North Texas Tea Party Meeting

This past Wednesday I attended my first North Texas Tea Party meeting and had the privilege of hearing special guest speaker Rafael Cruz, father of Texas' US Senate Republican candidate Ted Cruz. He had many good points during his speech, however I want to focus on two that I found particularly interesting. He made a statement that there are two main issues that need to be addressed: political correctness and voting principle (he later addressed the point of apathy instead).

I found myself agreeing with him when it came to the idea of political correctness. He said that many of the necessary debates and dialogues in politics don't occur because people are worried that they aren't being politically correct; so instead of addressing a problem with solutions, they dance around the issue and nothing gets resolved. Ron Paul mentions that the reason we have the First Amendment isn't so we can talk about the weather, but so that we can discuss controversial issues. Our society has become to sensitive to personal offense, that instead of saying what needs to be said, what others need to hear, we beat around the bush or talk about non-issues.

I must admit I used to be politically and socially apathetic. I don't know how I ever lived like that, but it was a time where my focus on "worldly news" was actually entertainment news. And I understand the interests people have in celebrities, but in the end, following the news of someone else's life won't do any good for your own. People need to wake up to the fact that by being apathetic, they are handing their voices, their lives, their freedom over to the rule and mercy of those in power.

"Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you." -- Pericles (430 B.C.)

Tampa Day 5 & 6 - Coronation of Paul Ryan & Mitt Romney

The day following platform, rules, and nominations, many of the grassroots held a press conference in front of the convention center entrance to address some of the issues that were of concern. It was headed by Texans but included delegates from Maine, Oklahoma, and others. Watch it here.

It was interesting attending some of the different events that others from my CD didn't attend, because we were able to witness different events and understand the narrative of what happened at the GOP Convention from various perspectives. I also hope this helps others from my CD who did not attend get a better understanding of what happened.

Here are some "behind the scenes" photos (all from Tampa Day 4), since I didn't post many in my previous entries...

With CD3 alternate delegates Crystal & Joe.

Gloomy, rainy weather all week.

Many patrol squads like this one walking around the area.

Texas was the best dressed delegation there!

View of the floor from the alternate delegate seating section.

Steve Munisteri reading the Texas votes.

Me and Crystal on the floor.

Tampa Day 4 - First Day of the GOP Convention

Tuesday marked the first day of business for the 2012 GOP Convention in Tampa. Long day ahead. Let me begin with a picture to lighten the mood before it gets all into business...

The Texas delegation wore Texas flag shirts with our cowboy hats on this day. Here I am with my fellow alternate delegates, Crystal and Joe, from CD3.

But I also need to rewind to Monday a bit to discuss something that arose regarding rule changes which we would be voting on today.

Many of you have now heard about battle over rule 12 and rule 16. Here they are prior to being changed for the actual vote...

Rule No. 12: The Republican National Committee may, by three-fourths (3/4) vote of its entire membership, amend Rule Nos. 1-11 and 13-25. Any such amendment shall be considered by the Republican National Committee only if it was passed by a majority vote of the Standing Committee on Rules after having been submitted in writing at least ten (10) days in advance of its consideration by the Republican National Committee and shall take effect thirty (30) days after adoption. No such amendment shall be adopted after September 30, 2014.
Rule No. 16: (a)(1) Any statewide presidential preference vote that permits a choice among candidates for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in a primary, caucuses, or a state convention must be used to allocate and bind the state's delegation to the National Convention in either a proportional or winner-take-all manner, except for the delegates and alternate delegates who appear on a ballot in a statewide election and are elected directly by primary voters.
(a)(2) For any manner of binding or allocating delegates permitted by these Rules, no delegate or alternate delegate who is bound or allocated to a particular presidential candidate may be certified under rule 19 if the presidential candidate to whom the delegate the delegate or alternate delegate is bound or allocated has, in consultation with the State Party, disavowed the delegate or alternate delegate.

As a compromise, rather than having a floor fight on Tuesday during voting, Rule 16 (a)(2) was then replaced with: "For any manner of binding or allocating delegates under these rules, if a delegate (i) casts a vote for a presidential candidate at the national convention inconsistent with the delegate's obligation under state law or state party rule, (ii) nominates or demonstrates support under Rule No. 40 for a presidential candidate other than the one to whom the delegate is bound or allocated under state law or state party rule, or (iii) fails in some other way to carry out the delegate's affirmative duty under state law or state party rule to cast a vote at the national convention for a particular presidential candidate, the delegate shall be deemed to have concurrently resigned as a delegate and the delegate's improper vote or nomination shall be null and void. Thereafter the secretary of the convention shall record the delegate's vote or nomination in accordance with the delegate's obligation under state law or state party rule. This subsection does not apply to delegates who are bound to a candidate who has withdrawn his or her candidacy, suspended or terminated his or her campaign, or publicly released his or her delegates."

And at one point in time, there was also language in the rules that the RNC was trying to adopt which included allowing the RNC and presumptive GOP nominee to veto any delegates or alternate delegates, despite having been duly elected (this also gets us into another issue that arose regarding unseated duly elected delegates).

Ultimately, here are the final rules that were adopted at the convention after a voice vote that was too close to call, and was actually scripted into the program. If you haven't heard about it or just want to see more, click here and here. (Not just to point fingers at the RNC, looks like the DNC also scripts their votes.)

