getting the most possible votes.”
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HAVE YOUR SAY
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Should the members of the Libertarian Party remove Bob Barr as their presidential nominee?
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Several of Barr’s supporters were furious with his remarks, some even going so far as to retract their endorsements of him. Bloggers quickly picked up on the story and by Thursday evening there was an Internet frenzy, which continued into Friday.
[edit] Removal motion
WHEREAS, Article 12, Section 5 of the Libertarian Party’s bylaws provide for the suspension of the party’s presidential candidate by the Libertarian National Committee; and
WHEREAS, said bylaws provision requires a 3/4 vote of this body; BE IT KNOWN that Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party’s 2008 presidential nominee, is hereby suspended on the basis of the following causes:
- Failure to appear, with little or no notice, at a major media event to which he had been invited and to which he had committed to appear;
- Vicious public attacks by his campaign staff on the character and reputation of the event’s host (1988 Libertarian Party presidential nominee Ron Paul) and sponsor (Campaign For Liberty);
- The disrepute and discredit which the aforementioned misbehaviors have brought upon the Libertarian Party.
The committee advises Barr that he has seven (7) days to appeal this action to the party’s Judicial Committee. Absent a successful appeal, his nomination will be deemed null and void and he will be replaced as the party’s presidential nominee.
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US military trained Georgian commandos
By Charles Clover in Moscow and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
Published: September 5 2008 18:49 | Last updated: September 5 2008 18:49
The US military provided combat training to 80 Georgian special forces commandos only months prior to Georgia’s army assault in South Ossetia in August.
The revelation, based on recruitment documents and interviews with US military trainers obtained by the Financial Times, could add fuel to accusations by Vladimir Putin, Russian prime minister, last month that the US had “orchestrated” the war in the Georgian enclave.
The training was provided by senior US soldiers and two military contractors. There is no evidence that the contractors or the Pentagon, which hired them, knew that the commandos they were training were likely be used in the assault on South Ossetia.
A US army spokesman said the goal of the programme was to train the commandos for duty in Afghanistan as part of Nato-led International Security Assistance Force. The programme, however, highlights the often unintended consequences of US “train and equip” programmes in foreign countries.
The contractors – MPRI and American Systems, both based in Virginia – recruited a 15-man team of former special forces soldiers to train the Georgians at the Vashlijvari special forces base on the outskirts of Tbilisi, part of a programme run by the US defence department.
MPRI was hired by the Pentagon in 1995 to train the Croatian military prior to their invasion of the ethnically-Serbian Krajina region, which led to the displacement of 200,000 refugees and was one of the worst incidents of ethnic cleansing in the Balkan wars. MPRI denies any wrongdoing.
US training of the Georgian army is a big flashpoint between Washington and Moscow. Mr Putin said on CNN on August 29: “It is not just that the American side could not restrain the Georgian leadership from this criminal act [of intervening in South Ossetia]. The American side in effect armed and trained the Georgian army.”
The first phase of the special forces training was held between January and April this year, concentrating on “basic special forces skills” said an American Systems employee interviewed by phone from the US army’s Fort Bragg.
The US military official familiar with the programme said the Pentagon hired the military contracting firms to help supplement its own trainers because of a lack of manpower.
The second 70-day phase was set to begin on August 11, a few days after war broke out in South Ossetia. The trainers arrived on August 3, four days before the conflict flared on August 7. “They would have only seen the inside of a hotel room,” quipped one former contractor. Neither MPRI nor American Systems would speak at length to the FT about the programme.
American Systems directed questions to the US army’s Security Assistance Training Management Organisation (Satmo) at Fort Bragg, part of the US Army’s Special Warfare Center School. Satmo sends trainers, mainly special forces but also contractors, to countries such as Yemen, Colombia and the Philippines. Satmo trainers generally work with forces involved in counter-insurgencies, counter-terrorism or civil wars. A Satmo spokesman declined to comment.
One US military official familiar with the programme said it emerged from a Georgian offer to the US in December 2006 to send commandos to Afghanistan to work alongside American special operations forces.
