Writes Steve Reed: “I wasted my time on the roll call, which just ended, so you wouldn’t have to. Write an essay dissecting, say, – Das Gemeintum vor den Eigentum – … oh, sorry, channeling my Middle European history there … ‘Country First.’

“Ron Paul received from Alaska, 5 votes; Oregon, 4; Washington, 4; West Virginia, 2. Total, 15. NONE OF THESE were even announced from the podium by the secretaries.

“Mitt Romney received, from Utah, 2 votes. THESE were announced.

“In the final total, it was announced that Romney had 2 votes and Paul had … 5 votes. That is, preceding the inevitable Stalinist vote to make it falsely ‘unanimous.’

“Nothing that really surprised me, but they couldn’t even bow to the forms.”