In the wake of his “rude” treatment at the Republican National Convention last week in Tampa, several Internet sites are repeating rumors that Ron Paul (R-Texas) will announce a third-party run for the White House.

Adding fuel to this fire is Dr. Paul’s scheduled appearance Tuesday night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. A representative from the Tonight Show told The New American that it was not their policy to predict or publicize a guest’s purpose for going on the show.

Although during the primaries he repeatedly denied an intent to mount a third-party campaign, Dr. Paul may have reconsidered given the Republican National Committee’s hijacking of the Republican Party at the convention.

The affronts to the Paul campaign specifically and to the electoral process in general were many.

First, the RNC denied credential to 10 Ron Paul delegates from Maine, robbing Paul of a majority of that state’s delegation. One disgusted Maine delegate described this decision as a “huge slap in the face.”

Next, as the Convention Rules Committee met August 28, the Romney campaign lawyer, Ben Ginsberg, showed up and pressured members to accept radical changes to the party’s rules governing the binding of delegates and the way rules are to be revised in the future.

According to the revised Rule 15 (to be renumbered as Rule 16 in the new rule book) as proposed by Ginsberg, every state must amend its nominating process to ensure that their delegations are bound to vote in accordance with the winner of the popular vote as cast at state caucuses or primaries.

Ginsberg’s version of Rule 12 empowers the RNC to bend its own rules to suit their needs at any time without submitting the changes to party members gathered at the quadrennial convention. This unprecedented revision places the control of the GOP in the hands of the Establishment candidate without suffering the inconvenience of listening to dissenting voices. In the future the nomination of an incumbent Republican president is guaranteed and upon leaving office, he will be able to name his chosen successor through manipulation of the party rules.

Curiously, the driver of a bus carrying the delegate holding the official objections to the proposed rule changes circled the venue refusing to stop, causing that delegate to arrive too late to file the objections. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) then proceeded to call for a vote on Ginsberg’s rewrite of the Republican rulebook.

Standing at the podium and reading from a teleprompter, Boehner instructed those in favor of the rules to say “aye” and those opposed to say “nay.”

Video of the vote clearly demonstrates that those against the adoption of the Romney-friendly rules numbered at least as many as those in favor. In light of the closeness of the voice vote, Boehner should have called for a roll call vote rather than a voice vote. But in another example of unexplained deviation from applicable Republican Party protocol, Boehner ignored the dissenting votes, declaring, “The ayes have it.”

More shocking than the Speaker’s ignoring of the dissenting votes is the revelations that came through cell phone video posted to the Internet only minutes after this “vote.” These videos record the script scrolling on Boehner’s teleprompter and reveal that the adoption of the rules was scripted and that the new rules weren’t voted on at all. Regardless of how long before Boehner’s appearance the script was written and entered into the teleprompter, the undeniable fact is that the outcome of the vote was decided in advance by whoever typed that text into the teleprompter.

Put simply, the passage of a radical new rulebook rewritten by a lawyer from the Romney campaign was predetermined and the voice vote taken at the convention was a sham, sound and fury signifying nothing.

This was not only an insult to those duly elected Republican delegates who in good faith opposed the revised rules, but was irrefutable proof that the fix was in and that despite winning a plurality of the delegates in at least five states, Ron Paul was never in the running for the nomination.

The big tent has collapsed leaving only ringmaster Romney standing safely next to the Establishment’s center stake.

Outside the Tampa Bay Times Forum where the convention was held, Ron Paul’s senior campaign adviser Doug Wead said that the RNC’s attack on Ron Paul was more vicious and planned than it appeared.

In an interview with We Are Change, Wead revealed details of the Romney-approved plan to persecute Paul and his followers and forever change the direction of the Republican Party.

Calling the Party’s treatment of Paul “stupid,” Wead wondered why Romney would go out of his way to alienate so many voters and punish Paul supporters when he already had the nomination locked up.

Wead commented that now that the new rules were rammed through, “10 fat men sitting in a room” are in complete control of the Republican Party and who will get the nomination in future elections.

In contrast to the Republican Party, the liberty movement led by Dr. Paul “cherishes people’s freedom and will not tell them who to vote for,” Wead said. “We are behind the Constitution and want to free the marketplaces allowing people to make money without an oligarchy deciding who gets to have money and who doesn’t,” he added.

Wead said that it is difficult for a constitutional candidate to get elected to national office because “the insiders control what we read and what we see in the media.”

Perhaps the most noteworthy of Wead’s comments was his disclosure that Mitt Romney threatened “to drop an A-bomb” on Ron Paul if he were to go on the offensive.

“He [Romney] threatened to destroy forever the name Ron Paul by producing commercials and advertising that would destroy his [Paul’s] name and reputation,” Wead said.

Rather than destroy him with ads, Romney hijacked the Republican Party and assured that he and the monied cabal he represents will now call the shots in perpetuity.

In fairness, the RNC did play a four-minute video tribute to Dr. Paul at the convention. Proclaiming Paul’s willingness to chart his own path, the video highlights a few of Paul’s Party-palatable policies.

“In 22 years in Congress, Ron Paul has never voted for a tax increase, never voted for a debt ceiling increase, never backed down,” the voiceover correctly reports.

The video features testimony from several of his congressional colleagues — including his son, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — praising Paul for his lifelong commitment to limited government, lower taxes, and individual liberty.

What wasn’t mentioned, however, was his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his opposition to the National Defense Authorization Act, and his opposition to potential military involvement in Syria and Iran — all of which are supported by the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney.

It remains to be seen if all these factors will add up to the announcement Tuesday night of a Ron Paul third-party presidential campaign. There are undoubtedly millions who voted for Ron Paul in the primaries and caucuses who would welcome the opportunity to demonstrate their continued support for Dr. Paul. Add to that the many Republicans repulsed by their party’s treatment of Paul delegates and shameless manipulation of the rule-making and nominating process, and the sum is a serious and significant bloc of Americans who could line up behind the liberty icon should he continue his pursuit of the presidency.

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Republican Convention Rules Changes: How the Establishment Stole the GOP

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