Now St. Rand is called RINO. Such irony.
Is there any Senator who hasn’t been labeled as such at some point by someone? Even “RINO Demint” has google hits.
Case in point why the DIABLO tag is necessary.
I can't say I agree with the article's premise. I don't think social, political, and fiscal conservatives are competing for what it means to be conservative. In most cases, there's a lot of overlap and the conservative base pushes for all three. We DO have a problem that there are so many phony "fiscal conservatives" in government today that the term has essentially become meaningless, but the tea party and the club for growth have done a good job rooting out the phony "fiscal conservatives". Rand Paul DOES seem to be genuinely fiscally conservative. However, I question his commitment to the other two "legs" of conservativism, and 1 out of 3 isn't my ideal.
I don't buy the divide between "paleocons" and "neocons" either. The term "neo-con" has pretty much been made meaningless as well. But if GWB's vision of spreading "freedom" to the world is a good example of neo-conservative, and Pat Buchanan's isolationist views are a good example of paleoconservative, I refuse to identify as a member of either camp.
If there any type of modern-day division between conservative grassroots, I would place them in these two camps:
Traditional conservative: (as defined by Cincinatus' Wife) [Less government power at] Federal, state AND local levels! - Cut off their endless demands for our money and limit the time they need to show up for "work."
'Democracy is evil' "conservative": Shrink federal government to minimal levels. In fact, pretty much repeal any powers they've gained since 1789. Maybe even remove powers they had in 1789 and go back to the "articles of confederation" arrangement. However, INCREASE the level of current state and local government powers. Take power AWAY from individual citizens if necessary to do this, because states make wiser decisions than the little people and know what's best for us. Increase their power, perks, and the time they need to show up for work.
When it comes to those two competing philosophies, I place myself firmly in the first camp. Unfortunately I see a great many "conservative activists" promoting the beliefs of the latter camp, and it seems to be increasing popular. Maybe I should call it neo-dixiecratism, since their arguments seem to have been tried and failed miserably in the 1850s. ;-)
I agree that probably every GOP Senator has been called a "RINO" at some point or another. DIABLO is a good way to distinguish the truly horrid "Republicans" who vote just like Democrats, unfortunately it doesn't seem to have caught on as well and many people have no idea what it means. We wouldn't have this problem if people would just use the Republican In Name Only epitaph in its proper context, instead of making it all encompassing and including "people who vote the right way 90% of the time but went wobby on one or two important bills" in the RINO category.