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Assessing a Week of Scandal
May 17, 2013 | 132 comments
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After Obamacare
May 16, 2013 | 24 comments
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The New Paternalism
May 3, 2013 | 39 comments
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Please Point the C-Span Camera This Way
April 29, 2013 | 32 comments
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Knuckle Draggers and the Pro-Life Enlightenment
April 26, 2013 | 85 comments
Political Hay
The Banality of the RINOs
What is it that moderate Republicans want?
(Page 2 of 2)
Reading Parker’s piece, you get a whiff of T. Coddington Van Voorhees VII, the satirical East Coast Republican created by blogger Iowahawk who sits around with moderates like Parker and David Brooks, and laments conservative extremists in between badminton games and sips of champagne. Parker’s primary objection seems to be one of culture and temperament rather than substance. Those tri-cornered-hat-wearing Tea Partiers are embarrassing all the normal and well-bred people out there.
This is the dichotomy established by many moderate Republicans: shrill, rigid, movement conservatives on one side and open-minded RINOs on the other.
It’s a straw man argument and a cheap one at that. In reality, the conservative movement consists of traditionalists, libertarians, and hawks; politicians, writers, scholars, and radio hosts; angry and wonky, loud and soft, following in the tradition of Burke and the politics of Reagan, but disagreeing vibrantly on both issues and techniques. S.E. Cupp and Rush Limbaugh are currently feuding. CPAC-goers will come home with lit from the American Enterprise Institute and the Ron Paul campaign. This is no cartoonish monolith.
The RINO movement consists of…well, people who say they’re RINOs. They’re pro-library-voices and anti-tri-cornered hats and pro-middle-class. Beyond that it’s hard to tell. But the left seems to approve.
At any rate, let me offer some overtures to the RINOs. I’ll agree to doff my tri-cornered hat and stop firing musket blanks at my co-workers, several of whom have taken up my epistemic closure with the HR office. But I’m going to keep demanding smaller government and less spending, and I may occasionally even use an exclamation point.
We’re staring down tens of trillions in debt. If the RINOs have a better solution, I’m all ears.
Photo: UPI
Image courtesy Washington Post.
About the Author
Matt Purple is The American Spectator’s assistant managing editor.
Appleby| 2.22.13 @ 6:48AM
When most people talk about RINOS, they mean " East Coast Liberals" -- those residents of Gucci Gulch whose accountants make sure they don't feel the pinch, and who have car elevators in their garages, hangars for their private planes, and whose second (or third) home has a boathouse. In other words, those who consider themselves Our Betters. They are the people who travel in Europe and stay at large American hotels and wince when they see middle class people at the bar; they are the people who always believe that the way forward is compromise, and mean surrender. They don't understand that the premiere example of their ideas is Detroit.
As my late Dad would have said, "I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it."
Jack in Wi| 2.22.13 @ 7:54AM
The Pro-abortion rhinos have run the Republican parties of California, New York, Massacusetts, Vermont, Illinois, etc. The parties in those states are almost out of business. Romney, McCain, the Bushes and Dole all ran as brain dead moderates. They are the reason the party lost and will keep on losing. The only thing thse guys care about is bailing out the banksters and military industrial complex. The tub of lard in New Jersey won as a fiscal conservative who at least played along in a convincing way on the social issues. The Democrats are the party of abortion, war, big wasteful spending, homosexuality, endless support of Israel, sky high taxes, racist affirmative action, and dependency and bankruptcy. You win be opposing all that. The rinos just want to be Democrats lite.
PolishKnight| 2.22.13 @ 9:49AM
Kudos to Jack for being the only person to bring up affirmative action by name. This is the number one issue that gets votes for the Democrats and causes some to become independents waiting on the sidelines to see if Republicans are willing to address the elephant, so to speak, in the room (I want to say 500 lb gorilla, but you know how leftists will find some way to make that racist.)
And that's it: The right is either afraid of being accused of being "racist" for the notion that their primary electorate: whites and men, are not racist by default and in so doing, they concede they ARE racist by default. The left on the other hand has no problems milking racist and sexist entitlements for every cent, and vote, they're worth.
Everything else is truly just gravy. Abortion, gay marriage, and even "limited government" are just a fraction of what drives someone to pull D or R in the polling booth.
Bob K| 2.22.13 @ 9:56AM
Amen to that!
Bob K| 2.22.13 @ 10:12AM
And it is curious how so few people here will bring the issue of Affirmative Action up.
Certainly you won't see it from the writers hired by A.S. to produce these articles for AS Online.
If there is any taboo subject on this site and on the most popular conservative websites (identified as those with their headquarters in the Washington DC/NYC/Boston axis) it is affirmative action.
Randolph T.| 2.22.13 @ 10:36AM
I suppose I am a RINO because I detest the Tea Party faction of our party. I even dislike their looks--the men with bellies hanging over their belts and the fat women with broad asses.
Their runaway train right-wing rhetoric.
They strike me as being low class. Very low class.
Very embarrassing.
Citizen Jerry| 2.22.13 @ 10:53AM
Not very broad minded of you, is it? I'm sure that you're perfect in every way. And just maybe there are others who find YOU embarrassing.
Anthony| 2.22.13 @ 10:59AM
Oh dear, Mr. Randolph T is quite the elitist, and quaintly sterotypical to boot. Do you and Ms. Parker share twitter moments?
Oooh, how boorish your cloistered world is Mr. T.
Yes, I'm afraid you have embarrassed yourself, rather poor form ole boy.
Very low class, very low class indeed.
Perhaps a good ole fashioned ass kicking by some of these broad assed women is just what you need to loosen up your tight little elitist ass.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 11:44AM
He's here with Anna K.
Nuff said.
acix| 2.22.13 @ 11:00AM
I suppose I am a conservative because I detest the RINO faction of our party. I even dislike their looks-the wimpy so called men with cheap suits hanging over their bony frames and the ugly pasty faced women with the bee hive hairdos at their country club gatherings whose husbands cheat on them because they're so plain looking and ugly.
Their runaway train left wing (because that's what you are) rhetoric.
They strike me as being wannabe high class because they so want to fit in with the crowd that won't accept them because they're actually low class. Very desperate.
Very embarrassing.
Randolph T.| 2.22.13 @ 11:10AM
Let's just say that the educated, dignified Republicans of yesteryear are the ones with whom I identify most strongly. Country club Republicans if you will.
The Tea Party element in our beloved party has tarnished our reputations. You may deny the obvious, but Tea Party people are less educated, less restrained in their rhetoric, and more inclined to project a loud, undisciplined, vulgar image.
They are the cause of our losing the presidential election. They and they alone.
Dai Alanye | 2.22.13 @ 11:33AM
Has Randolph offered advice to Chris Christie, I wonder? Has he pointed out how he dislikes the way Christie's belly hangs over his belt, or the loud boorish manner of Christie's dealings with press, politicos and public? For that matter, has he mentioned Christie's broad if non-feminine beam?
For if Randolph has not criticized Christie the RINO hero, does that not make his comments both exaggerated and entirely hypocritical?
Al Adab| 2.22.13 @ 12:00PM
Randolf demonstrates exactly why it is the GOP continues to lose elections. They make no secret of their disdain for the hoi paloi even while the Dems pander to them although sharing the same view of the masses. You can fool enough of the people enough of the time aided and abetted of course by the unions and welfare rights groups.
Randolf, what are your views on social-welfare, abortion, gay marriage, national defense and regulatory agencies?
Jack in Wi| 2.22.13 @ 11:47AM
Yesturday I utubed and listened to speechs of some former presidents who's voice was recorded for posterity. Among them was Ben. Harrison Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. I also listened to a speech from Robert M. Lafollette's campaign for President in 1924. Except for Cleveland, Harding and Coolidge I would think most of them were big government liberals who were out to soak the rich. Harrison's words were hard to understand so I leave him out. Even then they wanted to make Federal Government a nanny state. Well now it is so far gone, I don't see any turning back. They fianlly have killed the golden goose. As for affirmative action, it is a huge electoral winner. It's repeal has won in states as diverse as California and Michigan. How can it be defended anymore with 2 Obama Presidencies and all the other rich and sucessful minorities around? You have to attack the Democrats for what they are, enemies of Life, liberty, equality before the law, and the Constitution.
Occam's Tool| 2.23.13 @ 7:03PM
"Whose" voice, not "who is." Please note my comments below on your intellect, FPJ.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 11:47AM
Anna sits on Banana.
Anthony| 2.22.13 @ 11:47AM
Good one acix!!!
Oh, and Randolph, I don't supposed you and the beautiful people at your tony country club have considered over drinks that perhaps it's the American left that is less educated, less restrained in their rhetoric, and more inclined to project a loud, undisciplined vulgar image, have you?
In addition to MSLSD, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Al Gore, the Congressional Black Caucus, Occupy Wall Street, ad infinitum, ad naseum, say again, what precisely about the Tea Party do you find abhorent?
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 4:01PM
Even the name, Randolph T., has RINO written all over it.