According to this person, the US told Georgia that the offer should be made through Nato, which welcomed the offer but informed Georgia that its forces would need additional training to meet the military alliance’s standards.
While the programme is not classified, there is a lack of transparency surrounding it, though US military officials said the lack of publicity was not part of an effort to keep the programme secret. Other US military training programmes in Georgia have their own websites and photo galleries.
A US European Command spokesman confirmed the existence of the programme only after reviewing an e-mail sent by MPRI recruiters that was obtained by the FT. According to the e-mail, which did not mention Nato operations, former US special operations forces would receive $2,000 ($1,150, €1,400) a week plus costs as trainers. “We can confirm the programme exists, but due to its nature and training objectives we do not discuss specifics to ensure the integrity of the programme and force protection of the trainers and participants,” he said.
James Appathurai, Nato’s spokesman in Brussels, said: “Georgia has made an offer to provide forces to Isaf in the last two years. But until now these Georgian forces have not joined the Isaf mission.” An official at a senior Nato member state said it was understood that the forces had been trained by the US, but that the forces had not passed a certification process under which all potential members of the Isaf mission are vetted.
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‘Black hats’ keep lookout for troublemakers
Stephen Dinan (Contact) and Ralph Z. Hallow (Contact)
Friday, September 5, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Fearing demonstrations from Ron Paul delegates here at the Republican National Convention, the party has created a “black-hat” squad to track the Paulites and other potential troublemakers to make sure they don’t cause a scene on the convention floor.
Identified by their black baseball caps emblazoned with a white star, squad members keep an eye on delegates they fear might cause a scene. The squad is empowered by the convention managers to take delegates’ credentials and kick them off the convention floor — a step one convention official said would be unprecedented.
Squad members have made “their presence known, to let all people know big brother’s watching them,” said a Republican official familiar with the squad who has been involved in the last 10 GOP conventions.
Convention spokesmen did not respond to requests for comment.
The black-hat squad is on the lookout for T-shirts, unauthorized signs and anything else that could cause a disruption, according to people familiar with the operation who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to talk to the press.
Convention leaders always have been vigilant about outsiders gaining unauthorized access to their events, but this time the danger comes from within: Mr. Paul, who sought the Republican presidential nomination, won dozens of delegates to the convention and has hundreds of other supporters who are credentialed to attend.
What’s more, Mr. Paul’s supporters have been creative about getting attention for themselves.
“Here they have a vocal group who are actually in the building who want to make a statement,” the official said.
So far, Paul delegates and backers have remained subdued. On Wednesday night the only disturbance in the hall came from two demonstrators from Code Pink, the anti-war organization. They apparently gained access to the arena with press credentials but were scooped off the floor quickly by the black-hat squad, among others.
In addition to the black hats on the floor, there are also convention aides with yellow hats, who are the rapid-response team to handle disturbances; those with red hats, who are the floor managers; and those with white hats, who serve as ushers, helping with seating and passing out papers.
The floor and security managers include both lobbyists and longtime Washington political operatives.
The black hats’ power comes from their authority to revoke credentials. The fine print on the back of each credential says: “This ticket is a revokable license. Tickets may be revoked from persons engaging in inappropriate or disorderly behavior, or for any other reason deemed necessary by security personnel and/or the Republican National Committee.
Mr. Paul’s spokesman, Jesse Benton, said Republican Party officials warned Paul supporters not to cause a commotion.
“There have been some overtures to our political guys and our delegates that if they acted up, they would be removed,” Mr. Benton said.
He said the Paul campaign has identified 260 delegates and hundreds of alternates to the convention who support Mr. Paul even though, by the rules of the convention, they are bound to other candidates.
Republican officials asked the campaign for a list of those supporters, but the Paul campaign declined, Mr. Benton said.
Mr. Paul conducted his own counter-convention in Minneapolis on Tuesday and made his way through the press areas of the Republicans’ event Wednesday. But he will not visit the convention floor this week. Mr. Benton said Mr. Paul and his supporters were unable to reach an agreement on rules for his visit.