Another issue that arose at the beginning of the day was when they were deciding whether to seat Maine's duly elected delegates or have them replaced with delegates of the establishment's choosing. Here you can hear a good amount of delegates chanting "Point of Order!" trying to get Chairman Reince Priebus to recognize them and to address their objection, but Priebus ignores them. The chants then start mixing with "Seat them now!" Many people may think this issue is just Ron Paul supporters causing a disruption or creating chaos during the convention, but the concern is fundamentally about following the rules. In the state of Maine, they voted on their delegates and alternate delegates. It's not up to the RNC to decide that just because they don't like who the delegates or alternate delegates are, they can have them replaced because they may or may not support the RNC's presumptive nominee. Talk about the RNC and presumptive nominee having vetoing power over elected delegates, what they did to unseat Maine can also happen to any other state. This was an overstep of power that was uncalled for.

I hope this day's post makes sense, because there was a lot that happened, and I'm trying to describe faithfully what happened (with video) while still maintaining some objectivity. But there are so many other strings attached to what happened that it's difficult to write out linearly.

Tampa Day 3 - The Day Before Convention

Monday morning, at the Texas delegation meeting, we heard from Texas US Senator John Cornyn and candidate for US Senate Ted Cruz. They discussed the importance of standing strong as Republicans and the need to beat President Obama in the November election for the betterment of our country's future.

The GOP Convention was supposed to start on Monday, but it was cancelled because of Hurricane Isaac and the following three days' schedule was reorganized. So we had a day to ourselves to prepare for the actual convention, and instead of lounging around, a couple of other alternate delegates and I decided to check out the convention center. We had to park about a 5-10 minute walk away from the entrance to the security perimeter, and then after entering the security perimeter, trekked another 15-20 minutes until we got to the Media Center (which we didn't know was the Media Center at first since we were searching for the actual convention center). Security at the Media Center consisted of checking convention badges, x-ray machines for bags, and walking through a metal detector. While we were there, a drink vendor there gave us a free pass to pick up water and coffee. Unfortunately, we were never able to use them! From the Media Center, we were directed to the other end of the building where we could board buses that would then take us to the actual convention center - so off we went. I wish I took pictures in the Media Center...

We arrived at the convention center and walked through the back door media entrance and landed directly on the convention floor (again, wish I took pictures of the first day. I have pictures of the floor on the days of the actual convention). Since there wasn't an actual session taking place that day, some delegates, alternate delegates, and guests were roaming the convention floor, as well as media. I was interviewed by a Los Angeles ABC affilliate news station about why I was interested in politics, what I might say to other Asian-Americans about getting involved, and what I wanted to hear from Ann Romney's speech pertaining to females and minorities. In terms of why I was interested, I told the reporter that I heard one man's message about freedom and it really called me to action about the importance of getting involved and active to make a different instead of passively watching things happen. As to what I might tell other Asian-Americans, I told him I didn't grow up learning about social issues or politics, and it was more of a self-awakening to the country's problems. Whether one is Asian-American or not, all of these issues affect us, and thus it is important to know what is going on in government, know your rights, and stand for what you believe in. And what I wanted to hear from Ann Romney? I told him it wasn't about being a minority or female. I wanted her to address us all as individuals and about the importance of freedom as individuals, because once we start grouping ourselves into a category, we start separating ourselves based on slight differences rather than bonding together because of greater similarities. I don't know if it ever got aired or not, and I can't find any clip of it online... but that was basically my interview.

In the evening, we had an AT&T sponsored reception with the Colorado delegation, and I thought I took pictures at this event, but they aren't on my phone... so maybe someone else has them. There were three different tables with various finger foods on them, and then an ice-cream bar (yum), and live music. It was a fun night before work the next day.

Tampa Day 2 - A Ron Paul Kinda Day

There were two "Paul" events I attended this day: the We Are the Future Rally at the Sun Dome and a Whiskey Joe's RP gathering. I'm not sure I could have asked for a more liberty-filled day, as I was able to network and meet many delegates, alternate delegates, and guests who truly believe in freedom.

We left Saddlebrook around 11am and headed to the USF Campus for the rally at the Sun Dome. When we arrived there, they had a VIP area for delegates and alternate delegates in one of the suite areas that then lead to floor seating. We were all greeted with a swag bag and directed toward an area with a simple buffet. The program had already started with Doug Weed MCing the event. Speakers included Lew Rockwell, Barry Goldwater Jr., Justin Amash, Jack Hunter, etc. to name a few. It was wonderful to spend a day surrounded by welcoming, open-minded people, who were all brought together because of one man's message. Here is the full speech Ron Paul gave at the rally. It was long, truthful, and inspiring.

After this event, we were supposed to all load onto a bus and head to the RNC Welcome Event, however organizers were told that buses arriving from the Sun Dome event would not have been pre-screened for security purposes and such, so we would not be able to attend unless we boarded buses from the hotel. So instead of attending the RNC Welcome Event, which you can hear about from another CD 3 delegate (Candy) and alternate delegate (Crystal), I went to Whiskey Joe's.

At Whiskey Joe's, we stood in a long line to get a picture opportunity with Ron Paul. I was lucky enough to hug him, and thankfully had a wonderful photographer with my phone, otherwise this picture would have never been taken! We then mixed and mingled with other delegates and delegate alternates from all across the US, and I am so glad to have met so many amazing individuals.

For peace, love, and liberty.