Hollywood celebrities are accustomed to repeating the same tired talking points as liberal Democrats and mainstream media elites when it comes to anti-Second Amendment rhetoric, radical environmental ideology, and policies of appeasement.
Curiously, however, a coalition has recently sprung up that consists of a bramblebush of anti-conservative opponents.
George Clooney, Susan Sarandon, Louie CK, and the “Saturday Night Live” writing staff are currently joining forces with the GOP establishment, the common thread attaching them to one another being an inordinate dislike for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
Even given the politics of our times, it is bizarre to not only watch some of the most outspoken Hollywood leftists line up with the mainstream news media, but also with Republican establishment types that include the likes of Mitt Romney, John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and the so-called intellectuals at National Review and the Weekly Standard.
The odd collection of anti-Trump enthusiasts now seemingly favor Marco Rubio or John Kasich to be the ultimate Republican nominee pick.
In so wishing, they are attempting to massage the public’s consciousness to accept an inevitable contested convention as the finale of the GOP primary process.
Hollywood, the media elite, and the Republican establishment are engaging in an all-out war on the image and reputation of the front-runner. However, there is no love lost for Cruz either, and the number two candidate is standing in the way of the desired path to have either Rubio or Kasich become the standard bearer for the party.
In his recent appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Cruz summarily rejected the idea of a contested convention, warning that it would lead to a “manifest revolt” against the Republican establishment.
“Any time you hear someone talking about a brokered convention it is the Washington establishment in a fevered frenzy. They're really frustrated because all of their chosen candidates, all of their golden children, the voters keep rejecting.
"And so they seized on this master plan,” Cruz told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
“We go to a brokered convention and the D.C. power brokers will drop someone in who is exactly to the liking of the Washington establishment. If that happens we will have a manifest revolt on our hands,” Cruz added.
Meanwhile the establishment’s latest attack dog, Romney, has indicated that he is available to step in and be the nominee at a contested convention, a result he encouraged primary voters to seek by choosing candidates other than Trump in upcoming contests.
Rubio, whose path to the GOP requires a contested convention, is on record as opposing such a radical measure because a contested convention, or what he calls a “floor fight,” in his estimation would be the “worst possible thing.”
He made the following statement during a 2012 interview: “The primary's over, I mean, by the admission of the candidates who have admitted they can't win the primary. They've said the only way they can win is at a floor fight in Tampa.
"And I think that a floor fight in Tampa would be the worst possible thing we can do in terms of winning in November.”
The Florida senator has now apparently changed his tune. He is putting all of his campaign resources to work in his home state, with the assistance of various anti-Trump entities, particularly the Our Principals PAC, which is filling the airwaves in the Sunshine State with negative ads directed at the front-runner.
Ohio Governor Kasich knows that he will not win enough delegates to be elected the Republican presidential nominee and consequently is cheerleading for a contested GOP convention.
“Could you think of anything cooler than a [contested] convention?” Kasich said in a Fox News interview.
In comments during an interview on Fox News, Reince Priebus left the door open for such an occurrence. The Republican national committee chairman told Hannity, “I think the odds of a contested convention are very small,” adding that he has been “saying that for a long time.”
A contested convention occurs when no Republican candidate secures the majority of delegates (1,237 out of a total of 2,472) necessary to win the first ballot at the nominating convention, which will take place July 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.
If the extraordinarily rare nominating approach were to be utilized, it would rob voters of their prerogatives and illegitimately place power into the hands of the same establishment figures who have enraged and betrayed the constituents to whom they are sworn to serve.
The rules that come into play during a contested convention are for the most part murky. Ballots of the convention delegates are repeatedly voted upon until a single candidate receives the requisite 1,237 votes.
State parties also have varying rules about the number of times their delegates must continue to vote for the respective state’s primary winner.
However, after the third ballot, almost all of the delegates are free to vote for any candidate, even for an individual who did not participate in the nomination process whatsoever.
Disturbingly, there are also rules that are imposed on convention participants by national Republican Party officials, the same officials who, if they so choose, are able to alter the convention rules on a whim.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read more reports from James Hirsen — Click Here Now.
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