What's his complete name? Randolph Mortimer Tallywacker?
gazinya | 2.23.13 @ 8:11AM
I don't accept the 'I'm a RINO' from you. Your first reaction was to argue that 'tea party people' LOOK like....blah, blah. That is a Democrat stunt. You Dems are brain dead when it comes to making a legitimate defense of your politics. You don't know a good reason to be a Democrat except that it points to your lack of character. So when confronted with the truth about your actions you go to 'fat bellies and broad asses'. That is your first reaction and your best shot at showing your 'high intellect'.
spike59| 2.25.13 @ 4:14PM
"Let's just say that the educated, dignified Republicans of yesteryear are the ones with whom I identify most strongly. Country club Republicans if you will."
=============================
nowadays we just call them Rich Democrats
StanAmSpec| 2.28.13 @ 3:04PM
Well I will stand with our Founding Fathers who were seen by the Tories in a similar light. And Ronald Reagan who was despised and feared by all the Eisenhower/Nixon/Bush Republicans.
In this political environment, with a Party with no public voice except AM radio and Fox News, style points get you NOTHING.
Quartermaster| 2.28.13 @ 10:39PM
Translation: I like hanging with power hungry people with no principles.
All you need to know about the Country club gang Randolph likes to hang with. With the exception of Bush I & II, and Eisenhower, that's the bunch that has lost the country since Coolidge.
You need to quit looking in the mirror when you are attempting to describe someone else.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 11:46AM
Anna K
CJW| 2.22.13 @ 12:15PM
Randolph T-- purp/troll alert
loulou| 2.22.13 @ 12:24PM
Randolph T. is a good example of a RINO. Thank you for providing exhibit A.
anna k from emory u| 2.22.13 @ 1:06PM
Please don't associate these kind of remarks with me. I denounce Randolph T. and all of the HATE he stands for.
1) Randolph is no Republican, period. He is a left wing jackass from academia masquerading as someone else to stir up ill will. I HATE that.
2)Randolph is focused on appearance. While we all KNOW that this is a shallow method to gauge worth, I think anyone who thinks Joy Behar is better looking than Laura Ingraham is displaying the indications of mental illness, and as such, should have their Second Amendment rights to firearms stripped away.
3) Randolph is focused on class and warfare between them. That makes him a Democrat.
Al Adab| 2.22.13 @ 1:51PM
? !
Anthony| 2.22.13 @ 2:31PM
Dearest Anna, Ain't love unrequited a bitch?
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 3:04PM
I notice that she doesn't have an issue with "Anna sits on a Banana".
Interesting.
Anthony| 2.22.13 @ 3:41PM
Well TLP that's because Anna has been given the very best in masculine prowess. She's quite spoiled.
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 4:05PM
I smell the makings of a poem, or perhaps a limerick.
Anthony| 2.22.13 @ 6:18PM
O.K. Bob, you asked for it, before I head home.
There once was girl named Anna
whose thing was for large bananna
When asked"what is this?"
Why darling, your daily bliss
Ummm said she, delish.
I hope I'm still around on Monday. The donation check is in the mail Emmett.
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 6:56PM
Anthony,
love it. I ask for a poem, I get poetry!
Only on AmSpec!
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 7:54PM
Contest, next Friday.
Be there!
You'll fit right in, and we keep it open ALL WEEKEND.
And, we give out Prizes.
Tina B| 2.22.13 @ 4:48PM
Duuuuuude.
Guimo| 2.25.13 @ 3:41PM
Randolph T is obviously being sarcastic.
Anti-Statist| 2.28.13 @ 3:10PM
How classy of you.
Why don't you post a photo of yourself and let us have a go at your physical characteristics? After all, you did raise the subject.
And RINOs are never hypocritical, being perfect and all that.
You man enough for an evaluation?
Occam's Tool| 2.23.13 @ 7:02PM
Bob: see my comment below.
Randolph T.: the correct response to you can be found in "The Third Man," in Harry Lime's monologue. For "Country Club Republicans" read "Switzerland." For "Tea-Partiers," read "Borgias."
Y'all remind me of Ben Stein advocating for higher taxes. Stein is a poltroon.
Von Mises Jr| 2.22.13 @ 11:09AM
We have an affirmative action Dear Leader that doesn't know anything except class warfare and social justice. He knows nothing about the monetary system, finance, energy, technology or economics except how to use Marxist propaganda to destroy them to raise totalitarian statist in their place.
Hillary mucked up the Reset with Russia, got stomped on by China while setting the Middle East and North Africa on fire all while damaging relations with our free market allies.
Barney Frank wrote the banking regulation along with the crook Chris Dodd and neither knows much more than making sandwiches out of other people, the former shielded from criticism since he is transgendered or whatever.
Political Correctness is technically known as "Cultural Marxism." I join Rush in being appalled and ashamed of the Americans like them or who support them.
Kathleen Porker can KMA.
Randolph T.| 2.22.13 @ 11:26AM
And one last remark:
I rarely read American Spectator because of the number of Tea Party subscribers. When the Tea Partiers respond to a particular piece that excites their narrow imaginations and limited intelligence, they employ profane language and the ugliest imagery imaginable.
There is a whiff of the obscene about them that I cannot stomach.
acix| 2.22.13 @ 11:43AM
Let's just say the self-appointed, self delusional, self-important overly self confident Republicans of yesteryear are the ones who take us down the road of defeat over and over again (Dewey, Ford, Dole, Bush I, McCain, Romney, etc, etc).
They carry this element that no one can win without them but if that's true then this style of so-called conservatism would win every election in the northeast but instead this RINO form of GOP shrinks in terms of elected representatives every year in the NE.
Evidence please evidence. If I deny the obvious then please do cite examples of what's so obvious. You country clubbers always whine about conservatives but then never, never cite where actual examples of how they are radical.
Just what this article says you what are you all for except to criticize conservatives. You never seem to have a problem with overspending or abortion so what do you stand for? If you say you don't agree with the GOP on these things then your not a Republican so quit saying you are one and just be a Democrat and quit pretending to be a "reasonable, thoughtful" republican.
PS Romney won the RINO's precious independents but yet still lost the election.
http://www.businessinsider.com.....on-2012-11
Reagan, Bush I & II won by appealing to the conservative base (governing as such is another story for the Bushes).
RINO's are the cause of our losing the presidential election. They and they alone.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 11:47AM
Anna sucks the Banana.
bustunloose| 2.23.13 @ 10:23AM
Sorry pal, but you guys insisting on not having an open minded party loses the elections. Do not limp budget sanity with abortion. Those Rinos you deplore were not monet burners. They may have voted for some things you hate-like the presc drug benefit. You miss the glory days when granny and gramps had to stretch out their pills by cutting them in half-but at the end of the day these folks combined with conservatives to provide some reasonable level of tax and spend discipline. Had the McCain you hate won in 2008 this worst crisis since the depression(horseshit) would be be history. They got bailed out now let us move forward, and we'd be better off today. Can you really see McCain or Romney giving people tax breaks to buy 100k plus electric cars ?And, the abortion issue. You won save one thing-it is legal for those who want it. And, in the end they live with it hoping it is performed well early on in the term. You all want a total ban. Akin gave us the honest look into your hearts and mind. OK but you can't force an entire party to cater to you. That is not the purpose of a political party. Their job is to win. To stop the democrats who simply must be stopped. You ruined VA. for us. Ruined the career of Gov McDonnell. He should be making a strong run at Warner but he won't. Mandatory sonagrams and the probes-you idiots.
Bob K| 2.22.13 @ 11:45AM
O c,mon! Be truthful now.
You carry American Spectator with you to the bathhouse to educate your buddies! Don't you?
Anthony| 2.22.13 @ 11:53AM
Adieu Randolph, don't let the door to the bath house hit you on your precious, tight little well lubed arse.
Petronius| 2.22.13 @ 12:18PM
Pat Buchanan pegged you lot when he ran for President. "They're Snobs!"
Defining RINO's in "vulgar" terms isn't just pro forma. You people are detrimental to the quality of Our lives and an aid and comfort to Our enemies; Liberals. So go and join Them: Rectumite!
loulou| 2.22.13 @ 12:25PM
On second thought--I think this is a parody.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.22.13 @ 1:36PM
That's like the question of whether Certs was a candy mint or a breath mint; it was both.
Randolph is a leftist parody of what he thinks a RINO is, revealing what is truly in the heart of the one posting (and I think Tim is correct, Randolph is the real Anna K. from Emory U.).
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 3:06PM
The real question is whether RAZZLES is a Gum, or a Candy.
I'm just sayin.
Von Mises Jr| 2.22.13 @ 3:18PM
Lesson of the story: get under their skin and piss the trolls off, but don't take the bait and argue with them.
Rush caused an uproar over the last 24 hours saying the same thing about Sequestration. Don't accept the leftist premise.
Just treat them as they deserve as they are mostly ignorant and too often rude.
Guimo| 2.25.13 @ 3:44PM
Randy T, you're beautiful. I know you're a satirist of the highest order. Bravo!
Rhoetus| 2.23.13 @ 2:37PM
Jack in Wi: you made a cognizant argument- Well Done! I rather live in Israel than any Islamic State.
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/p.....goldstein/
Jack in Wi| 2.23.13 @ 10:48PM
By all means stay in Israel and keep Occam and Dreck with you. As for Israel vs. Islam, phooey on both.