Mr. Paul, who as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas, is entitled to a pass and wanted credentials for a few staffers. But Mr. Benton said convention officials wanted to control Mr. Paul’s access and did not allow his staff on the floor, insisting that they have a party escort.
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I saw this mother fucker on the light rail on the way to the rally! He was with four others and they knew all about the rally. They were nice talking to me until they got off and one of them told me I need to study more history. Arrogant pricks.
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SECRET SERVICE CONFISCATES RON PAUL DELEGATES MATERIALS
DELEGATES VOTES FOR RON PAUL NOT CALLED OUT LOUD OR SHOWN ON THE SCREENS.
St Paul, MN
Boris Morales
Sept, 04 2008
22:54 EST
Delegate Dennis Rothacker from FL opened this story when he sent the following urgent text message:
*”We just had a group shot of all the RP delegates and alternates, the secret service came and started searching everyone and took anything RP related. We got it on video though…”*
 Group photograph of Ron Paul delegates moments before they were swarmed, searched, and had their materials and flag confiscated. (Photo provided by delegate Pat Armstrong, NC) |
Today at the Republican National Convention, as the Ron Paul Delegates were taking a picture in front of the model White House inside the Convention Center, they were surrounded by Secret Service which proceeded to search the bags of all the delegates. They took everything related to Ron Paul including signs, buttons, videos, slim jims, cards, even books. “This is an obvious and outrageous violation of our first amendment rights” said
Nathan Hanson, attorney and Delegate from MN.
Alternate Delegate Dennis Rothacker from Florida said “We were done taking the picture when Secret Service started walking into the room and surrounded us. There were about 30 of them. When they searched my bags they took my Ron Paul sign and turned a deaf ear to my complaints, they just walked away.”
Another delegate said that the people surrounding them were wearing red McCain hats and identified themselves as police to him.
Delegate Ron Warner from Fairbanks, Alaska added that as he was walking into the convention center today with about 15 Revolution Manifesto books, 20DVD’s for Delegates, 20 Ron Paul buttons and a handful of other things, he was stopped by security which called on upon an apparent supervisor, who directed all the materials to be confiscated. She told him, “You can’t bring that in here, this is McCain territory. ”
Dennis, Ron and the other delegates report being openly followed by Secret Service. Dennis says that delegates known to support Ron Paul had been openly monitored from the beginning of the convention, but that now they are being shadowed constantly by these people.
There are also reports of delegates being approached by security and told that they will be summarily thrown out if they leave their assigned chair, and are advised not to walk around.
Delegate Corey Sax From MN’s district five was on the floor and he witnessed six oral votes for Ron Paul out of a forty something total delegation. These votes were counted, but not read aloud by the RNC in the count or shown in
the screen. He and others said that they thought there was an obvious attempt to suppress the votes casted for Ron Paul.
Corey says that Ron Carey and Tim (last name missing) witnessed the RNC tell them that they had technical difficulties and that was the reason for not reading the votes for Ron Paul. He says that the same happened to the Texas delegation and the delegation from other states. He clearly stated that illegal under-counting of delegates votes was going on across many states
delegations. It appears that the number of votes casted for Ron Paul were not read aloud or posted on the screen.
Adam Weigold, Delegate from MN, reported that today he has been approached at least five times by other delegates at large who ask him to borrow his pass to go the bathroom. From his conversation with other delegates, he believes that this is part of an orchestrated effort because many of them have been approached. Without their pass credentials, they would not be able to claim their seat or remain at the convention.
Other delegates who gave interviews were Jeff Austin, from NC, and Nathan Hanson, a delegate and attorney from MN.
The delegates remain at the convention center till 10:30 or 11:00PM. They were planning to approach the media and demand that this obvious disregard for the first amendment and for their votes in a national US election for president be reported by the national media.
St Paul MN
Boris Morales is an independent citizen journalist affiliated with
www.federaljack.com you can contact him at ronpaullegacy@gmail.com
He helped organize and promote the April 15 Freedom Rally in Washington DC, and he organized the “Paint St. Paul Ron Paul” Sign-Bomb Campaign which received acknowledgment at Rally for the Republic.
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