Rampaging RINOS

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | 2-10-08 | Jack Kelly

[smoothsailing]

Rampaging RINOS

Conservatives should think twice about bolting the GOP

Sunday, February 10, 2008

By Jack Kelly, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

If you read the threads on conservative Web sites (which these days takes a strong stomach), you'll encounter frequently the acronym "RINO." It stands for "Republican In Name Only," an appellation that self-styled conservative purists apply to any Republican who disagrees with them about anything.

That epithet has been applied most frequently to Arizona Sen. John McCain. But his former chief rival for the GOP nomination, former Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney, also has been derided as a RINO, as have former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Every GOP candidate who rose above the asterisk level in the primaries has been called a RINO.

The epithet is ridiculous, because it assumes that being conservative and being Republican are identical. Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower were good Republicans, but they weren't conservatives. Nor were Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Bob Dole or George H. W. Bush.

A political party is a conspiracy to obtain power, nothing more. In democratic politics there is nothing wrong with that, because the conspiracies are peaceful, open and -- in a two-party system -- moderating. For Republicans to be successful, they must embrace moderates as well as conservatives. This means moderates get to lead from time to time.

But the dyspeptic denizens of the Right believe in addition by subtraction. To make the GOP stronger, moderates must be calumnized and driven from it. Polemicist Ann Coulter is so angry with Mr. McCain's occasional........

[SIDENET]

Oh, dear. Another GOP apologist is calling me names.

LOL. Insulting the base is a wonderful tactic. What geniuses.

[live+let_live]

“but they weren’t conservatives. Nor were Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Bob Dole or George H. W. Bush. “

Does anything else need to be said?

[LibLieSlayer]

Hey jack... No way jose... or should I say juan!?

LLS

[Riodacat]

Don't worry.
We'll all bitch and moan, but in the end, 95% here will vote for McCain in the GE - and you can take that to the bank...

[Politicalmom]

Telling us that we are lying and we WILL vote for McCain is just about as effective. LOL

[SIDENET]

Yeah, I just saw that.

I guess that I'm just one of the 5% that won't vote for McAmnesty for any reason.

And you can take that to the bank. LOL.

[Wolfstar]

Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower were good Republicans, but they were conservatives by contemporary measures.

In the case of Teddy Roosevelt, this most definitely isn't true. Teddy Roosevelt was a progressive Republican. They are the people who gave us, among other things, the income tax and direct election of senators. In addition, by splitting the Republican party and creating the Bull Moose party, they gave us the election of the disasterous Woodrow Wilson.

We are still paying the price for what the Roosevelt/Bull Moose Republicans of that era did to the country.

We will be faced with a horrible choice come November. I loathe McCain with every fiber of my being. When it comes right down to it, I don't know if I can cast a vote for him. Yet the prospect of either a Clinton or Obama presidency is as bad as the prospect of a Wilson presidency nearly 100 years ago. We know how that turned out. The League of Nations morphing into the United Nations. The rise of Marxist/socialist ideology in mainstream politics around the world. The rise of Lenin, Hitler and Stalin. And on the domestic front, Wilson totally abrogated his responsiblities in the face of the 1918 flu pandemic. A full understanding of this vile man's immensely disasterous presidency should give anyone pause before thinking of repeating a Republican Party split similar to 100 years ago.

I choke and gag at the choice we will have in November, and yet I recognize there is much truth in what the author of the subject article writes.

[smoothsailing]

95% may be a little high, but your prediction is highly likely, IMO.

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

I’m no McCain fan but I beg to differ with the premise of your tagline. Consider, please, the pushback Citizens gave President Bush on Amnesty. McCain won’t get less. If anything, he’ll have no ‘honeymoon’ from us at all!

Now from Congress that would be a different matter re: a McCain honeymoon. And it will be the same “REMEMBER THE ALAMO” from the grassroots!

[so_real]

"Which do you think the beltway crowd is apt to do?"

If conservatives are left to pound sand, then we'll truly have a one party system exposed for all to see. That in and of itself will be a catalyst for political change. But I really don't see that happening. Collectively the "conservatives" make one heck of a large lobbying body -- especially as we overlap evangelicals. Some party will woo us, no doubt. It's just a matter of making a stand, enduring a little pain, and putting out concise requirements.

[RetiredArmy]

I’m a conservative and I am not thinking about bolting the party. I HAVE ALREADY DONE IT!!! Long gone a few years back now. No more money. No more support. No more party membership. As long as the republican party continues on this road, I will never support them again. I have no party.

[smoothsailing]

Hey Spirit! How's it going with the GOE-Berkely event? Well, I hope.

[paleorite]

This is utter nonsense. Conservatives are the base of the Republican party. They stay home, and the “war hero” gets the biggest drubbing he’s gotten since he was a guest of “Charlie.” This Kelly doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

[SpaceBar]

I agree. McCain must be supported, as distasteful as that prospect sounds. A Clinton or Obama administration would be the green light for a wholesale run towards Euro-style socialism, liberal Supreme Court picks, and whatever agenda they want to push through. McCain could be controlled on a short leash. Not so with the opposition.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

This is the liberal rag in my neck of the woods.

It is, but Jack Kelly is usually the conservative voice. I'm disappointed in him.

[so_real]

"We'll all bitch and moan, but in the end, 95% here will vote for McCain in the GE"

I'll take that bet :-) I'm in with the bitching and moaning part ... but I honestly believe enough of us have reached the fed up point where we'll accept a democrat as POTUS and focus on opposing that person in Congress before we'll aid a liberal in conservative clothing to acquire the seat. Short term pain, long term gain.

[Cicero]

Whatever happened to multicultural understanding and liberal broadmindedness?

These naughty liberal writers are unfairly treating conservatives as the “other.” That’s just not right. We’re human too!

[Eyes Unclouded]

I hope your right. I fear that the DC party will just marginalize us (not that we need that much help this time around) and then proceed to split us up and keep us in such despair that whatever scraps we scoff at now in 8 years time will look like a feast.

[JoJo Gunn]

Because they have an exaggerated sense of both their numbers and their worth....

So unless you wear the clothespin and polish the turd, you're full of yourself.

Attacking individuality and/or standing for principles isn't just for the Democrap fax readers anymore.

[SpaceBar]

Short term pain...

Are you so sure of that? Clinton or Obama could push through Supreme Court picks during their first years that would haunt us for many decades to come. We know McCain is a lemon. So let's make lemonade.