Rhoetus| 2.24.13 @ 11:03AM
Frankly Jack, war over Palestine proves again that man in large groups is just a mob that reverts to barbarism.
bustunloose| 2.22.13 @ 11:25AM
If, only the northeast. Try VA. and Ohio and Fla. and Colorado and well alot of other states GOP needs to get 270. You'll get Obama now 4 yrs and then Hillary or Cuomo 8 more. Wait till you get 9 Ginsbergs on the court. Truth is you have given up. Quitters.
Seek| 2.22.13 @ 4:36PM
There are plenty of non-wealthy Republican conservatives who notwithstanding the "RINO" label, reject the overtures of religious extremism. Moderation isn't about having money and neming your daughters "Buffy"; it's a sensibility that says "Look before you leap." Moderation sees it as an achievement to be more cultured with each passing month, not to win some "Culture War." The GOP needs less people like the late Paul Weyrich and more people asking "Why?"
Aristocat| 2.22.13 @ 6:51AM
RINO = Republican In Name Only = Democrat.
Isn't it amazing that there are no DINO's (Democrats in Name Only)...Democrats would not tolerate them.
I think a RINO is a pro-abortion, pro-amnesty person who infiltrates the Republican Party as a spy or turncoat. (Johnny McAmnesty call home.)
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 8:36AM
I like Kathleen Parker. Don't you? I like all of her High and Mightyness. Although, it a seems a little much, seeing as how her most recent Box Scores show that she Voted for Obama (probably twice) Signed on with CNN as the "Someone with T*ts" for Elliot Spitzer to look at while he did his show. Why do you think she never talked?
We KNOW she Voted for him in 2008 because she told everyone she did and how much More Enlightened and Wiser she was than us for doing so. One can only imagine that, after all those nights at CNN with Client #9's hands up her Skirt? She was way more Enlightened than ever, in 2012. (That's what Wet Panties'll do for ya) Now she's back to just being WAPO's resident House Negro, of sorts. She does what she's told to do, for Money. What's that word I'm searching for?
I wonder if she likes the Crease in the Halfrican's Trousers like the New York Time's version of Kathleen Parker does?
I wonder if Andrew Sullivan likes something else in Gay Bathhouse Boy's Trousers? And did you know that Mr. Sullivan was once considered to be a Conservative and that he's been the Grand Marshal and the Queen of the Balls in the Pronvincetown Parade, for 10 Years Running? It's true. GOOGLE IT!
And while you're there? GOOGLE: "Barack Obama Gay Bathhouse Story". And then go back and re-read the stories of Bathhouse Boy taking his "Boys Night Out Weekend" sans the Wookie, and coming back with his Reggie L❤ve, holding tightly to the handkerchief in Reggie's back pocket.
obadiah| 2.23.13 @ 6:10PM
du bist als Julius Streicher, mein bruder-freund!
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.23.13 @ 8:44PM
Ich denke vielleicht du hast Ernst Roehm gern.
fmm| 2.22.13 @ 9:46AM
To carry this a bit further, it is possible that the GOP is a much more diverse party than the Dems. The GOP encompasses a wide range of principles (or lack of them according to your definition) while the Dems are almost all hard left. Take a look at the ACU (American Conservative Union) ratings for some clarafication. This wider diversity of the GOP could actually be a plus if they would learn how to market it; unfortunatley the GOP is unuaIly bad at marketing. In my opinion those who use RINO actually mean CINO (conservative ......).
Otis, my man!| 2.22.13 @ 9:56AM
fmm,
Absolutely!
In fact, what is the Democrat equivalent of a RINO? Is it a DINO? Can you name one?
loulou| 2.22.13 @ 12:27PM
There are no DINOs. They are not tolerated. Didn't you read Aristocat's post?
BackToBasics| 2.22.13 @ 10:34AM
Aristicat,
fromyour post - "I think a RINO is a pro-abortion, pro-amnesty person who infiltrates the Republican Party as a spy or turncoat."
Even though it's true, if RINOs have a major branch such as the presidency or the House, the Media attacks them as if they were far right-radicals. This shows just how truly radical the left's agenda is. ANYTHING is possible from them in the future.
It also speaks poorly of the RINOs in that they are willing to hold to their RINO positions like sacraficial lambs and still wish to be loved and accepted by these leftists unless it is all a part of the game they play. Whether complicit or not, in either case for their part it still speaks poorly of them as individuals to grovel before the left like they do.
BackToBasics| 2.22.13 @ 10:34AM
typo - Aristocat
bustunloose| 2.22.13 @ 11:31AM
They have pretend Dino's. That is how Heidi H happened. They let her pretend to be conservative-didn't go ape shit about it-like you jokers do if a Scott Brown plays it pragmatic. Losers, all of you. I liked the days when we had majorities and a president it was better than this. Alot of people you called Rino made those majotities-and it was better. If, you say it wasn't then you are nuts or liars.
Solo| 2.22.13 @ 7:42AM
The core problem for the republican party is that the RINOs don't want to change government--they just want to be in charge of it.
This is the real reason Romney lost to the Kenyan Commie. Conservatives knew that, despite his rhetoric, he was going to do little more than manage our decline more efficiently when what is needed is a 180 degree change in direction.
bustunloose| 2.23.13 @ 10:39AM
A sane manager is better than an insane manager.
Martin kzovich| 2.22.13 @ 7:47AM
I regard Bush I and II, McCain and Romney all candidates of the RINOS. In my view and in varying degrees failures. The last tow lost elections that is failure. Bush II failed due to a combination of factors such as ideological and political inconsistency and failing to stand up for his own policies. And the apple did not fall far from the tree.
Chris Christie fits that mold as well--I would not support his nomination for president.
RINOS as too willing to make deals with their political foes even at OUR expense. It is not worth voting for RINOS or having one as a candidate because they do not care if they lose--I do care.
SUBVET| 2.22.13 @ 9:58AM
Martin........you forgot Carl Rove..."king RINO".
Dai Alanye | 2.22.13 @ 11:42AM
Tom Dewey = RINO loser
Dwight Eisenhower = RINO winner (with help of WW II)
Richard Nixon = RINO loser (first time)
Gerald Ford = RINO loser
GHW Bush = RINO loser (except for Reagan's coattails first time)
Bob Dole = RINO loser
John McCain = RINO loser
Dubya Bush = RINO winner! (but barely)
Mitt Romney = RINO loser
The post-FDR record speaks for itself, does it not?
Seek| 2.22.13 @ 4:41PM
Many among the religiously fervid have run for president. The problem is that they didn't even come close to getting the nomination, assuming they even ran. Startin in 1988, we have seen Pat Robertson, Gary Bauer, Alan Keyes, Rick Santorum, Sam Brownback, Sarah Palin, Rick Perry all run for president -- every one was a loser.
The post-Reagan record speaks for itself, does it not?
BackToBasics| 2.22.13 @ 11:55PM
Bush II also ran as an evangelical to garner the evengelical vote. Once elected he forgot almost entirely, their support. The RINOs loved him.
Rhoetus| 2.23.13 @ 3:42PM
It's Alan Keyes' fault that Obama is President.
Joellen| 2.22.13 @ 7:58AM
Just in case anyone forgot, this is the Kathleen Parker who teamed up on Communist News Network with Stein's "good pal" Eliot Steamroller Spitzer", got chewed up, ignored and treated like Dem's always treat their woman, kicked to curb, and well the rest is history.
I am just saying.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.22.13 @ 8:14AM
As I was reading the article, I was thinking the same thing. While the behavior of more conservative elements of the party is bizarre and/ or extreme, apparently wearing socks while engaging in intercourse with a prostitute formerly featured in a "Girls Gone Wild" video (while having prosecuted prostitution operations while attorney general, currently serving as Governor of one of the largest states and married to the mother of your children and ) is acceptable.
Al Adab| 2.22.13 @ 8:33AM
For fear of offending, they fail to maintain any position except tepid ones. The voters will spew them from their mouths. Those who stand for nothing will stand for anything and that is the road to defeat.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 8:40AM
Actually, I believe the saying is: Someone who stands for nothing, will fall for anything.
Not a dig.
A helping hand.
And, you spelled "flail" wrong.
SUBVET| 2.22.13 @ 10:02AM
AND...........you spelled "TLP" wrong.
No contest ?
Al Adab| 2.22.13 @ 10:55AM
They may flail about helplessly but they fail to maintain any solid positions. Was not trying to quote something but was making an observation ofmy own.
Still, I appreciate all the help I can get.
Once a young commissar Tasha
Defected and abandoned her dacha.
The reason for it
They discuss not a bit
For she now runs a bank in Osaka.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 3:07PM
You spelled "Omaha" wrong.
Rhoetus| 2.23.13 @ 3:43PM
It's ObaMao
C. Vernon Crisler | 2.22.13 @ 9:35AM
Yes, that had to be something close to the ultimate betrayal of good taste -- giving aid and comfort to client #9. Perhaps next time, Parker will raise her standards a little and do a talk show with Anthony Weiner. Maybe they can exchange pictures and compare notes.
Citizen Jerry| 2.22.13 @ 10:56AM
When that show was on the air, a lot of us referred to it as Spitzer and Ditzer.
