Monday, October 28, 2013

I'm a RINO


It's time for me to come clean. I'm a RINO.

That terrible label that's been attached to the squishes that always give in and don't hold true conservative beliefs? R-I-N-O? "Republican In Name Only?"

I think I'm actually the RINO.

I say that because I'm finding more and more that the Republicans aren't the conservatives. Being a conservative and aligning yourself with a Republican doesn't make Republicans conservative. It just means you're aligning with the least liberal, least horrible of the viable options.

I don't really want to take up the label "RINO" because of what it has represented. But, the reality is, the Republican Party isn't a bunch of conservatives. But, a bunch of conservatives vote for the Republicans.

We got two options: take over the Republican Party, or form our own party.

The problem is, we're so independent, it's hard to get together and all work the same. For instance, some conservatives have varying issues on religion. Some are atheist. Some are agnostic. Some are Catholic. Some are Baptist. Some are Jewish. Some are one of any other number of variations on Christianity, Judaism, as well as other faiths (and lack of faiths).

That, in turn, leads to varying beliefs on issues like homosexuality. I believe it's contrary to Scripture, and, therefore, a sin. But, I'm not one to yell in my homosexual friends' and family members' faces, saying they're going to hell. I don't think they are, but I think homosexuality is a sin. However, some disagree strongly with me about it, saying there's nothing wrong with it. Others disagree the other way, saying I should be getting all up in their faces. And, others disagree in varying degrees one way or another.

I'll stop there, but it shows how on those two issues, conservatives can't agree on one common response. If we try to form our own party, effectively splitting from the GOP, we'll splinter even further into varying forms of conservatism. Kinda like what happens when a Baptist church splits. A town starts with one and suddenly, there's Baptist churches everywhere. Not always because they're setting up missions that turn into full-fledged churches, but usually because somebody doesn't like the new carpet (great Aunt Gladys bought the old carpet), or the preacher's tie is too wide, or the organist shops at the wrong store, or something equally silly.

I think there's a party in place that we can take back. Goldwater put the seeds in place in '64. Reagan took control in '80. In the intervening time, we lost it. Whether its because those we put in office start playing the game of staying in power rather than doing the will of the people, or its because they were slimy weasels to begin with, the Republican Party isn't run by conservatives. We get lip service. And not the good kind.

I may actually be one of the ones who are Republican In Name Only. Because I'm actually a conservative.

We need good, young, strong, principled conservatives running for office and leading the party. Instead of a bunch of weasels who are just enjoying the Party at our expense.

15 comments:

  1. That's one of the best things I've ever read

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  2. absolutely correct. i posted something similar elsewhere some time back. as for a new party or taking over the republicans, third party won't work. i looked into running for both House and Senate as a republican. the ballot access and financing laws make it difficult for a new party today. there was a time when third parties arose as a collection of single issue voters. they (ie the ideas) either were absorbed into one of the existing major parties or the movement killed off one of the sclerotic old guys. the changes in the finance laws and ballot access laws, which started about 50 years ago, have made that nearly impossible today. the last party to have any success was the Libertarians and they are considered a joke today. ballot access laws are even different from the majors for the Libertarians.

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  3. That is exactly what I have been thinking. Thank you for putting it into words.

    Conservatives would splinter into multiple parties. The party should start focusing on what the conservatives core beliefs about governemnt are and stop worrying about all the other stuff we throw on top of it. Using the analogy of a church split if a church of 800 splits you dont get two churches of 400, you wind up with two churches of 200 and 400 folks that wont go anywhere because they are tired of all the crap. We cant get Conservatives to vote against a horrible President because they disagree with the canidate on thier pet issue.

    I voted for McCain and Romeny in the past two elections. Not because I thought they could do better, because I knew they could not do worse. The two canidates I voted for matched what I thought a Conservative should be, but they didnt win. I just swallowed my distaste for McCain and Romeny and voted because I knew what the alternative was. A vast majority of Republicans just stayed home to preserve thier dignity and make a statement. Well to qoute the Ferengi, "Dignity and and Empty Sack is worth the Empty Sack"

    Dang it, Basil! Now my blood is all angered up and I am ranting incoherantly. I think I need a nap now.

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  4. The two canidates I voted for matched what I thought a Conservative should be, but they didnt win.

    I meant to say the two canidates I voted for in the primaries matched what I thought a Conservative shoudl be, but they didnt win.

    You got me so riled up I cant even type straight.

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  5. "Kinda like what happens when a Baptist church splits. A town starts with one and suddenly, there’s Baptist churches everywhere."

    A similar thing happens when you plant potatoes or make the mistake of deep tilling Morning Glory tubers.

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  6. it is one of my greatest fears that today's young, strong, principled conservatives are tomorrow's weasels who are just enjoying the Party at our expense.

    power corrupts.

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  7. "All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible." Chapterhouse Dune

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  8. What do you get when you cross an Elephant with a RINO?

    Elephiknow.

    This post was too serious so I give teh funny joke!

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  9. I think know what Basil means here. I'm a Republican In Name Only because the Republican Party currently exists in name only, and I haven't subconsciously given up wishing it did. So, I hang on hoping for someone like Reagan to step-up.

    But I know... wishful thinking.

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  10. The party should start focusing on what the conservatives core beliefs about governemnt are...

    That'll happen right about the time the market for ocean-front property in Wyoming starts to peak.

    C'mon now, expecting that from the gang that brought you Paul Ryan to ride in Romney's sidecar as the token rock-ribber-and we know how he's toed the conservative line, right?

    Even if they talk the talk of ideological icons such as Burke and Buckley, Milton Friedman or Hayek it's still highly likely that it's all just rhetorical chum bait for party proles.

    Sarah Palin had promise until the MSMs scared her into the background, only to be seen on occasion at echo-chamber gatherings.

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  11. I think I know what you're talking about, but I fear it dilutes the original "real" meaning of RINOs -- that they are liberal or Democrat is sheep's clothing or progressive (a la teddy Roosevelt). The RINO you claim (I hope with tongue in cheek) to be I just found in an acronym finder: Republican/Independent Not Overdosed [on liberal Kool-Aid]. Thoughtful, you are . . .

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  12. The Republicans won't FIGHT for anything b/c they do not BELIEVE in anything. They'll trade off whatever to get any bone or scrap from the Leftists and then feel so great b/c their willingness to "compromise" GOT them something. The Republicans are as stupid as the Democrats (read Communists) are evil.

    The GOP needs to go away. And the sooner the better. maybe THEN we can cobble together a collation with enough balls to start fighting back and winning. Until then we are just pissing up a rope.

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  13. It looks like this concept id dawning on a lot of this all at the same time.

    I wrote a post, admittedly less coherent just last week; In Praise of RINOs just last week, at my (also admittedly) far less trafficked blog.

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  14. http://ariksrabidrants.blogspot.com/2013/10/in-praise-of-rinos.html

    Well, that's the address. It's late and I can't get the link to work...

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