Anthony| 2.22.13 @ 11:18AM
How true Joellen, and after all the abuse, client #9 didn't even leave a tip for dear Kathleen. His dirty socks notwithstanding.
Poor Kathleen, screwed, tatooed and booed.
Perhaps dear Kathleen suffers from battered RINO syndome.
R Martin| 2.22.13 @ 8:18AM
I think it’s fairly simple, Mr. Purple, RINO’s are pro government, pro big government. Those RINOs who hold elected office just love being in the game. They love the seat of power even if they seldom hold the reins, and they love being considered elite. It’s a good living with long term prospects, but to enjoy it they must think and act short term. Their focus is personal, not public.
RINOs not in elected office are lazy thinkers with muddled minds. They think understanding and applying Austrian economics is too hard, and they’ve sat idly and quietly while leftist manipulators (did Obama manipulate Christi?) press for tolerance and acceptance of ever weirder behavior in the name of political correctness. How did our schools and universities become such fetid breeding grounds for leftist philosophy? RINOs washed their hands of the matter while busily electing the likes of Mitch McConnell.
That tri-cornered hat of yours is likely to remain firmly in place, because no RINO is going to offer any meaningful solution the problem you cite.
SUBVET| 2.22.13 @ 10:05AM
Martin to your question "did barry manipulate christi ?" maybe you should check christi's pants.
SUBVET| 2.22.13 @ 10:07AM
My guess is christi wouldn't know he can't see it because of the tool shed's in the way.
SUBVET| 2.22.13 @ 10:13AM
Mr. Frank D. .....maybe you can answer this question because we all know about your "doc-tor-ett how does a guy like christi take care of business his arms are to short.
I am trying not to picture it but enlighten us "doc D".....ya up yet or still playing with your gun.
Occam's Tool| 2.23.13 @ 6:56PM
SUBVET: Leave it to a Psychiatrist to answer your question. One word, sire:
Frotteurism.
Thank you, I'll be here all week. Tip your waitress.
Blackfox| 2.22.13 @ 4:06PM
Chris Christie recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they? His feet.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 5:30PM
His Penis.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.22.13 @ 8:24AM
I believe the formula for victory involves gathering more people to vote for your ideas (or candidates) than your opponents do. Sometimes, in order to succeed, everyone won’t get all of what they want. A successful leader in this regard is one who recognizes the difference between policy and principle, and while the former can be crafted in compromise, the latter is not subject to this without compromising the principled (at the risk of losing their support).
That being said, it is important to watch what people do, and not just what they say. Those who speak of the need for party unity following the primary when they expect to be victorious, and actually follow through when they unexpectedly lose are demonstrating a principle, and may be worthy of trust. Those who fail to do so are not.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 9:16AM
I believe that there is only One Formula for Victory. And, it ain't pretty, like I am. And it can all be boiled down to One Word - Staten Island. (Okay. That was 2 words) And three words - Eating out of the Dumpster. (That was 5 Words) My IPad seems to have acquired the dreaded "Joe Biden Math" Virus.
You can tell the people we have here these days, whatever you want. As long as it's not something they don't wanna hear. As long as it's not the Truth.
After almost 60 Years of Public School Mind Erasing and Brain Washing, combined with a a steady stream of Far Left Propaganda from the Print, and Electronic Media? The Truth has to be A Lie.
"If it's not in the New York Times? Then how can it be True?
"If Ed Schultz didn't say it after his "Conservative Sluts are Whores" Segment? Why would I care?"
"If my African Hair Braiding Professor at NYU hasn't mentioned it in his 3 Hour Lecture on The Prophet Elijah Mohammed and his Mother Wheel? Then it musta come from Faux News. Now, move. I can't see Al Jazeera on the T.V."
Only when the Shitt hits these people's Free Obamafans, will they sit up and take notice.
Only when they're lining up at their own Staten Islandesque Dumpster Dive Buffet, will Reality make an Appearence in their lives.
Maybe.
Just, don't hold your breath.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.22.13 @ 9:41AM
I posted a variation from your theme on the Cuccinelli thread earlier.
Unfortunately, even after the dumpster diving begins, there will be those who hope they can vote themselves what is at the top of the dumpster, while leaving the scraps at the bottom for the rest of us.
Meanwhile, unless we persuade a sufficient number of others to join with us to help change course, the next referendum will be do we just kill those fighting for dumpster scraps, or do we eat them, too.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 9:58AM
Or, try and Vote themselves a Dumpster from the Hamptons.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 10:01AM
If it comes down to that?
I Volunteer to eat all the pretty girls.
The rest of ya can have the Horse Meat.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.22.13 @ 1:55PM
I had a feeling you'd carve yourself off the tastiest morsels.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 3:11PM
You're scaring me.
You know me too well.
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 7:04PM
If one of you starts talking about fava beans, I'm outta here.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.23.13 @ 8:48PM
...don't forget the fine Chianti effvvvvvfffefffvveffvvefffvv...
Maxwell| 2.22.13 @ 8:27AM
As soon as I saw the picture of Chris Christie I wanted to vomit! I am so sick of his face I want to pull my gray hair out! Now pending are twenty plus new improve gun laws working their way thru our state legislature. This jerk will probably sign them all in the name of 'common sense gun laws' since he is a moderate Republican. Jersey too is up to their ears in debt & it is STILL not fixed. Is there someone, ANYONE with a set of stones out there? Good thing I'm not in charge.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 9:31AM
If you're gonna Vomit. Try and do it right next to Christie.
You never know. He might eat it.
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 10:09AM
Just like my black Lab.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 11:54AM
Do you know how Racist you sound right now, Bob Grant?
If the Banner was at his desk, today? You'd already be toast. (He's not. I already called him on Anna Suckjob and her buddies. Seeing as how they tried to have me taken down, again)
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 1:49PM
Er, my Ebony Canine Friend? Does that get me out of hot water?
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 3:12PM
Pretty much.
chuck| 2.24.13 @ 9:11AM
I find "ebony" offensive. Try African-American canine companion of color.
Bob Grant| 2.24.13 @ 12:45PM
What, that sounds more racist than my original comment.
You can expect a "vacation" in your future, compliments of Eric Holder, for a little reeducation. Say hi to Michael Richards for me.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 8:31AM
I like Kathleen Parker. Don't you? I like all of her High and Mightyness. Although, it a seems a little much, seeing as how her most recent Box Scores show that she Voted for Obama (probably twice) Signed on with CNN as the "Someone with T*ts" for Elliot Spitzer to look at while he did his show. Why do you think she never talked?
We KNOW she Voted for him in 2008 because she told everyone she did and how much More Enlightened and Wiser she was than us for doing so. One can only imagine that, after all those nights at CNN with Client #9's hands up her Skirt? She was way more Enlightened than ever, in 2012. (That's what Wet Panties'll do for ya) Now she's back to just being WAPO's resident House Negro, of sorts. She does what she's told to do, for Money. What's that word I'm searching for?
I wonder if she likes the Crease in the Halfrican's Trousers like the New York Time's version of Kathleen Parker does?
I wonder if Andrew Sullivan likes something else in Gay Bathhouse Boy's Trousers? And did you know that Mr. Sullivan was once considered to be a Conservative and that he's been the Grand Marshal and the Queen of the Balls in the Pronvincetown Parade, for 10 Years Running? It's true. GOOGLE IT!
And while you're there? GOOGLE: "Barack Obama Gay Bathhouse Story". And then go back and re-read the stories of Bathhouse Boy taking his "Boys Night Out Weekend" sans the Wookie, and coming back with his Reggie L❤ve, holding tightly to the handkerchief in Reggie's back pocket.
anna k from emory u| 2.22.13 @ 8:43AM
After reading this latest comment, what can I say except I❤ TLP.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 9:26AM
And, what can I say, except: Try and make sure that the Rope around you neck, that you've formed in to a Noose, has been tied with a Slip Knot, the next time your walking atop a Bridge.
And, did you ever remedy the Situation of your Vibrator Batteries running out, all the time?
Have you considered a Wiffle Ball Bat?
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 10:13AM
I'm sure she can take a course at Emory U that will address all of those issues.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 11:57AM
It's called "Sit On It Studies".
Formerly: "Sit On It Potsy Studies",
loulou| 2.22.13 @ 12:32PM
How do you make that heart icon?
anna k from emory u| 2.22.13 @ 1:17PM
I can not give away all of my secrets, loulou,❤, but I'll open my ❤ here for you if you'd like it.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 3:14PM
Yeah. Open it.
I'll even loan you my knife.
JayDick| 2.22.13 @ 8:43AM
I believe true conservatives, and I consider myself to be one, often use the RINO label indiscriminately. There are real RINOs, no doubt, and Christie seems to be one. But the label is often applied to people whose ideology and policies are conservative but who favor tactics that involve choosing political battles more carefully and who favor steps to winning a Republican majority, even if that requires supporting a few RINOs.
Karl Rove comes to mind here. I have never heard him favor liberal positions as a matter of policy. Sometimes he favors avoiding a battle against liberal policy he thinks can't be won, but that's a tactical position, not a policy position.
It is true George Bush pushed some liberal policies (No Child Left Behind, Medicare prescription drugs); I have said for some time that he was not a true conservative. Did Rove favor those policies? I have never heard him say so, and if he opposed them, he was constrained from saying so.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 9:56AM
Are you sure you're not - Andy Dick?
You've never heard Karl Rove support a Liberal Position? Have you ever heard Karl Rove go after an Liberal Positions? Or, is that all part of his "Avoiding a Battle against a Liberal Position that can't be won".
That's the same as Endorsing it.
A lie of Ommission, is still a Lie. "If you're Not Against it, you're for it."
Were the German people just as Culpable in the Holocaust, as the SS were, bevause they Looked the Other Way?
Were they just as Responsible for the 100 Million Dead in WWII, as the German High Command, because they failed to Stand Up, and Demand Surrender?
Are the people in "The Black Communities who will not help the Police" just as responsible as the Gang Banger, who's stray bullet explodes the head of a 2 year old in its Bany Carriage, because they refused to pick a fight they couldn't win?
Not Fighting, is It a Plan.
Rolling Over is not a Plan. (Okay. Maybe for Purp, it might be a Plan)
Being Paralyzed by the Fear that "If I do ANYTHING, I might be called a Name" is a Chickenshitt Cop Out, and us Real Conservatives (Who Hate Karl Roves Face, as well his Guts) are sick of it, and we're not gonna take it, anymore.
Merry Christmas.
Holy Sh*t.
(National Lampoon's Christmas Story)
JayDick| 2.22.13 @ 12:51PM
You're obviously one of the conservatives I was talking about. "If you're not against it, you're for it." That says a lot.
So, if you're against something, let's say the fiscal cliff deal for example, but don't actively fight against it, does that mean you're really for it? Or, is it an indication that you know the battle is lost and it's better to live to fight another, more winnable, battle. Does that mean that every Republican that voted for the fiscal cliff deal is a RINO? Or, how about the ones that voted against it but didn't otherwise actively fight it?
We must learn to distinguish between policy and tactics. Sometimes good tactics require that we not outwardly oppose something we inwardly oppose. It is through intelligent use of good tactics that we will win elections.
BTW, I think the basic Republican policy on the sequestration issue is correct, but their tactics have been mediocre.
lsudolemite| 2.22.13 @ 1:41PM
Then by all means, regale me of the stories of stunning Republican successes that have been accomplished by this method, that haven't been almost instantly rolled back by either Democrats or even more conciliatory Republicans. Convince me that conservatives have done nothing but yield more and more ideological ground over the years, while liberals constantly advance their agenda. You can start by explaining the tactical genius of Krauthammer and Rove pitching hissy fits when primary voters rejected entrenched GOP candidates, and essentially conducting free opposition research for the Democrats on air. You know, the same people who constantly lecture us about the need for party solidarity, then proceed to sabotage it with media smears and "independent" candidacies.
Stephie| 2.22.13 @ 8:54AM
Why doesn't she just join the democrats?
Anthony| 2.22.13 @ 3:53PM
Cuz Step, there are a ton of lefties out there vieing for airtime. Now, RINOs who turn on their party are a special breed that the MSM whores just love. They get special air time treatment, like Scarblower and Gen. Large Colin Powell.
That's why.
loulou| 2.22.13 @ 4:10PM
Antny--you nailed it.
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 9:15AM
Let's put the acronym RINO to rest. Ok?
What does it mean anyway? It's too broad a term.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.22.13 @ 9:34AM
While a preferred substitute might be Moderate, would Unprincipled work (or given that the label would apply to politicians, is that setting up an oxymoron, or a redundancy)?
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 10:04AM
Perhaps we should categorize "RINOS" into three categories:
Drivers - e.g. Colin Powell, David Brooks, David Frum, Kathleen Parker, Joe Scarborough, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffet, etc.
Enablers - Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, John McCain, The Two Gals From Maine, etc.
Scumbags - Charlie Crist, Arlen Specter.
They are all under the "RINO" umbrella but their differences justify the sub categorization. The Drivers are activists; they see conservatism as a problem and seek ways to change it and redefine it, from inside!!! The Enablers have conservative tendencies but political realities dictate they comply with the popular political stance du jour. They go along to get along; they want to be seen as deal makers; they reach across the aisle more often than they need to. The Scumbags are self explanatory.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 10:08AM
You left out: "Clocksluckers".
loulou| 2.22.13 @ 12:34PM
I still want to know why Scarborough decided not to run for reelection. Why give up a safe seat?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.22.13 @ 1:58PM
You are evolving into a real pundit, Mr. Grant (do I sound like Mary Tyler Moore when I say it like that?).
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 2:47PM
The pitch was more Rhoda Morgenstern.
CJW| 2.22.13 @ 3:19PM
Bob
Speaking of Grant, I saw you mentioned Pope of Greenwich Village, one of my favorites. The mob guy was named Eddie the Bedbug Grant, any relation?
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 4:22PM
CJW,
Distant cousins.
Aaaah, Bert Young, one of the all time greats. He had a role in the move Chinatown, home to (IMHO) the best line in movie history: "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown".
At times I've been tempted to say" Forget it folks, it's Obamatown".
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.24.13 @ 9:51AM
The nickname "the Bedbug" may have been necessary to distinguish that Eddie Grant from the Eddie Grant who recorded "Electric Avenue" and "Caribbean Queen".
Bob Grant| 2.24.13 @ 12:34PM
Eddie Grant, the singer?
I believe that's Whoopie Goldberg in drag. Or, is Whoopie Goldberg Eddie Grant in drag?
It's one of those nagging, lingering questions from the 80's.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.24.13 @ 4:01PM
Before his solo career, Eddy was part of a group which had a hit in the late 60s/early 70s, which if I recall correctly was "Baby, Come Back". Perhaps the name of that group was a hint to what you ask, i.e. Eddy Grant = Whoopie Goldberg.
It might also explain one never hears Eddie as bumper music on "The View".
Bob Grant| 2.24.13 @ 4:44PM
Goldberg in either role offends the senses equally!
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 3:17PM
You spelled "Sputnik" wrong.
Al Adab| 2.22.13 @ 11:55AM
Bob: et al
The term RINO presupposes that Conservatives preponderate in and define the GOP. That is not the case. People ;like our elitist friend Randolf above define the GOP. They fear and dislike the hoi plaloi which of course is why they fail to attract voters. Republicans like Randolf are what they are and we allow the opposition to identify all as Conservatives when in fact they are not.
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 1:56PM
This is why I like to categorize RINO's as either Drivers of the liberal cause or Enablers to the liberal cause.
This identifies what motivates them and allows conservatives to deal with them accordingly.
A Kulak| 2.22.13 @ 9:30AM
I daresay the difference is all about abortion.
C. Vernon Crisler | 2.22.13 @ 10:03AM
Yes, but I would add "gay rights" to that. A few years from now, it'll be other "rights" that are too sick to mention, but which the RINOs will be supporting in the name of tolerance and open-mindedness.
Sixgun| 2.22.13 @ 9:15PM
yes indeed... the nail on the head, infanticide and sodomy will be the downfall of this great nation. Two things the big man upstairs will not tolerate are infanticide and sodomy... just ask all the first born of Egypt and the citizens of Sodom & Gomorrah. If we don't stop this soon, we are toast.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 10:07AM
You spelled "Coolots" and "Daredevil" wrong.
Anthony| 2.22.13 @ 10:03AM
"After Romney lost the election, moderate Rs started to emerge from every corner of the country". Me thinks this is a parallel universe moment, Mr. Purple.
Tell me again, where exactly did Mr. Romney emerge from?
Yep, apparently nothing gets past the intrepid and insightful Ms. Parker, the women is spot on, the're are indeed more RINOs than conservatives.
And there Ms. Parker IS our problem. Perhaps you need to read Mr. Hitchen's article and toke up girl, or rather should I say, put down the pipe girl.
Remember the old ad, "this is your brain, this is your brain on drugs". A mind is indeed a terrible thing to waste, Ms. Parker, and I am saddened we didn't save your's in time.
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 10:19AM
Let's remember while we justifiably diss and tear into Mrs. Parker, she does have a few redeeming qualities: she's kinda cute and who can resist that Southern Belle accent?
It's just a damn shame demons have sucked the soul from her body.
Anthony| 2.22.13 @ 10:31AM
cont." Ms. Parker has called for a RINO uprising". Gee let's see, isn't that kinda like asking Dole, McLame and Romney to finally get a stiff woody instead of their usual failures to launch? Vtwin and Purp have a better chance of success than these guys.
Ain't gonna happen Kathy P., RINOs have, like our Muslim Marxist president, a severe lack of testosterone, except when it's Friday night at the bath house with the boys.
A RINO uprising, what a laugh, except if you pump Chris Christy full of helium, then you'll get a RINO blimp rising.
Riff Raff| 2.22.13 @ 10:57AM
Agreed. A "RINO Uprising" is a contradiction in terms. It's like asking the sheep to rise up against the wolves. Ludicrous. Since the Republican Party is hopelessy bound to its sheepish leadership, it really is time to abandon these losers and dopes and move to another Party.
JimP| 2.22.13 @ 11:48AM
Outstanding analogy!
Real Deal| 2.22.13 @ 4:53PM
It's just a jump to Left...and a step to the Right.
Let's run a RINO agaaaain!
Let's run a RINO agaaaain!
Sixgun| 2.22.13 @ 9:18PM
May I suggest the U.S. Constitution Party...or the American Independent Party
anna k from emory u| 2.22.13 @ 1:15PM
You continue to serve as a gentleman of ideas, Anthony.
Occam's Tool| 2.23.13 @ 6:53PM
I want Allen West for POTUS in 2016. It would be fun to see Hillary beaten by a Black guy twice.
chuck| 2.24.13 @ 9:15AM
Careful OT, that's "raaaaaaaascist"!
Frediano| 2.22.13 @ 10:42AM
Mitt Romney dodged a bullet; had he eked out a bare win, he wasn't about to turn around this Wreck on Rails. We're thirty years past when the kinds of small ball adjustments Congress might be cajoled into making would avert this collapse of the federal government. Had he won, he'd have been at most the designated Fall Guy. That is Obama's role now, and he is currently in share the blame mode, unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the way history works. Live by the idiot electorate, die by the idiot electorate. In the ashes, the hurting are not going to listen to complex explanations of blame. They will look to see who is sitting at 1600 PA Ave, period. Unfairly so. LBJ, Nixon, and Reagan will largely get a bye, undeservedly. Maybe Bush will wear some of it, deservedly so. Clinton? He didn't get his Stimulus Plan. He didn't get nationalized Health Care. He didn't get his BTU Tax. AWB? What AWB? He leveled off Reagan's defense buildup after the fall of the USSR(what we call a 'catastrophe' today.) He entertained the nation for six years over a stained blue dress. Clinton did little worthy of any blame, he more or less parked the federal givernment in idle mode, entertained the nation, and that relieved nation grew its economies after the 94 spanking, delivered after his -failed- over-reach.
Citizen Jerry| 2.22.13 @ 10:49AM
Right. It’s the Tea Partiers who are embarrassing all the normal and well-bred, better-than-thou types. In one of her earlier screeds, Chatty Kathy Parker called the evangelicals those “oogety boogety” people. To her, we’re too religious, too patriotic, too pro-life, too NASCAR – too Red State. They think we should modernize – that is, be more like Democrats.
The RINOs said we can’t win by appealing to the lunatic fringe. So they foisted Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney on us. The last real conservative winner we’ve had is Ronald Reagan.
Sorry Chatty Kathy, but the only thing your snooty, pretentious ilk is getting from me is my disgust.
Frediano| 2.22.13 @ 11:08AM
I almost fully agree with you, until you get to the lovable and charismatic Reagan, the once Democrat who took the five minutes necessary to switch parties. Who grew the federal government more than Nixon, Reagan and Bush? Reagan made his 'grand compromise' with O'Neill-- a little more guns in exchange for a lot more butter-- and why? To spike the ball on a system that we knew was failing on its own-- they were farming with ox carts in the 80's and we -knew it.- But Reagan wanted his legacy, and so, sold out the last opportunity this nation had to make the adjustments necessary to avert the current long term mess, and that is Reagan's real legacy. Tax Simplification Act of 1986? Seriously? Full of things like IRS 1706? That is the Freedom Loving Flag Waving Actor's idea of limited government? Seriously?
Reagan was no hero of mine.
Frediano| 2.22.13 @ 11:12AM
Go read Nixon's 1970 Economic Stabilization Act. The GOP lost its soul ever since Nixon, never got it back. Eisenhower was the last great GOP president...and JFK the last great Democrat. Their administrations, forged during the peak of the Cold War, when our struggle with totalitarianism was as an external, not internal, threat, were nearly indistinguishable. Our MadMen horserace politics accentuated the differences between Eisenhower and JFK, but they were similar WWII era vets, with similar view of the proper role of government. It was Eisenhower who sent federal troops to Little Rock to turn the NG bayonets around, and it was JFK who proposed what became the CRA of '64.
But JFK gave us LBJ...and Eishenhower gave us Nixon, and the nation hasn't been the same since.
Frediano| 2.22.13 @ 11:13AM
Both parties are atrophied beyond recognition. The answer to the current No Hope For Freedom Democrats is not the current False Hope For Freedom GOP. The GOP has lost its soul, pandering to the religious right with its freedom eating nonsense over lurching into churches, plural, and defining 'marriage.' (If statute refers to the religious concept marriage, then ... fix the statute, don't define 'marriage.') Or, when the GOP sells its soul while pandering for votes, totally ignore the constitution of Liberty and flail away. The GOP has no soul, no rudder, no core. For decades. It is the current biggest impediment to freedom in America, even more than the inept Democrats.
I read 'New Beginning' and voted for Clark in '80, then realized that was pure gesture politics. I then held my nose for now eight elections, sleeping with the lessor dogs party of power, and never again, because it is a total waste of my vote.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 12:02PM
Soooooooooooo?
Let's hear Your Plan.
Or, are you just here to b*tch?
JimP| 2.22.13 @ 11:43AM
Also of note was G.H. W. Bush. He's one of the type Kathleen adores and yet he inspired a third party candidacy to challenge the status quo of Dem-GOP establishment politics. If RINO's are soooo attractive to the populace, why did Perot appear and get so many votes? We know the answer to that one of course. Come on everybody, it's past time that we abandon the GOP, just as so many did in the last election. Go Gault, expatriate or hunker down in your doom bunker and "let the good times roll."
Frediano| 2.22.13 @ 10:50AM
In 2016, if there is still a GOP, it should write the Democrat's campaign for them by running sand-bottom blow up Count Dracula in a tuxedo, complete with monacle and bloody hundred dollar bills falling out of his pockets, driving a Porsche with the flesh of virtuous proles oozing from the treads of those Perellis.
No, wait a minute; that was the 2012 campaign.
Riff Raff| 2.22.13 @ 10:53AM
Tea Party vs. RINO? What's the difference you ask? Simple enough: RINO's say they want budget cuts and fiscal responsibility, then show up for DC cocktail parties and soirees. Tea Partiers actually DO something about it. RINO's are about socializing with the "elites" of government to caress their egos, while the Tea Party wants and WORKS to bring fiscal sanity back to Washington.
By the way, Romney was no conservative, he was the ebodiment of the "Moderate Republican." To claim his defeat was a defeat of the Conservative base is absurd.
Frediano| 2.22.13 @ 11:24AM
2008 GOP Primary debate at Reagan's Library. Anderson Cooper asks the GOp frontrunners, "Tell us why YOU are best suited to RUN THE US ECONOMY." All three front runners, including Romney, gleefully answer the question without questioning its premise. McCain famously responds with something like "I got Cs in economics, but I know it well enough..." Romney gleefully not only didn't challenge the premise, but embraced it with candy and flowers, and told America why this GOP candidate embraced the failed Soviet model of centralized command and control THE ECONOMY RUNNING.
In front of Reagan's teary eyed widow, and feet from where the champion of 'limited government' was noticeably not spinning in his grave.
Anderson Cooper asked a fair question, and these rudderless Einsteins plowed right into it. declaring themselves "Democrat-Lite."
By the time Ron Paul asked "W.T.F.?" it was way too late.
That's when I knew, for a certainty, that the GOP was going to lose the 2008 election. Did the Berlin Wall go up in 1989, or fall?
But in the aftermath of the 2008 election, the GOP "soul searched." The result? They ran the same campaign in 2012 -- and couldn't beat the incumbent Obama in THESE economies with THIS unemployment rate....
And now? They are once again "soul searching."
The GOP needs a soul before they can search for it. They are rudderless and devoid of ideas. They do not compromise principles; they have none to compromise at this point.
TLP| 2.22.13 @ 11:59AM
You spelled "VFW" wrong.
JimP| 2.22.13 @ 11:07AM
Good column, Matt, right on point and I enjoyed it. Let's be blunt though, the Parkers, van Voorheeses and all the other RINOs are snobs and always have been. The rest of us on the political right are the hired help as far as they are concerned. We are supposed to keep our mouths shut and do what the political bosses want/tell us to do. That's why the "swells" of the GOP are so upset with us. We butlers, nannies, gardeners (well not since the illegals took over for even less money, but you know what I mean), cooks, bottle washers etc think we are equals in the GOP ship of fools and the swells are heading us for the ice berg. We need to end the GOP once and for all. Vote third party or don't vote at all the next few elections. Yeah it will bring on disaster in all probability, but we are only delaying that inevitable disaster by kidding ourselves that the GOP is willing to solve the very real problems they have willingly assisted in creating.
JimP| 2.22.13 @ 11:08AM
I don't know about Kathleen and Conrad and the other swells, but my family hasn't seen a pay raise since the start of the recession a little over 5 years ago. I say again, FIVE years ago, F-I-V-E. 'W', Kathleen and Conrad were running the show when the recession hit and they were co-conspirators in the housing bubble and didn't do enough to head it off or sound the alarm. Plus they set the stage for the election of Obama and the Dems with their RINO party of stupid politics. Now my family has lived pay check to pay check for half a decade as real inflation (which includes the price of gasoline and food) keeps putting us further and further behind. Good job captain Kathleen and Commodore Conrad. I'm reminded of the Grand Funk Railroad song..."I'm your captain, I'm your captain......."
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.22.13 @ 3:34PM
"I'm reminded of the Grand Funk Railroad song...'I'm your captain, I'm your captain...'."
While some might prefer their cover of Little Eva's "Locomotion", I prefer their quasi-patriotic "We're an American Band".
loulou| 2.22.13 @ 4:12PM
You've been watching those infomercials.
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 5:50PM
No, sounds more like The Midnight Special.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.24.13 @ 9:54AM
Don Kirshner's Rock Concert (and who can dispel the image of guys in paisley shirts with bell bottoms and platform heels doing the chug a chug a motion like a railroad train now).
Bob Grant| 2.24.13 @ 12:40PM
Perhaps that explains the heavy drug usage during that period?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.24.13 @ 4:03PM
...a chicken vs. egg discussion, I'm afraid...
Bob Grant| 2.24.13 @ 4:54PM
The rock and roll/disco hybrid bands of the 70's were an assault on the senses, good taste, and music in general. About as offensive as the dude who mistakenly thought more Aramis equaled more ladies. I know Tony Manero would disagree but...
JimP| 2.22.13 @ 7:37PM
LOL OK you gray hairs and gray beards, I wasn't trying to inspire a nostagia trip down memory lane, but make a point. But thanks for the laugh. I need one today.
Spike| 2.22.13 @ 11:51AM
The "extreme right", 40 years ago, was centrist Kennedy Democrats.
While a plurality of citizens self-identify as Ideologically Conservative, today's socio/cultural Center is at the extreme Far-Left. This is drawing otherwise Conservative minded people to capitulate on their values, in order to be liked. Thus, the Moderate Republican is born. Popular, liked, admired for their willingness to compromise, only to find that in order to be "truly liked" they'll have to give up their souls.
Today's Liberalism is extreme(and evil), on an issue by issue basis. We need to fight the tendency to depravity. The RINO's are welcome to join us, or get caught in the "no man's land" of the middle.
The Bible say's something about lukewarm obedience.
Shery| 2.22.13 @ 12:01PM
Next time tell us up front you are quoting Kathleen Parker. She is not even a RINO. She flew over to the left when they offered her a spot on their panels so she could be relevant again! UGH!
JD| 2.22.13 @ 12:06PM
The "moderate Republicans" are people who claim conservative ideals but have bought into Leftist propaganda. They believe ridiculous things about the true Right because the Leftists spend all their time saying these things. Things like "the Right hates the poor", "the Right is racist", "the Right wants the government in your bedroom."
None of these Leftist lies is true, but in addition to fooling the millions who vote Left, they also are fooling the less aware members of the Right into turning on the more aware ones.
Al Adab| 2.22.13 @ 12:50PM
The accomodationist GOP (the rinos) have bought into the legitimacy of the administrative social-welfare state since Dewey. Time and again they have led us to defeat or inconsequential (Phyrric) victories. Conservatives do not accept the legitimacy of that government and seek to maintain (with a couple exceptions) the limited, enumerated powers government with which the nation began.
Turk| 2.22.13 @ 12:16PM
RINO's haven't changed a whit in 50+ yrs: Dewey twice(New York)Rockefeller (New York)Daddy Bush(N.E. of New York)Ford(anti Solzhenitsyn) Dole(tax expiditer for the D's)sonny Bush(the compassionate one)McCain(left lover) and finally Romney(need we say more).
The standard gimmick (they're starting early) is for the ages old triumvirate of MEDIA;DEMOCRATS and RINO's to a. destroy the strong repub candidate and b. to glorify the rino of the day as "the only hope for the republicans". IF a conservative made it thru the gimmickry, the triumvirate would bash him up and through the general. ie- Goldwater-Reagan. Goldwater set the rinos back decades--Reagan beat them senseless.
What's new with the triumvirate?------------My GOD: Rubio drinks water!
loulou| 2.22.13 @ 12:22PM
Let us be honest: Kathleen Parker does not have the intelligence to write anything other than vacuous nothingness. She's just a blandly pretty face who says all the right things to appeal to the Bob Michels types. Anything she says or writes immediately goes poof into the air. It appears that her role model is Peggy Noonan--what does this tell you?!
Lyneuss Fields | 2.22.13 @ 12:26PM
Matt asked readers of his crap blog what the moderate Republicans want. One might ask him how many years his Tea Folk need to get organized. And when are your Tea Party slime going to cut the crap about vaginal probes and all your other religious fetishes? How about gaining both Houses of Congress and the Presidency before trying to take down America? What dumb-ass treasonous punks you Tea Party baboons are!
http://lyneussfields.blogspot......gious.html
anna k from emory u| 2.22.13 @ 1:14PM
You, sir, are a despicable fountain of HATE. I recommend that you continue to post about vaginal probes, because that is as close as you'll get to one.
Citizen Jerry| 2.22.13 @ 3:27PM
What she said!
loulou| 2.22.13 @ 4:13PM
Me too. But I would omit the "sir" part.
Lyneuss Fields | 2.22.13 @ 4:16PM
And you my dear, are a Worthless, Whining Wench. But sniveling aside, are you suggesting I take a vaginal probe and shove it up my ass?
Bob Grant| 2.22.13 @ 6:08PM
Lyin' a*s,
Perhaps you should tone it down a notch. Moderators are present and they hate working on Fridays.
Lyneuss Fields | 2.22.13 @ 6:51PM
Lying about what? And, who is the ass?
Grzmlyk| 2.22.13 @ 4:20PM
Can't wait to read your blog and print it out.
I'm out of cat litter, and Morris has diarrhea.
Lyneuss Fields | 2.22.13 @ 4:27PM
What have you been feeding Morris, more of your Tea Party rhetoric?
Marc Jeric| 3.1.13 @ 3:16AM
One can clearly see that this far-left POS is afraid of us - that's why he uses all those invectives and pejoratives.
Biff| 2.22.13 @ 2:52PM
Why should we stop with Latinos? If believing that pandering to the myriad of demographics is the path toward victory, then where is the support for the gays? What about handing out condoms with GOP logos on them, and go after the slutty college coed vote? We could certainly hand out coupons for KFC to attract more black voters and those who just like fried chicken as much as I do. OK, so maybe cellphones would be a better way to go, less chance of being tagged as "racist."
I suppose my question is, if RINO's are going to behave like Democrats, why don't they just change that little (R) to a (D)? More to the point, what good are they toward promoting conservative values if they have none?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.22.13 @ 3:26PM
" go after the slutty college coed vote..."
Somehow, I have the feeling that if the GOP actually did start to appeal to a majority of this demographic, that Bill Clinton would change his voter registration to "R".
Mike W| 2.22.13 @ 4:49PM
S.E. Cupp and Rush feuding? That's laughable. That's an elephant feuding with a gnat. Who knows who S.E. Cupp is? I had never heard of this skank before this week.
Kingofthenet| 2.23.13 @ 5:21PM
I think she may be a slut instead, who knows for sure?
ejp| 2.22.13 @ 7:10PM
Ah yes, Kathleen Parker, the fake Republican who gladly made herself the token to suck up to Elliot Spitzer on CNN when any conservative of principle, ESPECIALLY a woman, would never have worked alongside that disgraceful piece of scum.
PCPSmokerII| 2.22.13 @ 10:05PM
The majority of the GOP elected Bush 41/43, McCain, Dole, and Romney during the various primaries. Are these examples of conservative influence in the GOP? Either the GOP has a ton of RINOs or conservatives are supremely stupid about politics. I suspect it's the latter.
Stan Redmond| 2.22.13 @ 10:25PM
RINOs want access to the power of the liberal democrat machine.
The reason they lose? Easy, why vote for liberal-lite when you can get full blown marxism from Obama.
homme nike air max BW | 2.22.13 @ 10:56PM
holding the Post in their gunpowder-stained fingers while recoiling and exclaiming, “Compassion for the disadvantaged?! This paper’s gone to the dogs!”
Gartenmayer| 2.23.13 @ 2:27AM
Conservatives can’t even support sequestration without drawing condemnation from the center-right. But Christie cuts http://www.chaussuresfreefr.co.....-c-31.html funding for AIDS patients and he’s the moderate Moses leading the GOP out of the electoral desert. Again, it’s pure air.
But let’s return to Parker. Beyond that one line about policy, her column is little more than a train of supercilious advice about how to distinguish RINOs from righties. Righties are “the fringe.” RINOs are “defiantly proud, aggressively centrist and unapologetically sane.” Righties carry “gigantic photos of aborted fetuses to political conventions.” RINOs are “too busy Being Normal to organize.”
Michele San Pietro| 2.23.13 @ 8:49AM
In my opinion, RINOs don't make sense, they had rather join the Democratic Party.
Taxguy| 2.23.13 @ 10:30AM
Notice the photo and how insignificant Christy looks compared to normal heighted people around him.
Marc Jeric| 2.23.13 @ 12:55PM
Decent RINO's are as dangerous for survival of America as the eco-nazis, liberals, communists, progressives, socialists, far-left racists, etc.racists.
Coached by those two losers Rove and Dick Something our porr Romney had no chance: he brought dust feather to the fight while Mullah Hussein brough the Chicago machine gun. Romney failed to mention: 1) Ayers, Wright, Davis; 2) fabricated documents for birth and colleges; 3) global warming scam; 4) green enrgy hoax; 5) 43 WH commie czars/komissars; 6) ongoing vote fraud organized on grand scale by his local soviets (aka community organizations)...
Rhoetus| 2.23.13 @ 3:14PM
If you could purge all the Republican politicians who are actually "Progressives" [sic] there would only be a dozen or so left on the national stage: Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and a handful of others.
Let's rumble| 2.23.13 @ 3:26PM
The sooner the war is fought and a decision is won in the party the sooner we can unite or go our seperate ways. Either the "tea party" types are the bread and butter of the party OR they are the fringe. If a split is decided, lets see how many Obamabots the Rino's will pull from the ghetto vote. We have awakened to the "fix" and now know what the Roves are up to, we will not allow another false flag operation. The country has been swallowed up by the left and the Rino's answer is to be more like them. Given the alternative why wouldn't you vote for the full bore Marxists instead of the watered down rino? Blacks and minorities are not stupid when it comes to "entitlements", they know Obum will send thier checks while Rome burns.
Banality is a kind word for these folks. Because of these folks we had had socialism creep up on us now they suggest it's bad manners to call a spade a spade.
These folks are traitors. Why do I say that. Because they send up a liberal mute to wrest the presidency from Uncle Sugar. I think they know full well the ship is headed for the shoals and take perverse delight in thinking a kinder and gentler Repug will be there to pick up the pieces rather than get the blame. Notice lately that Obama is posistioning himself for the crater pointing his boney finger.
Rhoetus| 2.23.13 @ 3:48PM
"Dime Store New Dealers" is what Barry Goldwater called them.
RealHope| 2.23.13 @ 3:38PM
I think I get it. I honestly think that most RINOs are well-intended. They probably became a Repub because their parents were, or because their college boyfriend was one, or all their friends were. They probably would like to see lower taxes and less regulation, and have a traditional set of values and socially conservative beliefs. But I think the RINO is the victim of envy. They've seen the Dems take power over the years, become more successful, have all the trendy groups behind them, and are frustrated that we don't have that same success right now. They might be a person of means or even in government at some level. And they want what the Dems have right now. I think that envy is what's corrupting them, making them think "Oh, it's okay to waver on this or that principle a little bit. As long as we say mostly the same things and get some of our people back in office." I get it, and it's absolutely dangerous. Conservatism will ceease to exist if we follow that path. Resist envy! Elections go in cycles! Keep preaching the message - once people see what's happening to our country, that our economy is not coming back like the Dems say it is, then people will come back over to our side. We just have to stay strong.
Cloudbuster | 2.23.13 @ 4:08PM
This was a lot of words wasted over nothing. Anyone with any brains knows that the time to stop reading a Kathleen Parker column is when you hit the words "by Kathleen Parker."
John2| 2.24.13 @ 7:09PM
Home run!
I use Madame Parker's name to save time on the net. I know she has the very best liberal intentions and needs to go away pronto.
Kingofthenet| 2.23.13 @ 5:19PM
PURGE the RINO's, nothing more then a FULL hardcore Tea Bagging can suffice. Let the NeoCons write the party platform the way it needs too. None of this wimpy 'Pro-Life and Family' agenda, it has to be ANTI Abortionist and Homo. None of this Rino 'Self-Deport' BS, every single person who looks even slightly Latino needs to produce papers or be deports immediately.
Danilo Santos | 2.23.13 @ 5:47PM
very nice this article... http://www.designed.com.br
Occam's Tool| 2.23.13 @ 6:50PM
I have a LOT of problems with Affirmative Action. Let's take two egregious examples: My daughter, the World's Cutest Nine Year Old Girl (TM pending), is a full blooded Mayan Indian, and bears a strong resemblance to Pocahantas.
Mayan Indians aren't on the list of recruited targeted Indian Tribes by Dartmouth University. No Native American scholarships for this pureblooded, documented up the wazoo (complete dossier on mother) Mayan Indian girl. Further, she would not get an-Instate Tuition break at University of Texas because she is a legalized US Citizen, all properly done in an appropriate way. Nonetheless, she is also Hispanic up the wazoo.
Meanwhile, Fauxahontas Warren (or Princess Albino Weasel, as I like to call her.) is Harvard's Law School "Native American" Professor.
Plus, of course, Jews get no Affirmative Action because we aren't an intellectually deficient American Minority, unlike Packer fans like FudgePacker Jack. (I will miss no opportunity to insult FPJ, aka Jack in Wi.).
This, despite a long history of Jews being denied access to Ivy League schools that was almost as egregious as Black denial. Of course, the reason for Jews getting discriminated against by FDR is that otherwise there would be too MANY Jewish students at Harvard if quotas weren't administered.
Being discriminated against for too many brains has NEVER been a problem for FPJ.
Kingofthenet| 2.24.13 @ 2:46PM
Mayan Indian? Maybe she should apply to a Spanish School and tell em Cortez killed her great grandfather, as far as I know, the US didn't conquer that area.Or she could just rip the still beating heart of an Administrator out and lay it on the table if they refuse.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.24.13 @ 4:12PM
One of the problems with Affirmative Action is that it becomes difficult to identify when it ceases being necessary to correct historical discrimination, and simply is discrimination with a different demographic of victims.
As an example, apparently Soros instituted a scholarship program to balance out this site by importing moronic lefty trolls. Now, they have exploded geometrically, like an infestation of cockroaches.
Still, your majesty, based on your seniority, I think your position to fill that role remains secure (if only because I think you post nonsense for free, as opposed to some of your leftist brethren, who get paid to come here).
Bob Grant| 2.24.13 @ 5:02PM
It's pretty sad when ACORN won't even pay for one's services.
Perhaps he give his handle to a more deserving blogger.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.24.13 @ 5:26PM
While KingoftheNuts has been offered by others many times, I think I favor KingoftheNotPaid.
Rhoetus| 2.23.13 @ 10:50PM
Rules for Conservatives @
http://www.saveamericanow.us.com
Let's rumble| 2.24.13 @ 9:01PM
Elections USED to go in cycles. Did anywone notice the the guy who shouldn't have won in 08 won again after a crappy four years? The rules are different now. It's stand up for America or be buried by the Marxist tide.
stevesmith| 2.24.13 @ 11:16PM
I think that RINO means Relevant In Nothing Of Substance.
Surely the words "Republican Party" no longer have meaning. The Republican Party replaced the Whigs. Now it's time for the Conservative Party to replace the Republicans.
American conservatives should look outside the country to find examples of starting a new conservative political party that eventually becomes the governing party.
They might start with the Canadian saga of the Reform Party that began as a Western Protest party in 1987, went through a couple of deaths and rebirths and ended up uniting the Canadian Right as the Conservative Party of Canada, formed in 2003. This Conservative Party came to power in 2006, led by our current Prime Minister Stephen Harper and has been re-elected as the governing party in the Federal elections held since 2006.
It may take 20 years for a new conservative movement to go from a small beginning to forming a government, but it is well worth the effort because along the way its growing influence can change a country's direction long before it actually forms a national Government.
dickdata| 2.28.13 @ 3:36PM
You lost the Presidency. Again. You lost seats in the Senate because of candidates that suited the primary voters that couldn't POSSIBLY win a general election. You kept control of the House IN SPITE of winning a million fewer votes than the Democrats because of gerrymandering. Your message appeals to white males and married white females and practically nobody else. If Romney's electorate had had the same demographic makeup as Reagan's, Romney would have won in a LANDSLIDE. And what is the Tea Party trying to do??? Widen the gender gap!!! You can't win elections - at least not fairly - so you're trying to govern by crisis. This is the FIFTH financial "showdown" since the Republicans took control of the House, with two more scheduled in the next three months. You need to win more elections, - more House seats, more Senate seats, the Presidency - but you can't, because the Tea Party pretty much controls your primaries.
chet| 2.28.13 @ 4:32PM
I am proudly a RINO that Mr Prurple refers to, but he misses the most banal point of all about RINO's, they were raised by their mothers to understand you can agree without being disagreeable, something the tea partiers, and the fundamentalists have forgotten about. I do not choose to associate with such unpleasant people, or vote for them
Marc Jeric| 3.1.13 @ 3:13AM
RINO-ISM is a serious sickness; these so-called Republicans want only to slow down the inevitable descent into communist dictatorship.
wareagle| 3.1.13 @ 8:46AM
Matt, you ask: "But how would her brand of Republicanism differ from the conservative base she derides?"
I'll tell you how - by NOT being the mirror image of the nanny state liberal. Wanting to dictate people's personal lives is still wanting to dictate and, in this regard, liberals and social conservatives are alike. The only difference is which aspects to control.
My stance on gay marriage or guns or birth control does not mean wanting govt to force everyone else to agree with me. The party of small govt believes in adults making adult decisions, if decisions some of us may not like. And those who label themselves conservatives would be taken more seriously had they not supported state expansion in the form of No Child, Med Part D, the TSA, Homeland Security, and TARP.
Marc Jeric| 3.1.13 @ 9:30AM
RINO's are the so-called Republicans who only want to slow down our descent into the new United Soviet Socialist States of America. They are "discent" politicians - they bring a dust feather to the fight while that marxist Muslim brings that Chicago mob machine gun.